Also, outside the city center (which is full of tourists, even from other places in Europe), the average Dutch person is... noticeably tall. That said, there are many Dutch people with Surinamese heritage and immigrants from Morocco and Turkey who do tend to be smaller.
Despite a median income around $30k, basically everyone you see in public carries themselves like an American upper middle class person. Not only was nobody homeless or heroin-addled, nobody was even "people of Wal-Mart" trashy or "fuck da police" transgressive. It was weird. Nigh universal respect and orderliness. Based on reputation, more like what I'd expect of Singapore. My only brush with something that felt even a little like "underclass" was the southern end of the Maastunnel in Rotterdam. If it's tolerance, it's a very different brand of tolerance from the one we have in San Francisco.
Based on my "research" the Dutch are actually very into rules, enforcement, and conformity.
Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022Liked by Noah Smith
Dat is NIJNTJE ! She was conceived by a Dutch illustrator, Dick Bruna. He created many books with pictures and verses, telling stories about things that happened in the little rabbit's life. He also wrote stories about a second character he created, a female pig called Betje Big.
Wonderful you liked "my" Amsterdam, the only place that felt "home". Studied there, fell in love, etc.
Of course there are criminals in A'dam. It has its own underworld. The "seediest" places are the safest, as the pimps protect their territory with a heavy hand. Ordinary people are always bewaring of pickpockets, bicycle thieves, and low-lifes breaking open automobiles.
As a large number of inhabitants is a (kid of a) newcomer the average height of the people of A'dam went down.
I hope you ate a kroket ? Out of a wall ? The thing Dutch expats miss the most.
Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022Liked by Noah Smith
Good take. I've always liked Amsterdam as well, although for such a lovely, culturally rich and aesthetically pleasing city, I've always been struck by the comparative paucity of really good eating establishments there. Noah's observations about the food were spot on here, but I would add that the Indian and Indonesian food is of pretty high quality (not surprising in the case of the latter, considering that Indonesia was a Dutch colony).
Not a big fan of herring, although the Dutch cheeses are nice as is the smoked eel. I confess, however, that my enjoyment of the latter was compromised by a particularly extreme night of drinking Heinekens, chased with down with some Genevers, which is a whiskey-like triple distillate made of corn, wheat, and rye, the combination of which made me drunk and sick as a dog by the end of a particularly fun evening with some Dutch friends. Everything I ate that evening, esp the smoked eel, was gone before the night was over. My hangover the next morning still causes me pain when I think about it :-)
I'm sure the Dutch don't get as badly affected by this combination because they're all so damn tall and have the capacity to absorb so much more, God bless them.
The government is very conventional neoliberal in its economics. More austerian than the Germans in many respects.
Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022Liked by Noah Smith
Enjoyed the observation about Americans seeing the "old centers" of cities in Europe. This is something I've thought about; there isn't really major a US city that has at its center a significant zone that is dedicated primarily to serving tourists. New Orleans probably comes closest, and even it has an office district right next to the tourist zone, and many tourists go there or pass through it.
There are, of course, US cities that have lots of tourists in the city center (NYC, DC, SF, Boston, Chicago), but in these cities the tourists are mixing in with local office workers in a general-purpose commercial zone. Some European cities are like this, too - London and Berlin come to mind. And I think there are a few, like Stockholm, that have the "office/commercial district right next to the tourist zone" thing. But where are the office workers in Lisbon, Copenhagen, Prague, just to name a few cities I've visited? I honestly don't know. I'm sure they're somewhere, but I hardly saw them.
Upon edit, an unrelated addendum: I've never been to Amsterdam, and the infrastructure and culture could be different, but cyclists and pedestrians seemed to coexist quite well in Copenhagen from what I saw.
The Amsterdam main train station is like a cathedral to me: it gives me faith in a better humanity.
I love Amsterdam but when I am there I drink Belgian beer, eat French cheese and German chocolate. The pastries are good but I found it hard to get a really good meal.
Last time I stayed pretty far out (maybe 4km) from the center in a hotel and spent most of my time in a post-WWII neighborhood with almost zero tourists. Made me want to live there even more.
The rabbit to whom you refer is called Miffy, which was created by Dutchman Dick Bruner in the 1970s. I think she’s popular in Japan, but she’s as Dutch as Gouda.
I have been to Amsterdam for a decade, but I have fond memories. My mother's family emigrated from Holland in the late 19th century. There's something about the good-natured stubbornness of my mother's family that I felt when I was in the Netherlands. Blond giants who think disagreeing with them is a good joke. A Dutch cold-cut buffet is the best breakfast on the planet. As a dedicated bicyclist, I envy the Dutch.
I also visited the Netherlands for the first time earlier this year. Amsterdam lived up to expectations, but I really loved Rotterdam. The modern architecture and skyscrapers were a nice contrast to the more popular historic European cities I've visited, and I thought the bike infrastructure was better than AMS. It was also nearly devoid of tourists and was a nice glimpse into multi-cultural Northern European urban life. Reminded me of an American city in some surprising ways (especially the ethnic diversity) and I had some really great Turkish and Surinamese food. Wouldn't mind living there.
When I was in Amsterdam I felt the “street food” scene was seriously lacking. A lot of Fries, cold cuts, and hot dogs, all of which are easy to find in America at a high quality. Can’t speak for other places I guess, but it’s really easy to find a good ass ham sandwich in the Philly or NYC area. Pretty much any corner deli will get the job done. I know it was prob a bad choice, but the burger I got in Amsterdam was also one of the worst meals I’ve ever had. The waffles on the other hand, were incredible everywhere I had them lol. Incredible city all in all, and I’m certain there’s good food to be had, just not as easily as other cities i suppose.
Always interesting to get an outside perspective on your city! Of course, almost all of this is wrong, but only in the way that driveby travel observations like this always are, and they do generally contain nuggets of truth. Anyway, some responses as an expat living in Amsterdam for several years:
1. The 'old center' is not really the central hub of the city for Amsterdammers. It has been largely abandoned to tourists. So you're right to suspect you were getting a distorted perspective. The focuses of local life are in the ring of neighborhoods immediately outside the oldest part of the city: places like De Pijp and Oud West (the Jordaan is sort of a buffer zone, frequented by both tourists and locals).
2. These areas have much better food! Including the cuisines you mention -- two of the biggest immigrant communities are Turkish and Moroccan so there's no shortage of great Middle Eastern food, for instance. I'd really recommend that visitors to Amsterdam venture just a little outside the very center for dinner.
3. You hugely overstate the degree of tension between cyclists and pedestrians. In reality there is almost none. What does exist is conflict between cyclists and *tourists* who aren't used to being in an environment with so many bikes flying around. A lot of people find this intimidating at first but you get used to it pretty fast and Amsterdam is very pleasant to walk around once you've developed an instinctive awareness of bikes.
4. Dutch politics is incredibly complicated but you're right that it might feel a bit retro overall from an American perspective. Distinct currents of wokeness and populist rightism are emerging, however. Two small parties that recently entered parliament are the ultra-woke Bij1 and the covid-denying, Putinist FvD. There was also a wave of right-wing 'tractor protests' over the summer beating a strong resemblence to the Canadian trucker protests.
5. I'm sure you're aware of this but the weather is not always cool and misty! In fact, we just had the sunniest spring on record followed immediately by the sunniest summer on record. Climatologists expect that climate change will continue to make the Netherlands steadily sunnier over the next few decades.
Miffy is Dutch!!!
Also, outside the city center (which is full of tourists, even from other places in Europe), the average Dutch person is... noticeably tall. That said, there are many Dutch people with Surinamese heritage and immigrants from Morocco and Turkey who do tend to be smaller.
Despite a median income around $30k, basically everyone you see in public carries themselves like an American upper middle class person. Not only was nobody homeless or heroin-addled, nobody was even "people of Wal-Mart" trashy or "fuck da police" transgressive. It was weird. Nigh universal respect and orderliness. Based on reputation, more like what I'd expect of Singapore. My only brush with something that felt even a little like "underclass" was the southern end of the Maastunnel in Rotterdam. If it's tolerance, it's a very different brand of tolerance from the one we have in San Francisco.
Based on my "research" the Dutch are actually very into rules, enforcement, and conformity.
https://dutchreview.com/culture/doe-normaal-a-dutch-concept-and-term/
https://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2015/01/19/no-65-social-policing/
Dat is NIJNTJE ! She was conceived by a Dutch illustrator, Dick Bruna. He created many books with pictures and verses, telling stories about things that happened in the little rabbit's life. He also wrote stories about a second character he created, a female pig called Betje Big.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Bruna
Wonderful you liked "my" Amsterdam, the only place that felt "home". Studied there, fell in love, etc.
Of course there are criminals in A'dam. It has its own underworld. The "seediest" places are the safest, as the pimps protect their territory with a heavy hand. Ordinary people are always bewaring of pickpockets, bicycle thieves, and low-lifes breaking open automobiles.
As a large number of inhabitants is a (kid of a) newcomer the average height of the people of A'dam went down.
I hope you ate a kroket ? Out of a wall ? The thing Dutch expats miss the most.
Good take. I've always liked Amsterdam as well, although for such a lovely, culturally rich and aesthetically pleasing city, I've always been struck by the comparative paucity of really good eating establishments there. Noah's observations about the food were spot on here, but I would add that the Indian and Indonesian food is of pretty high quality (not surprising in the case of the latter, considering that Indonesia was a Dutch colony).
Not a big fan of herring, although the Dutch cheeses are nice as is the smoked eel. I confess, however, that my enjoyment of the latter was compromised by a particularly extreme night of drinking Heinekens, chased with down with some Genevers, which is a whiskey-like triple distillate made of corn, wheat, and rye, the combination of which made me drunk and sick as a dog by the end of a particularly fun evening with some Dutch friends. Everything I ate that evening, esp the smoked eel, was gone before the night was over. My hangover the next morning still causes me pain when I think about it :-)
I'm sure the Dutch don't get as badly affected by this combination because they're all so damn tall and have the capacity to absorb so much more, God bless them.
The government is very conventional neoliberal in its economics. More austerian than the Germans in many respects.
Enjoyed the observation about Americans seeing the "old centers" of cities in Europe. This is something I've thought about; there isn't really major a US city that has at its center a significant zone that is dedicated primarily to serving tourists. New Orleans probably comes closest, and even it has an office district right next to the tourist zone, and many tourists go there or pass through it.
There are, of course, US cities that have lots of tourists in the city center (NYC, DC, SF, Boston, Chicago), but in these cities the tourists are mixing in with local office workers in a general-purpose commercial zone. Some European cities are like this, too - London and Berlin come to mind. And I think there are a few, like Stockholm, that have the "office/commercial district right next to the tourist zone" thing. But where are the office workers in Lisbon, Copenhagen, Prague, just to name a few cities I've visited? I honestly don't know. I'm sure they're somewhere, but I hardly saw them.
Upon edit, an unrelated addendum: I've never been to Amsterdam, and the infrastructure and culture could be different, but cyclists and pedestrians seemed to coexist quite well in Copenhagen from what I saw.
The Amsterdam main train station is like a cathedral to me: it gives me faith in a better humanity.
I love Amsterdam but when I am there I drink Belgian beer, eat French cheese and German chocolate. The pastries are good but I found it hard to get a really good meal.
Last time I stayed pretty far out (maybe 4km) from the center in a hotel and spent most of my time in a post-WWII neighborhood with almost zero tourists. Made me want to live there even more.
The rabbit to whom you refer is called Miffy, which was created by Dutchman Dick Bruner in the 1970s. I think she’s popular in Japan, but she’s as Dutch as Gouda.
I have been to Amsterdam for a decade, but I have fond memories. My mother's family emigrated from Holland in the late 19th century. There's something about the good-natured stubbornness of my mother's family that I felt when I was in the Netherlands. Blond giants who think disagreeing with them is a good joke. A Dutch cold-cut buffet is the best breakfast on the planet. As a dedicated bicyclist, I envy the Dutch.
I also visited the Netherlands for the first time earlier this year. Amsterdam lived up to expectations, but I really loved Rotterdam. The modern architecture and skyscrapers were a nice contrast to the more popular historic European cities I've visited, and I thought the bike infrastructure was better than AMS. It was also nearly devoid of tourists and was a nice glimpse into multi-cultural Northern European urban life. Reminded me of an American city in some surprising ways (especially the ethnic diversity) and I had some really great Turkish and Surinamese food. Wouldn't mind living there.
Great travel blog write up! Not stopping at Tokyo?
Go to a football match, Ajax v whomever, pal around postgame, down some Genover, maybe w/ a herring sandwich…Dutch love to party, …
Love your eating tips! Very true.
Amsterdam, though, is not a place I’d go out of my way to visit.
When I was in Amsterdam I felt the “street food” scene was seriously lacking. A lot of Fries, cold cuts, and hot dogs, all of which are easy to find in America at a high quality. Can’t speak for other places I guess, but it’s really easy to find a good ass ham sandwich in the Philly or NYC area. Pretty much any corner deli will get the job done. I know it was prob a bad choice, but the burger I got in Amsterdam was also one of the worst meals I’ve ever had. The waffles on the other hand, were incredible everywhere I had them lol. Incredible city all in all, and I’m certain there’s good food to be had, just not as easily as other cities i suppose.
My sister in law goes to uni in Amsterdam. The Dutch are not super into foreigners, but they’re friendly enough.
Miffy is Dutch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miffy
Was that an intentional mistake ?
Always interesting to get an outside perspective on your city! Of course, almost all of this is wrong, but only in the way that driveby travel observations like this always are, and they do generally contain nuggets of truth. Anyway, some responses as an expat living in Amsterdam for several years:
1. The 'old center' is not really the central hub of the city for Amsterdammers. It has been largely abandoned to tourists. So you're right to suspect you were getting a distorted perspective. The focuses of local life are in the ring of neighborhoods immediately outside the oldest part of the city: places like De Pijp and Oud West (the Jordaan is sort of a buffer zone, frequented by both tourists and locals).
2. These areas have much better food! Including the cuisines you mention -- two of the biggest immigrant communities are Turkish and Moroccan so there's no shortage of great Middle Eastern food, for instance. I'd really recommend that visitors to Amsterdam venture just a little outside the very center for dinner.
3. You hugely overstate the degree of tension between cyclists and pedestrians. In reality there is almost none. What does exist is conflict between cyclists and *tourists* who aren't used to being in an environment with so many bikes flying around. A lot of people find this intimidating at first but you get used to it pretty fast and Amsterdam is very pleasant to walk around once you've developed an instinctive awareness of bikes.
4. Dutch politics is incredibly complicated but you're right that it might feel a bit retro overall from an American perspective. Distinct currents of wokeness and populist rightism are emerging, however. Two small parties that recently entered parliament are the ultra-woke Bij1 and the covid-denying, Putinist FvD. There was also a wave of right-wing 'tractor protests' over the summer beating a strong resemblence to the Canadian trucker protests.
5. I'm sure you're aware of this but the weather is not always cool and misty! In fact, we just had the sunniest spring on record followed immediately by the sunniest summer on record. Climatologists expect that climate change will continue to make the Netherlands steadily sunnier over the next few decades.