A relaxing evening by the canal in Muiden

Post the KLM Golf Open, Pieter Elbers invited Raj and myself along with Paul for an early dinner. Knowing Pieter, he always takes us to unique places with awesome food. Yet again, he did not fail to deliver.

Dinner was at a quaint restaurant in Muiden which is famous for its fortress. I am given to understand that the Muiden castle dates to the 13th century and is one of the most visited sites in the Netherlands. It was built to protect the trade routes and possibly also to collect the toll. Unfortunately, we saw the castle from a distance and didn't have the time to visit it. Another reason for me to return. ;)

The restaurant was by the canal on the river Vecht and during the course of the evening we observed the boats passing through the lochs. Very interesting to see the road shift to one side to let the boats pass. The food was outstanding with very fresh North Sea Sole, scallops and prawns.

The view from the restaurant.

You can see how narrow the canals are.

Observe the road shifting to let the boat pass through!

The very fresh scallops and prawns with salad.

The North Sea sole off the bone. :)

The delightful company - Pieter, Raj, Paul and myself.

The river Vecht which runs through Muiden.

The vibrant sunflowers all over the place.

Instantly makes you feel happy.

The KLM Golf Open 2011

We were given a choice for the meeting with KLM at their headquarters early in the morning or later in the day at the KLM Golf Open at Hilversum. And I am sure you guessed what was our choice!

Raj and I were duly picked up from our hotel by Paul from the KLM Alliances team and off we drove to Hilversum for the event. It was about an hour's drive from Amsterdam through pretty much flat country which had a lot of sheep farms. It was a refreshing change from our busy, crowded city of Bombay.

The weather was a bit overcast and it drizzled a bit but as usual I think I took a little of the Indian Summer with me. For most parts of the afternoon, the sky was clear and the rain even stopped. It would have been a perfect day if there was a bit more sun. But then am not complaining cos I had a very nice time listening to the music from the Arrow tent, sipping on some lovely white wine, eating some delicious food and conversing with various airline people especially my dear friend Pieter Elbers who is now COO of KLM. Of course we tried to watch a bit of golf but then neither am I enthusiastic about the game nor do I understand it, so after a while I gave up. However as it is with most of these events, there is plenty to keep you occupied. The big tent called the Village had quite a few exhibition booths showcasing lifestyle products, golf fashion, golf vacations, food and drinks.

The bicycles are never far away!

I should have opted for the free golf lessons!

KLM trying to embarrass Raj into committing to Skyteam!

The actual tournament which was completely forgotten!

Don't miss the KAPUR in the leader's list.

I counted 3 Indians on the board.

12 hours in Amsterdam.............

What does one do if one has 12 hours transit in AMS? And if one has a Schengen visa? Of course go out and spend time in the city.



Tulips are representative of Amsterdam


Amsterdam is one of the most exciting cities in the world. No matter how many times you visit, there will always be something new to discover.

Getting from Schiphol airport to the Centraal station is very convenient. The train station is below the airport and there are frequent trains. Once you get out of Centraal, you are in the heart of the city and the action.

Centraal station itself is a beautiful building.

Amsterdam Centraal Station

Every city has huge car parks. Amsterdam is unique – it has bicycle parks and there are thousands of bicycles. I over heard a guide saying that there are 600000 bicycles in AMS; one for every person.

The bicycle parking

On the Saturday I was there, I saw thousands of people walking from the station down a road. So I decided to follow them as I guessed there was something happening. It surely is unusual to see so many people walking with determined purpose at 7 am on a Saturday morning. As it turned out, there was a walkathon organized from Dam to Dam (Amsterdam to Zandaan). Apparently 6000 people participated in the walkathon.

I followed the walkers for a while on their route which took them through the small streets of the city. Amsterdam is unique because it started off as a small settlement near the river Amstel. Over the centuries it grew to be an important trade centre. Today it truly is a global metropolis. There are over 1000 bridges linking the city which has many many canals running through it.

Canals, canals, everywhere.......

I am fascinated by the Dutch houses and am a keen collector of the little KLM houses. As I strolled leisurely through the city, I admired the beautiful houses – some very narrow, some ornate, some very old. It does intrigue you to wonder what goes on behind the facades. On an earlier trip I had taken a canal tour where they pointed out historical houses and explained that the houses were very narrow. Furniture had to be lifted up through cranes and taken into the houses through windows (and not the main front door). Therefore if you look carefully, most of the houses still have hooks at the top. I wonder if it still happens or does every use IKEA furniture?

I collect the mini houses on the KLM flights and it is fascinating to see some similar ones which are real.

The lovely Dutch houses along the canal

Interesting bench

The cycle forms a very important part of the lives of the Dutch

Wonder if you get exctasy in this cafe?

The church tucked away in the alley. But it is huge inside.

A church tucked away amongst the narrow houses. I almost missed it.

Luckily for me, Charlotte was free to meet me for lunch. She had classical singing classes in the afternoon. So it worked out perfectly for me that we got to spend sometime before she left for singing and I for the airport. We had apple and bacon pancakes. Never had the combination before but it was delicious.

Charlotte and her antique bicycle

Charlotte and me having apple and bacon pancakes.

At the airport, there is enough and more to keep one entertained. I love transiting through Schiphol airport. They have a smaller version of the Rijksmuseum where you can admire the Dutch masters.

You can admire the Dutch masters in the airport Rijksmuseum

And in the museum shop at the airport, I stumbled upon the Elephant Parade. In one of my earlier posts, I had written about the Elephant Parade in London. Amsterdam is another city that supports this project. However I only came across one elephant figure in the city.
www.elephantparade.com

Airports generally tend to be uncomfortable. But not Schiphol. There are lots of shops and lots of restaurants. There is a lot of comfortable seating where one can read the Airport Library collection of books on Dutch culture. There is also a piano where passengers can play and entertain others while killing time for themselves. I was lucky that the people who chose to play whilst I was there were proficient and we were enthralled by lovely classical and pop music.

The airport library

I was keen to see the Anne Frank museum on this trip, but unfortunately the museum was closed as it was a Jewish holiday. Disappointed I was but it just means that I will have to do it on my next trip to AMS.

Global Freeloading and Couchsurfing....................

Couchsurfing aims to bring the world closer one couch at a time. It is a great concept and I can definitely vouch for it. Check it out on http://www.couchsurfing.org/

How did I get to know of it? Eons ago, I had read an article in Jetwings about Global Freeloaders (http://www.globalfreeloaders.com/) where people hosted others or were hosted in turn for free. I immediately signed up and started to receive requests from travellers. However I was sceptical and did not respond to any of them. Why? Because I did not believe in the concept and there were issues on trust!!

About 4 years ago, I was in the midst of planning a trip to Europe commencing in Amsterdam. It was the Easter weekend and I could not find any cheap accommodation. I did not want to postpone my trip nor did I want to skip Amsterdam, so I decided to send out a message on globalfreeloaders. I sent out a request to about 17 people in AMS and I received only 1 reply. It was from a lady called Sigrid who offered her home to me for the entire weekend. The only catch was that she was going to be away and I had to be at her place by a certain time to collect the key. If I was to reach later, she would leave the key with her friend. I could not believe the email! I thought there had to be more to it than met the eye! Why would someone give me their home whilst they were away? I was nervous. Was she for real? Was it a trick?

Anyway, I gathered all my courage and I showed up at her doorstep at the appointed hour. My heart was beating away quite rapidly. But she was so sweet and so was her partner. She offered me a cup of coffee and explained how everything worked in her apartment as well as where all the essentials were kept. When I asked her if she had done this before, she replied that she was hosting for the first time and the reason she responded to my request was because she was planning a trip to India later in the year. Me being Indian was the connection that triggered off her generosity. Anyway, she and her partner left shortly thereafter and I had the entire place to myself for the entire weekend. It was in a central location in AMS and I found it very convenient. I left the key under her doormat at the end of my weekend and from there proceeded to Hamburg.

This incident proved to me that people are genuinely kind, caring and trusting. Sigrid made the trip to India but did not travel to either Bombay or Goa where I could have returned the favour of hosting her. She wrote to me saying that I was always welcome as I left her house cleaner than before!

Well on the same trip, I wanted to go to Vienna for another weekend. Accommodation in Vienna is also extremely expensive. Now having had a positive experience with global freeloading, I thought of trying it out once again. So I sent out a message to potential hosts in Vienna. I got a response from a girl who was a couch surfer who had in turn received my message from a global freeloader who I had contacted. Once again, being Indian was the trigger. Evelyn loves hosting people from India and she is an active couch surfer and hosts someone or the other almost every day of the year. She was a great host and took me around the city and introduced me to her friends.

Since then I have returned the favour by hosting 3 people - 1 global freeloader Angela and 2 couch surfers Cheryl and Sascha.

Angela

I think it is a great way to make friends, meet new people, discover other people's cultures and learn about their stories as well as experience a place through the eyes of a local. And the best part, it is for FREE!