Day 4 - Bikes, Art, Parks, and Red Light District

Amsterdam is very much a throwback city. Some areas feel like you've gone back in time. It's truly amazing.

While sitting at one of the many cafes we noticed a sign on the wall saying that it opened in 1983, which lead to the question, "What do you think Amsterdam was like in 1983?" We pondered the question, surveyed our surroundings, analyzed the modest buildings, the stepped gable houses, the mom-and-pop store fronts, the bike riders, the cobblestone streets, the canals, and after about 10 seconds of taking it in and processing it all, we both looked at each other and said, "the same." It's so true; if you took the modern-day cars off the streets and took a black and white photo of the city, Amsterdam could pass as 1940 or 1983 or 2014. I think that's where the beautiful charm of this city comes from; it has managed to maintain that vintage look and feel in these modern times.

Tuesday was a day for us to get out and experience that special city charm. We had a full "Amsterdam day," meaning we did what you are supposed to do here - ride bikes, explore the museums, relax in a park, walk around the Red Light District, and enjoy a nice meal along the canals.

Our first stop was at a great mom-and-pop cafe and bakery where we tossed back a few espressos and a couple panini sandwiches...

...and a few pastries...we figured since we were going to ride bikes, we'd burn off the extra calories

Saddle up

We rode around town for about an hour or so exploring the canals, bridges, and various back streets

We eventually ended up at the museum square (above) and at Vondelpark, one of Amsterdam's main public parks

The park opened in 1865 and was originally named Nieuwe Park (New Park), but was later renamed "Vondelpark" after the 17th century author Joost van den Vondel

Greg got some extra exercise in by climbing the park's art work

Enjoying the ride

Lots of beautiful scenery and foliage at Vondelpark...

...and plenty of cafes to pop into for beers

Decent form, but a little too much bend in the arms and legs

Now that's solid form, great extension

After exploring the park we headed to the Vincent van Gogh museum to take in a little culture. Although lots of van Gogh's work is on display in Paris, the van Gogh museum had some of his most recognizable pieces such as Sunflowers (above), The Bedroom (below), and my favorite The Harvest.

One of the most interesting facts we learned about Van Gogh is that he was only an artist for 10 years. He started at the age of 27 in 1880 and worked up until he killed himself in 1890.

We built up an appetite with all the bike riding and art exhibits, so we headed to dinner at a nice Mediterranean place called Mata Hari in the Red Light District. A nice bottle of wine, candle light, view overlooking the canal...muy romantica!!

We had the catch of the day, which was a nice North Sea white fish

And the braised lamb shank with a saffron pilaf with nuts

We capped the meal off with a digestief of Courvoisier V.S.O.P.

Keeping it classy

And then not keeping it classy...we bounced around a few dive bars in the Red Light District, which weren't as sketchy as we thought they'd be. However, the neighboring strip clubs with the girls in the windows asking you to come inside were sketchy as hell.

We eventually made it to an Amsterdam punk bar where Greg felt right at home. It was so punk that we barely got served because of our somewhat clean look and light colored clothing. A few other older white clean-cut dudes in collared shirts never got served. 

Repping Brooklyn in Amsterdam

Amsterdam does it right. That's all we can really say. The lifestyle is so nicely balanced. They seem to work hard and get shit done, but they know when to slow down, relax and enjoy themselves. I think the lifestyle of Amsterdam hit me when we were walking around the streets of the Jordaan area, an upscale part of the city, and the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and boats were lazily moving along the canals. It was around 3 or 4pm and I noticed people starting to bring little breakfast nook tables onto the sidewalks just outside their front doors to take in the sunshine, perhaps a glass of wine and some small cheese and meat snacks. It was like they all stopped what they were doing, no matter how important it was, and they said to themselves, it's time to go enjoy life for a little bit. I haven't seen that sort of "stop and pause a minute" mentality in any other city. It's a beautiful beautiful thing.

Wednesday we wrap up in Amsterdam and take the train to Belgium to link up with our friends Jeremy and Pamela for a few days in Brussels.