Dutch Treat (Conclusion)

There is a certain charm to a city that looks like it was plucked out of a theme park (but sans the rides). That is Amsterdam – with 100 romantic tree-lined canals, façades that look like they were etched in fondant icing, colorful tulips and cobble-stoned alleys.

But Amsterdam doesn’t leave you breathless, simply because there is no air pollution – people either take the bicycle or walk to their destinations. Thus, there is absolutely no traffic in the city.

When going around Amsterdam, do not miss Dam Square, the most famous square in Holland. You can go by train from Schipol to Dam Square (for about 3.5 euros, which is equivalent to P324).

On the square you will find the Royal Palace, built in classical Dutch style in the 17th century. Beside the Royal Palace is a 17th century Gothic basilica, where the Dutch sovereigns have been crowned. Curiously, it’s The Hague, not Amsterdam, that is The Netherlands’ seat of government.

From the square, you walk on the Damrak to the Renaissance-style Central Station (where you can take your train back to the airport and in front of which are terminals to the canal cruises around the city). The Damrak is lined by souvenir shops, a few sex shops (including a Museum of Sex!), and pubs. The Royal Palace, the Basilica and the Central Station are already great backdrops for photo ops, if you’re pressed for time (like I was last year, when my husband and I had but five hours to tour the city before our flight back to Manila).

This year, our group – Kathy Moran and this writer from The STAR and Maurice Arcache and Tessa Prieto-Valdes from the Inquirer, Dindin Monserrate of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Joy Abrogar of Baron Travel – had three days to enjoy the city that is 12 ft. below sea level. We were in Amsterdam on the first leg of a familiarization tour that also took us to London and Southampton, where we boarded the Freedom of the Seas, the biggest cruise ship in the world. We flew Business Class on KLM’s wide-bodied 777 for 14 pleasant hours straight from Manila to Amsterdam’s renowned Schipol airport.

Must-see’s and do’s

Take a stroll along Oudezijds Voorburgwal, a beautiful tree-lined promenade along another famous canal. On this street is the St. Nicholas Church, the oldest in Amsterdam. Flanking the canal are typical Dutch houses.

Don’t forget to pass by the house of Anne Frank at Prinsengracht 263 (Westerkerk), if only for its historical value and its familiarity. Who among us has not read or heard of the Diary of Anne Frank? The house is unremarkable from the outside except for the queues snaking along the pavement in front of it. Entrance fee is 7.5 euros.

See how the red-light district looks like. Also on this walking daylight tour of the city, our guide took us to the red-light district, upon the insistence of Maurice. It’s actually a pretty district, with narrow winding cobblestoned alleys and fancy old buildings. It’s called a red-light district because there are really red lights outside the show window where prostitutes display their form, much like mannequins in a department store window (although most prostitutes we saw were fat and aging.) When the curtain is drawn over the glass windows of their box, that means that they have a customer. Tourists ogle at them but taking their photos is an absolute no-no! Prostitution, by the way, is legal in Amsterdam.

Other places where "sins," as we traditionally consider them, are "tolerated" in Amsterdam are in coffee shops where smoking cannabis (marijuana) or having coffee and cake spiced with it is allowed. These coffee shops are generally identifiable by their smell, ambience (they’re small and usually dark) and the way their menus are written. The word "space" is usually in the cannabis-spiked items, as in "space chocolate cupcake." There are also lots of warning signs on the label. If in doubt and worried, ask the waiter. It’s not likely that your food or drink will be laced with cannabis unless you ask for it.

If regular brewed coffee is your heart’s desire, have an espresso in an outdoor café. There are in fact more outdoor cafés in Amsterdam than in Rome, although it rains more in Amsterdam. Unlike in Paris, you don’t pay more if you choose to sit inside the cafe.

Do not miss the Rijks Museum, a 260-room grandiose building that has Rembrandts and Vermeers, among many masterpieces from Dutch-born artists (Entrance fee is 9 euros.). About five minutes away from the Rijks is the Van Gogh museum, where I stood transfixed before his "Sunflowers." (Entrance fee is 10 euros).

A modern building in glass and raw cement, the Van Gogh Museum contains the largest, most important collection of Van Gogh’s works donated by his brother Theo and his son Vincent. The museum contains 200 of Van Gogh’s paintings and 500 of his drawings.

If there are museums dedicated to masterpieces, there is also a beer museum – the former Heineken Brewery. Entrance fee is 10 euros.

Visit a cheese store. We visited a cheese store where they slice your choice of cheese from a big round slab, wrap it in paper, then vacuum-pack it upon request. If lost in a maze of cheese, order aged farmer’s cheddar or Gouda. If shopping for cheese in the grocery, your best bet is the Old Amsterdam label. Aged cheese is sharp to the taste and chalky to the bite. It actually crumbles when you slice it.

(Another must-have in Holland is milk – Dindin says that on business trips to Amsterdam, she takes back to Manila cartons of Dutch milk – and wafer-thin Dutch waffles.)

Take a canal tour. It’s exhilarating. The ride is smooth, the waters clean and calm.

So what really is "Dutch treat" and how come the practice of separate bills when dining out has come to be known by those words? Our guide Nellien says the practice of separate bills in restaurants is really common among the Dutch, unless of course, you are a guest.

But Dutch treat takes on a different meaning after three days in Amsterdam. Whether it’s cheese or cannabis, dams or diamonds (there are several diamond factories and stores, including at Schipol) that excite you, going Dutch is truly a treat.

(KLM flies daily to Amsterdam. For inquiries, call 887-1202.)

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