Amsterdam is a funny place. Not funny, amusing, so much as funny, odd.
You need to go back to April, 1973 to see what I mean. That is the year that National Lampoon (yes, back when it was funny) did an expose on the Dutch Threat to America:
You get a feeling of German efficiency coupled with English individualism. Take their bikes, for example. Many, many people ride bikes for transportation here. So many, in fact, that they are running out of places to park their bikes! There are strict rules of the road, which if you violate you get scolded by everyone around. And strict rules about where to park your bikes. There were 73,000 bikes removed from illegal parking spots last year! And rather than retrieve their bikes, it seems that many Dutch would rather just buy another.
The rules of the mass transit are rather opaque as well. You can buy a (very expensive) one hour pass for the trams, a very expensive (empty) "chip" card for storing value, or sort of expensive 24, 48, 72 or more "paper" passes. You can buy some of these passes on the trams, but not all of them. The official site for the trams says you can buy these at grocery stores and tobacco stores. But, in reality, you can't. So we wandered about Amsterdam looking for a place to buy these. After much consternation, we found a machine that would sell us one for cash (most machines here don't accept the antiquated US Swipe and Sign cards, they need the European Chip and Pin) and tried to buy a couple of passes. But the machines don't take €50 notes!
We were finally able to get the passes at a money exchange kiosk (for a €1 fee) only after the attendant got her coffee.
So when you come, be prepared to get fussed at.
You need to go back to April, 1973 to see what I mean. That is the year that National Lampoon (yes, back when it was funny) did an expose on the Dutch Threat to America:
You get a feeling of German efficiency coupled with English individualism. Take their bikes, for example. Many, many people ride bikes for transportation here. So many, in fact, that they are running out of places to park their bikes! There are strict rules of the road, which if you violate you get scolded by everyone around. And strict rules about where to park your bikes. There were 73,000 bikes removed from illegal parking spots last year! And rather than retrieve their bikes, it seems that many Dutch would rather just buy another.
The rules of the mass transit are rather opaque as well. You can buy a (very expensive) one hour pass for the trams, a very expensive (empty) "chip" card for storing value, or sort of expensive 24, 48, 72 or more "paper" passes. You can buy some of these passes on the trams, but not all of them. The official site for the trams says you can buy these at grocery stores and tobacco stores. But, in reality, you can't. So we wandered about Amsterdam looking for a place to buy these. After much consternation, we found a machine that would sell us one for cash (most machines here don't accept the antiquated US Swipe and Sign cards, they need the European Chip and Pin) and tried to buy a couple of passes. But the machines don't take €50 notes!
We were finally able to get the passes at a money exchange kiosk (for a €1 fee) only after the attendant got her coffee.
So when you come, be prepared to get fussed at.
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