Septuple Dutch

No, I’m not speaking Double Dutch. It’s just a play on the fact I’ve just come back from my seventh time to the Netherlands. My seventh time to Amsterdam. I do love the city, but that’s not why I’ve been seven times. 

I’m not that crazy about it. Each visit has been for its own unique reason.

The first time I went to Amsterdam was back in 2006, when I first came to Europe. It was one of my first European destinations and I was excited to go there. I went with PP Travel – the party professionals! It was for a long weekend and great fun.

The second time was during the summer of 2006, as a stopover on a Paddywagon bus tour from London to Munich for the World Cup soccer game between Australia and Brazil. 

The third time was in January 2009, a weekend for a mate’s 30th.  Amsterdam is a great city for a boys’ weekend!

My fourth time to the Netherlands was in October 2010. I had spent a weekend in Krakow, Poland with some friends, and on the Sunday night needed to be in The Hague, in the Netherlands, for a work conference. So I flew from Krakow to Prague to Amsterdam, and then caught a train from Schipol (Amsterdam’s airport) to Rotterdam, and then another one to “Den Haag”.  After spending a few days in the Hague, one of my colleagues and I headed to Amsterdam for some meetings, staying at the curious Hotel De Filosoof. I was in the ancient Greek room, while my colleague was in the Japan room.

My fifth time to the Netherlands, earlier this year, was with the same friends with which I went to Krakow. They were spending a week in Amsterdam and I went to visit them for a weekend. We even managed a side trip to Groningen, a small city in eastern Netherlands, to visit some friends who we met on the Krakow trip.

My recent sixth trip to Amsterdam was a quick overnighter. It was a last minute work trip: I booked the flight at 4pm and at 7pm I was taking off from London City Airport.  I stayed the night at the very interesting CitizenM hotel at the airport, and at 10am the next morning was on my way back to London.  Luckily I did have time to wander into town in between.

Yesterday was my seventh time to Amsterdam, and just a quick day trip for some work meetings with potential clients, and a visit to my company’s Dutch office.

So, after seven visits to the Amsterdam, what do I like about the city?  Well, I’ll name seven things, in no particular order:

• The Architecture. Amsterdam’s unique narrow but tall, red, slightly crooked buildings lining a vast network of canals gives the city an instantly recognisable scene.
• The coffee shops provide a unique experience.
• The red light district.  Amsterdam is a beautiful and friendly city, not the sleazy and drug infested town that it’s sometimes made out to be. But the red light district is definitely worth a stroll at night. Window shopping for beautiful, young women (as well as some rather disturbing ones!) can provide an interesting cultural experience.
• The bakeries. Sweet and savoury snacks looking fresh and delicious on many a street corner.
• Febo. A fast food chain where you buy the food from vending machines by inserting coins in the slot. It is all fresh though, because on the other side of the wall are chefs putting in fresh burgers and croquettes.
• Dutch girls. They are tall and attractive!
• Dutch people’s amazing use of the English language. Of all the places in Europe to not have to worry about the language barrier, this is the one. Sure, it’s nice trying out a different language here and there but in Amsterdam you don’t have to worry about the stress of not being able to communicate. Everyone seems to be able to speak English, which means you have a better chance of understanding the locals than in some places in the UK like, say, Belfast, Glasgow or Liverpool.  Even at Schipol airport, most of the signs are primarily in English, sometimes with a Dutch translation underneath.