Wrapping up Europe in the Netherlands

We decided it was time to move on from Europe. Despite there being SO MUCH STILL TO SEE, and having such an amazing time, the cold was finally getting to us. Also, even with the varying cultures and daily rhythms, and drastic differences in Eastern Europe from the US, we were growing quite comfortable. While this was a good thing and an ultimate goal of the trip, we decided that some culture shock was in order. After looking at the cheapest paths of travel (hell, we didn't even know what country we would be flying to at first), we found that Amsterdam to Buenos Aires was the way to go (not to mention, after airline miles only cost $64). So, because of this, we decided to check out Amsterdam for a few days (we actually decided on 4 nights, as we have learned this is the perfect number of days for each of the cities we have visited).

Our flight from Budapest to Amsterdam was quick and painless (besides having to pack "plane ready" bags, you get to be more disorganized when travelling by bus or train). We arrived around 6pm, took a tram into the city, and had a quick ferry ride over a large canal to get to our hostel. These ferries were free, left every 3-4 minutes, and ran 24/7! Our hostel was a huge complex of dorm-style rooms, and was shared with local college students and long-term residents. This was good in that there was tons of communal lounge space, and pool tables, air hockey, and an on site restaurant and bar, etc. The bad was that the kitchen was ALWAYS full of people, and there seemed to be shady people hanging around the entrance at all hours....although all college kids look shady when smoking cigarettes in hoodies and loitering, so it was probably harmless. That evening, we had to quickly find dinner (a nearby pizza place) as Amsterdam was in what they were calling "lockdown light," with all businesses shutting down at 8pm. Because of the lockdown, our hostel lounge spaces became a haven to hang out in, with great music playing over the sound system and a cool atmosphere. A couple of days after we arrived, the lockdown became even more severe with businesses shutting down at 5pm.

The next morning, we hopped on the ferry to a nearby grocery store and picked up goods for cooking. We had decided, after price checking some restaurants, that Amsterdam was going to be much too expensive to eat out in (besides the occasional street snack, which Kyle cannot ever resist). To save some time that morning, we grabbed a couple of savory pastries from the store bakery for a quick bite before we set off exploring. Almost all of the grocery stores we ran across in Europe had this option: cheap baked goods filled with cheese, meats, pizza, sausages or whatever. From there, we battled the drizzle around the city. Despite the weather, we had a wonderful time getting lost on the winding streets that knifed through the many canals. Because the entire city is built on water, most of the buildings were leaning this way and that, which added to our amazement. Another adventure was dodging all of the bicyclists passing by. Amsterdam is one of the leading bicycling cities in the world (there are more bikes than people by a wide margin), and bikes have the right of way, and most of the road and sidewalk, in almost all areas.

During our exploration, we passed by many museums (too many to see while on a budget), cheese shops (the Netherlands is one of the world's leading exporters of cheese) and the floating flower market, which was just shutting down for the day. At this point, we were extremely cold, but determined to find a Christmas market with some mulled wine to warm us up. We set off on a 40 minute walk the exact opposite direction of our hostel for the biggest market in the city. Unfortunately, there was no market to be seen as they were all shut down for the lockdown protocol! Our next plan of action was to go to a brewery to warm up (we're sure there are other options, but this was first on our minds). We took a tram (even these seem to give right of way to the bikers) over to a brewery built into the base of an old wind mill. With the Netherlands being so flat (the flattest country in the world, we think?), and on the wind-whipped coast, windmills have been used for centuries as a part of the farming and manufacturing processes. Many of the old windmills have been repurposed into restaurants and gift shops, and this brewery was going to be our amazing respite from the cold. When we arrived, however, there were many people with the same idea, so we were left with an outside table in the freezing rain. Rather than enjoy our flight of craft brews, we slammed them (to the stares of the customers around us) then booked it home as fast as we could to warm up. We had the perfect warm-up meal as we had bought ingredients for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! Note that with the lack of non-stick pans and cooking spray, the grilled cheeses turned into some Frankenstein piles of bread, cheese, meat, and grilled onions...still delicious though!

The following day we woke up, mangled some eggs in those crappy pans, and were off for the day again. The weather was somewhat better, though still rainy. We revisited the floating flower market and ran some errands, and lost ourselves in the streets/canals once again. We tried broodje haring, a sandwich made up of raw herring (yes, just straight out of the water, cleaned right in front of you type of raw), onions, and pickles in a hot dog bun. Later that evening we went on a guided tour of the "coffee shops" in the area (as many of you know, they aren't really for coffee). It was fun to learn about their history in the city, and how they affect tourism, crime rates, taxes, and the local's attitudes. Amsterdam is one of the more progressive cities in the world, and they have legalized (in a controlled way) many things that would be crimes elsewhere. They heavily tax these activities, and with this revenue they heavily subsidize their healthcare system, their amenities for the poor and homeless, and many other social issues. After our tour, we headed back to the hostel as it was already past 5pm and the new, even earlier lockdown was in effect. On our way, we stopped for olie-bollen, which are basically jumbo-sized fluffy donut holes covered in powdered sugar (and one of the few cheap food options we found, even on the streets). We finished the night with another messy pile of "grilled cheese."

The next morning we woke up early to get PCR tests for Covid. We would need these to both pass through the US on our connecting flight and to get into Buenos Aires. The test went quickly, and we hung around for the 10ish minutes it took to get live results (the tester could give us verbal results that quickly, but the formal email results took 12-24 hours to receive). We were somewhat worried as Kyle woke up with some symptoms of a cold that morning, but we were both, luckily, negative. From there we went to the post office to drop off a package (thanks again for letting us send these Teri) that contained winter clothes and souvenirs that we would not need for our journey south (remember, it's summer time in the Southern hemisphere). After that was the activity we had both when waiting for since we arrived in the Netherlands: we rented bicycles for the day!

The bicycles were only $7 per day to rent from a cool little local shop that also sold random "junk" artwork, coffee, and snacks called, to Nicole’s delight, “Starbikes”. We decided to bike the ~10 miles (plus a little bit of ferry time) to Zaans Schanse, a neighborhood in a small nearby village with renovated houses, shops, farmsteads, and windmills that were refurbished to look like a typical village from a century ago. The entire journey was beautiful (and so damn flat, perfect for our cheapo city bikes). We passed by the industrial outskirts of the city and through rural wetlands, all on a well-maintained red stone path (the red paths separate the biking paths from road and pedestrian paths). After a quick beer at one of the shops and eating some salami and cheese sandwiches we packed, we biked back, returned our rentals, and went back to the hostel. Dinner that night was a leftover packet of ravioli from a previous hostel-stayer (again, while our photos make it seem like we are doing luxurious things, we are really scraping by every dollar that we can). We finished the evening with a movie on the computer and some packing before the start of our long journey the following day.

Additional notes about Amsterdam:

- While known for it's more "progressive" ventures, there are so many other amazing things to see and do! Biking is an absolute must, and we really wish we would have done a canal boat tour. Plus the museums are world class!

- Universal health care….we heard jokes about bikers knowing they have the right away and not looking because even if they get hit by a car - they won’t be in crippling debt

- PCR tests….according to our tester - positive test results show up more quickly. The one time you actually want something to take longer 🤣

- Flower market and post office perspective on whether you can ship flower bulbs varies. We will let you know when we do if you can….

Levi's shirt count: with everyone bundled up in cold and rain gear, the count only made it to 227 before we left Europe. We'll see if the trend continues in South America!