Mostly Travel, Mostly the Facts: Amsterdam and its challenges

The cruise arrived in the early morning and people could sit comfortably in the lounge until the time they’d chosen to leave, when Uniworld handled the luggage and and arranged car service rides to people’s various hotels. While Barbara had her own B&B, we were booked, based on the co-brand credit card’s opening bonus, at the Kimpton De Witt Hotel. It is near Centraal Station on one of the bigger streets, but that street was torn up for construction and there were complications in getting there.

The room wasn’t ready; we walked a little on the touristed nearby streets, where shops often pandered to the vices Amsterdam is known for, and eventually with some prodding from us the room was ready. It was nice to have more space than on the cruise stateroom, but it was back to the reality of spending money, which we effectively hadn’t done in the last week.

After a little wandering during the day, we agreed to meet Barbara at the Bistro Bonjour French restaurant. For trips of a certain length, I had the Bolt app that I heard was more recommended than Uber for a rideshare service. When I requested the ride, it went through several drivers all “unable to accept.”

I had the idea to go to Centraal Station where surely we’d find regular taxis. On the plaza in front of the station, the only vehicles were trams; there was no sign of automobile traffic. At Margaret’s suggestion, I tried Bolt again and got a ride accepted at a meeting place in front of the adjacent Ibis hotel. That was the one acceptable ride app experience to date (a regular taxi called by the Bolt app) although it was worrisome to pass bicycles on the narrow canal streets. We still got to the restaurant by the appointed time, and had a nice French meal: prix fixe, main course of chicken with good-flavored sauces.

With the thought that drivers weren’t accepting the rides from the hotel because of our torn-up street and the difficulty of getting there, we tried Bolt again for the return. We continued to get refusals, and decided to get a tram from the bridge where we were; there wasn’t a ticket machine at the stop but I had downloaded the GVB transit authority’s app, where I needed to enter a credit card number to get tickets with QR codes and start the 1-hour validity. Then we need to check in and out of the tram; they’ve recently allowed doing it ourselves but it’s confusing how to position the phone. I understand there is the option of buying on board from the conductor if applicable or the driver.

The next day, Saturday, with a day mostly of strolling, we talked of having an Indonesian meal; I remembered eating at Sampurna, which was open through the afternoon. For going there, I had downloaded the regular taxi app, hoping to have better luck. It works like the other apps and once again we kept having drivers cancel. I tried from the plaza in front of the train station, no better luck, and it wasn’t clear if automotive traffic could go on the side of the street where we were waiting. I asked a hotel concierge, who said it was best to go to the next block and hail one. We did indeed find a taxi waiting, which we took in desperation even as the driver quoted a high fare because of a closed street. The main taxi stand at Centraal is on the opposite side of the tracks, facing the harbor.

Our dining experience was less than ideal; even mid-afternoon there was a wait to be seated and the staff were facing some challenges. It was time to say goodbye to Barbara, returning home on Sunday.

Another thing Saturday while I was off on my own was that it was time to return the HipPocket Wi-Fi device, which had served us well on the cruise. I was looking for a mailbox for the postpaid envelope, and it was hard to find one. Google Map searches were leading me astray, such as to addresses that were no longer package handling places, and the post office in the station seemed to be in the area limited to ticketed passengers clearing turnstiles. I didn’t really know what a Dutch mailbox should look like, but I finally found one by a tram stop in front of the station.

I knew to expect heavy bicycle traffic, but on this trip I’m impressed by the number of people walking in the streets. The pedestrian streets are full, but so are the wide sidewalks on the broader boulevards. The main other place where I’ve noted so many people out was Haiti, which I’d consider such a different society.

On Sunday, I’ll briefly mention seeing the Eye Filmmuseum, accessed by taking the free ferry, accessed by a free ferry across the IJ harbor channel, pronounced like the English Eye, making the museum name pun on that along with the shape of the building.