Amsterdam!

As I posted in the previous entry on Antwerp, Belgium, I had originally planned to spend the night with Ellen in Antwerp and catch up with the ship the next day in Amsterdam. Then it turned into me by myself in Antwerp, then it turned into me sprinting back aboard the ship due to a botched B&B stay. Today is Saturday May 18, and we've left Amsterdam after almost two days. Amsterdam.is.fantastically.great.

The ship docked in Amsterdam about a half mile from the central station, so we were really close to the exciting parts of downtown Amsterdam. Basically, a 10-minute walk put us into the action. Ellen and her dad were on a trip to the Keukenhof tulip flower gardens. She and I had biked there from Leiden on our Amsterdam/Belgium beer trip in 2000, and I remember the acres and hectares of flowers. Europe has had a colder wet winter and spring than usual, and the flowers were in bloom now even in mid May, so they said it was beautiful. Jasper and I stayed behind and rested up a bit on the ship since he was getting over a stomach bug. I had plans to fulfill once everyone got back, too.

While Jasper's grandpa and mom were at the flower displays, Jasper and I hit the streets of Amsterdam. It was a bit drizzly but not too wet or cold, just typical Dutch spring weather, so the cyclists pedaling around seemed okay with it. Sure would be great if the US had infrastructure so that we could bike all around, but we'd also need trains, too, to make everything work like the Netherlands. The downside is, well, the bikes are not your typical commuter or racing road bikes but are drab and heavy–almost as if being built with extra tubes counts for anti-theft properties–in order to not stand out to get stolen or pitched in the canals. Most bikes had heavy security chains that could tow a semi truck, so I'm guessing theft is pretty commonplace, and then again there's the theory that they have to dredge the canals every so often because of all the jettisoned bikes...

Around mid afternoon, Ellen and Sandy returned from the Keukenhof, so we all met up to head out as a family. We're finding that the four of us often have varying ideas on what we'd like to do, so we first ventured out to the NEMO Science Museum which was about a two-mile walk until we figured out a shortcut across part of the dock system. Ellen, Sandy, and Jasper had a fun time at the museum while I headed off to the beer store I had researched beforehand. I had missed out on some bar time in Antwerp and was hoping to find the last and most elusive of the Trappist beers, the mythical Westvleteren. Beer Advocate, Rate Beer, and other beer sources have Westy at or very close to the top of the highest-regarded beers in the world, and in my years of beer geekdom I've read much about Westy. If you have connections or are resourceful, you can get it, but part of the rarity contributes to the desire for it. Westvleteren is an abbey where monks make a 6 blonde ale, 8 dubbel ale, and a 12 quadruple ale. If you live in Belgium, you can call up the brothers, give them your license plate number, set up an appointment, and pick up a case of what happens to be available at the time they tell you when to arrive. Evidently it's hard to get through on the phone, much less have a car and the time to head off to the abbey. As I understand it, the beers themselves aren't expensive, a few euros per bottle, but there are extremely limited quantities and the monks typically don't distribute the beer. Last year, there was a fundraiser to make repairs after a fire, so there were a few thousand "bricks" of Westy 12 and special glasses released in the US with a retail price of $85 for the package. That's about, say, $10 for the glass and $12ish for each beer bottle.

I've heard that bricks were snapped up as soon as they hit the US, so even during my beer shopping last year, I didn't bother to get on any waiting lists or try to hunt one down, so I never had seen one. If you're resourceful, you could find a trading partner in Belgium to mail some to you or order a few bottles when they occasionally show up in online beer vendors. I've heard the street price of Westies can be anywhere from $25 on up depending how desperate people get. Nothing to confirm it, but I've also heard that craigslist and ebay and other sites had asking prices of $500 for the Westy bricks. I'll pass at that price. I've had some delicious Belgian quads including Rochefort and St. Bernardus, but folks swear that it's worth the trouble to try Westy 12 if you can ever lay your hands on it.

Did I mention that Amsterdam is a bit touristy? There are the "coffeeshops" that don't sell coffee but specialize in pot to smoke or ingest in brownies or lollypops or pastries or vaporizers. Not that I'd actually know since Ellen and I skipped them on our 2000 visit and I wasn't about to hit up a coffeeshop with Jasper in tow. There are also blocks that have fairly prominent sex shops, peep shows, and ladies standing in storefront booths beckoning for customers in the world's oldest profession. It's a bit exciting, a bit sleazy, and a fascinating contrast between the garish sights and the old-world architecture.

Anyway, Amsterdam is a bit touristy with souvenir shops, tacky museums, canal cruises, and stuff everywhere catering to gawking folks. Based on the map I had, the beer shop should be close to the Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I've never really understood the attraction of paying the $30/25euro or whatever it costs to see fake wax mannequins of historical figures and semi-famous but outdated celebrities. Spice Girls circa 2001? No, thanks. Really. It was raining and I pushed past the Tussaud's crowd to walk down the street where I saw a stack of European plastic beer crates. Here it was, De Bierkoning. That's Dutch for BeerKing, I believe, and by gosh it was a hell of a beer store. Sorry if this post and the Antwerp post are both a bit heavy on beer and beer photos, but I know great beer and found lots of it. The shop had a stellar selection of Belgians, quite a few Dutch beers (including La Trappe quad which I have at home in my beer cellar; it's quite good but is a Dutch Trappist brewery rather than the more sought-after Belgian Trappist breweries), and a really surprisingly strong assortment of US beers. I had limited space for beers so I passed up the American brews, some of which I can't get on the East Coast, in favor of Belgian beers. I also passed up sours since we had picked up some Cantillon lambics in Brussels. The Cantillons were here, too, along with other hard-to-find sours, but I had to set a limit, so six small Belgians it was. I picked out a Kasteel Cuvée Du Chateau quad, Rochefort 10 quad, St. Bernardus Abt 12 quad, Pannepeut quad, De Dolle strong stout, and... drumroll... a Westy 12 quad. Whoa. This store had a few cases of Westy 6, 8, and 12. I'll be honest, the Westy cost as much as the other 5 beers, probably in the neighborhood of $20 for just the one small bottle, but this is the only one I've actually physically seen and wouldn't have to trade a vital organ to get.

I can't wait to try it. I'd love to bring it home but really doubt there will be room on our checked baggage, plus I'd hate to have it broken in transit. As I noted in the Antwerp post, the ship security holds on to alcohol and then returns it when you leave, and I hope that works out for us. I'm really optimistic I'll see those Cantillons, quads, and the Westy and get to try them in London after we leave the MV Explorer. Package in hand, I carried the six bottles back to the ship walking about 2 kilometers in heavy rain, cradling the plastic bag like a cuddly puppy.

Ellen, Jasper, and her dad were back at the ship, so Jasper and I had dinner aboard while the two of them went out for Indonesian cuisine. The meal was quite good Ellen reports, and perhaps one day I'll say I've had Indonesian. I've probably had similar on this voyage but not straight-up Indonesian food. Once they got back, Ellen and I headed to a bar which I'd also researched named In De Wildeman. Odd name, and it had a plaque out front with a caveman once we found it down an alley near some 420 shops and across from a BurgerBar. I've noticed that there are lots of to-go spots, and I suppose when everyone gets the munchies after shopping at the coffeeshops they hit up the snack spots. The bar was highly recommended on Beer Advocate (ding ding–yet another beer nerd mention) and looked to have been decorated at least 50 years ago with old beer paraphernalia, wooden kegs along the back wall, and a small woodstove. There were a mix of Europeans in the bar and a nice sizable menu with Belgian, Dutch, British, German, and US beers. Ellen and I sat at a four-top table for a bit before two gentlemen came by looking for a seat and I invited them to join us. They were from Norway, and much like Ellen and I, one of them talked and the other pipped in occasionally. It was a great conversation about politics in both Norway and America, what we like and would improve if we could, and what we like to see when traveling. Norway is small, the men reported, and they are glad to see Americans vacationing in Norway and during their European travelers. Definitely a world tour as we had Belgian pale ale, German smoked lager, Dutch witbier, and called it a night after discussing world politics.

Our second day in Amsterdam was a bit like the first. All four of us went to the Stedelijk Art Museum, which is a bit outside the central train station/dock area. Early in the morning, I walked to the train station, got four day-use tram tickets, then we boarded the tram to go to the museum. It's shaped like a bathtub on the outside and has 20th and 21st century modern art and design objects. Really nice. It's close to the Rijksmuseum which recently reopened after a 10-year renovation, so we skipped the crowd for that huge historic Dutch art museum in favor of the modern art. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

After the museum trip, we branched off: Sandy went to the Rijksmuseum, Ellen and Jasper went to the zoo, and I headed back to the canal/central station area. Once again, I used Madame Tussaud's as a landmark, this time finding the BeerTemple bar that I had seen on the tram that morning on the way to Stedelijk (plus, I had already researched it on Beer Advocate, big shocker there). This was also a great bar with a fair number of tap beers including some semi-rare Belgian, Dutch, and US beers, plus a strong bottle list. I got to try about 5 strong beers in small quantities, so it really suited the ticker in me. Also on the bottle menu were both Westy 8 and 12; I took a pass since I want to try my Westy on a rested palate, but I had an eclectic few beers including a Three Floyds/Mikkeler Hvedegoop wheatwine, a Spanish double IPA, a specially hopped Duvel, and a Left Hand imperial stout.

We reboarded and watched the buildings of Amsterdam fade out behind us as we now passed by chemical plants on our way onward toward Edinburg, Scotland. For now, ciao.

Bike parking lot.

Bathtub museum.

Van Gogh.

Picasso.

Chair.

Jasper Johns painting "Untitled". There's a broom in there.

Ducky bike.

Pass the ducchie.

Clocktower on the canal.

De Pelgrim Dutch beers. Ellen and I visited this brewery during our 2000 tour. Glad to see them on the shelves.

Glorious Westvleterens.

My haul at De Bierkoning.

Locks? by the canal. Not sure what this was about.

Part of the menu at BeerTemple. I could have had a Westy or two here but will have my Westy 12 at our flat in London if I get my beers back when we leave the ship.

Another part of the menu at BeerTemple. I passed on Dark Lord. The Hvedegoop was less expensive on tap.

Rainy streetscape.

Buildings along a canal. Some of them tilt outward so cargo, when it was offloaded back in the day, wouldn't bang against the windows as the ropes hoisted the cargo up to the attic.