What a Difference a Year Makes: Springtime in Amsterdam

Springtime in Amsterdam is a fickle friend. One day she's here, showing off her colors. The next, she has disappeared behind a rolling band of clouds, producing hail, sleet, and snow. And forcing me to break out my winter coat, hat, and gloves on April 29th. But when she is good, she is very, very good. This year, Springtime has not disappointed, even with her on and off again moods. It (almost) makes the long, long winter months worth slogging through. And as I sit here writing, at 9:30 p.m., it's not even completely dark out yet. That perk alone makes the short winter days worth it.  

Last year, I experienced for the first time the syndrome probably unique to expats: Keukenhof anxiety. As I reported last year, Keukenhof is the giant flower gardens south of Amsterdam that are the largest tourist attraction in the Netherlands. Expats are always worried: Have you been to Keukenhof yet? When are you going? Last year I went by car, and only saw the gardens themselves. I took the obligatory photos, standing in the giant yellow clog, surrounded by glorious flowers (most famously, tulips) of every hue. I heard from others that the real way to visit Keukenhof is to bypass the manicured gardens and lines of tour busses, and head straight to the flower fields on bikes. Sadly, the rain conspired against me every time I tried to set off for that true experience last year (O.K. it only forced two bike trip cancellations, but still). 

This year, I was determined to get out in those flower fields. I worked my way up to the challenge. The first time I went, I travelled with friends via Uber. Yes, it was, as Rachel would say, a very "bougie" (bourgeois) way to travel the 30-something kilometers. That's 20-something miles for the metrically challenged...as in...me. The advantage was we could get there before the crowds, and be the first ones at the bike rental shop. At last, I was out in the flower fields! The tulips weren't out in full force yet, but oh the smell of those hyacinths. And I was on a bike! Before I knew it, we were stopping for lunch and admiring the fact we had managed to cross, "Bike in the flower fields of Keukenhof" off our ever-expanding expat bucket list. 

Then Ben came to visit, and took his elderly parents to a bike shop to help us treat ourselves to some fancy hybrid bikes. Hybrids aren't quite the road bikes used by professional racers and riders like Ben, but they are a lot lighter and swifter than our clunky Dutch bikes. So who was I to quibble when he announced one morning that we were going to bike to Keukenhof? On the way down, I was thrilled to be riding with the big boys, which on that quiet Wednesday morning actually just consisted of Ben. We passed through the outskirts of Amsterdam, and hugged the road past the airport. Amazing that even on the roads near the airport, there are wide bike lanes and fields. Quite unlike slogging through the traffic to get to JFK. The smell of fertilizer kept all of my five senses from enjoying the trip. Most of them did. 

Ben is modeling the bike shirt we treated him to after he helped us buy our bikes. Surprisingly, in a city filled with cyclists, there weren't many places that sold hybrid bikes for old folks like us. 

When you ride big girl bikes like my new one, you wear a helmet. That's because you can actually get going kind of fast. Or at least Ben could.

What goes there, must come back. The ride home was a lot harder than the ride there. At one point, in a small village we passed through, we had to slow down to let a really old man inch his way across the street. An example of foreshadowing, I wondered, as I thought about how I would feel the next day after our 50+ mile roundtrip ride.  Surprisingly, I didn't feel too terribly sore. Mostly, I was just really proud of myself, as my friends here who have heard me endlessly tell and repeat this story can attest to. 

What's springtime in Amsterdam without the obligatory shot in front of a windmill? 

Tulips are everywhere in Amsterdam these days. We're not quite at the tulip-as-gold level of the 17th century, a time infected by tulpenmanie or tulipmania. In those days, a prized tulip bulb could sell for three hundred guilders, or ten times the yearly salary of a skilled craftsman. I love flowers as much as the next gal, but not at that price. There was a "tulip crash" after that, as you can well imagine, and the prices plummeted. Although it remains one of the most-recognized symbols of the Netherlands, you didn't always see them out in full force in Amsterdam. Last year, a garden designer named Saskia Albrecht organized a tulip festival here to bring tulips back to Amsterdam. Her goal is one tulip for every resident, or eight-hundred thousand tulips. She has almost reached her tulip goal: this year, there were a half million tulips planted in 60 locations In addition to the official displays, there are tulips at every grocery store, in front of many homes, and sprinkled through the parks. At my favorite flower stand near our house, they are currently selling for three bunches for 5 euros. How can you not fill your house with them, at that price? At a recent gathering of our Dutch conversation group, my friend Vera had us singing along to this song, a Dutch classic. Here are some of the words, in case you are moved to sing along, too: "Wat mijn mond niet zeggen kan, zeggen tulpen uit Amsterdam." ("What my mouth can't say, say tulips from Amsterdam."). A tulip speaks a thousand words, right?  

Spring is also when these bouquets of tiny children in bright "don't lose me" vests come out of hibernation.

And in springtime, the families of ducks emerge and we expats obsessively monitor their growth. I seem to recall that ducks made quite a few appearances in this blog last year. 

You might think in a country that never really heats up, few people would spend time at the beach. In fact, they love the beaches here. A day at the beach isn't about slathering on sunscreen and baking on the sand. Rather, it's more about wrapping up in layers and walking for miles. On a fine, sunny day, we took advantage of one of the last days you could let your dog run with abandon on the beach without a leash, at least on this beach. As far as I can make out, this doesn't mean you can't bring your dog to the beach during the "high season" (late April until early October). It just means, heaven forbid, they have to be on a leash. Casey tolerated the tram and train rides we took to get to Zandvoort aan Zee, but he loved the beach. You can see from the photos just how wide it is, and how uncrowded. Photo credits on the last two photos to my new friend Nancy. Just an aside: Nancy and I were "set up" by my dry cleaner, who told me about a new American lady in the neighborhood with a nice dog. After one walk in the park with Nancy and her nice Golden Retriever Zoey, we were already planning a date to go to the beach. Of course, I had to invite along another friend Michele, with her nice Golden Retriever Ella. I can do some excellent matchmaking of my own, too.

While everyone else marched along, Casey is the only one facing the camera (Nancy). He had figured out she was the only one "packing" (treats).

Another hallmark of springtime here is the uptick in boat rides. Last week, I had the chance to attend the TedXAmsterdamEd conference again. Last year, I made my way there in a driving rain storm, by myself. The teacher friend I had planned to go with bailed out at the last minute. Despite the dreadful weather, I loved hearing about education initiatives in the Netherlands, and connecting with other teachers (even if I wasn't teaching at that point). This year, I set off on a sunny day with another teacher friend: Darlene. When we were asked which afternoon breakout session we wanted to participate in, we chose the one that was taking place on a boat. Our selection process reminded me of my childhood, and the way our ever-conscious-of-pennies babysitter Julia ordered from a menu: she ran her finger down the prices on the right hand side, then slid it across to see what food corresponded with the lowest price on the menu. And that's what she ordered. In other words, it mattered not to me what the topic of the session was. It was taking place on a boat, and involved a boat ride around Amsterdam, and that was good enough for me. As it turned out, we did have a great discussion about solving the big challenges in education. 

Here we are solving the world's education problems, along with the two 20-somethings we were seated with. Every so often the facilitator told us to take a break from our "intense deliberations" to look at the sights along the canals. I didn't need any convincing. I found out that day I can do some really high-level thinking when I'm on a boat on a beautiful day. That gives me an idea for a floating school. Anyone else in?

And speaking of boats, a blog post about springtime in Amsterdam would not be complete without some mention of King's Day in Amsterdam. It's the celebration of the king's birthday, when everyone wears orange (in tribute to the House of Orange, the Dutch royal family), drinks a lot, and - if you are lucky - gets out on a boat to take it all in. Last year, I wrote about how I walked the crowded streets with Peter and my friend Rebecca, trying not to lose each other amidst the frenzy. I wrote about how when the boats passed by with their pounding music, I secretly wished for one with classical music, excellent food, and a place down-below to go sneak in a nap. What a difference a year makes! This year, thanks to my friend Lauren, organizer-extraordinaire, I was out on a boat myself. This year, instead of standing on shore peering inside the passing boats, I was inside a boat looking out. It was a very different perspective. We did have excellent food, just like in my dream boat, but sadly, we were without music. We had to rely on the kindness of the other boats' pounding techno music to sustain us. As is often the case with expat voyages, some of the other inhabitants on our boat consisted of visiting friends and family. At any given time, someone always has friends or family visiting. These visiting additions were lucky to have this canal-side view of this uniquely Dutch holiday. 

Here we are getting ready to set sail.

These guys must have been really happy to be bundled up inside those Tigger suits. It was windy and cold on King's Day. We were just happy that the driving rain that was predicted never really transpired. Well, not until the very end of the ride, anyway.  

Kapitein Pieter kept us on course throughout the four-hour boat ride. There were some tense moments when we docked to use the "facilities" and a disgruntled passenger on another boat wanted to march over our boat to get ashore. Pieter held his ground, although a lot of angry Dutch words were hurled at us before we went on our merry way. On a separate note, I think we won the contest for best food spread. Actually, it didn't appear there were many other contestants. I mostly saw beverages aboard the other boats. Their loss. 

This photo will prove to Peter's relatives that he does in fact still exist. Photo credit to Seanette for this rare photo op. Fashion credit to Vera for creating my orange tiara. I felt like a queen for the day. Peter took the first two King's Day photos, and a lot of other fantastic shots, too. That's why he is never in the photos.  

Anyone over a certain age has a hard time remembering that the holiday is called Koningsdag, or King's Day nowadays and it's celebrated on April 27, the King's birthday. The reason they have a hard time is because until 2014, there was a queen ruling the roost, so the holiday was Queen's Day and it was celebrated on her birthday: April 30 . In fact, there are some tourists who are using some outdated guidebooks who have shown up for the party on April 30, only to find that they literally missed the boat. The city, always on the lookout for people who are just a little off, will, however, kindly provide you with a belated celebration if you can prove you relied on outdated information. Only in Amsterdam.

In some ways, last spring feels like a long time ago. Our first year here was full of "firsts", and maybe that made the that first year go by just a little more slowly. Now, I'm doing most things for the second time, prompting many of you to comment that I could just redo the same ole blog posts, this time from my older and wiser perspective. So what have I learned after two springs in Amsterdam? In general, I'd say I don't sweat the small things as much this time around (and due to the mostly mild weather, I don't sweat much at all, unless working out). Whether it's feeling brave enough to jump on the bike for a long ride, or "in it" enough to be included on a King's Day boat, I feel a little more settled, a little more a part of life here. I looked around on that King's Day boat, and realized, "These people are my friends." It was a great feeling. And yet, I still feel a part of life at home. After news of Prince's death hit, I loved getting emails from old-time friends, sharing favorite songs and memories. Thanks, Sabrina for introducing me to this Prince cover of Joni Mitchell's A Case of You. Just beautiful. It brought me right back to our love affair with Joni Mitchell, and our more grown-up crush on Prince. 

In a true expat moment, that same week I was in a Zumba class, filled mostly with Dutch ladies of all ages. The teacher ended the class with this Prince song, and it seemed like every single lady knew every single lyric. So I'll leave you with this video version, lyrics included, so you can belt it out at the top of your lungs, too, in memory of Prince. Happy Spring to all of you. I hope your days of purple rain are few and far between.

I love this New Yorker cover. Just love it.

Even Casey has learned to take advantage of the rays of sunshine when he can. Photo credit to Ben for this outstanding shot of our favorite Amsterdam hond (dog). In just one short year, he has truly made Amsterdam his home. Still, I wonder if he ever has thoughts of the old days and the old places.