buying a bike, trying old... by lutz1972
buying a bike, trying old cheese, take a cafe in the cafe de jaren, trying the brownies at gary's bagles shop, dancing in the reguliersdwaarsstraat on koningenendag, avoiding dam and leidseplein, strolling four hours through the city, shopping normal things on the Harlemerdijk .....Let's begin a long story ...First just remember always, originally I´m a German how moved to the Netherlands. That meens on one hand that I had little problems adapting the dutch culture nor language (speaking it within a month and loosing every accent after three month) but also on the other hand that you have to fight against a lot of prejustices and bad jokes ('where is my grandfather´s bike') .... if you are also of German nationality, don't be encouraged, these jokes will be payed back by the openess of the dutch people and is part of their humor ...
RENTING:
The most important tip in the beginning: Don't try to live in Amsterdam ! Therefore you have to have either very good connections (friends how are at least living their since 200 years) or a lot of money (somewhere about 2 MIO NLG). Otherwise you won't be able renting a flat. A girl von NY told me once that just London and NY are as expensive as A'dam in terms of renting a flat .... so be prepared living in Almere, Ijmuiden, Leiden, Hilversum, Oudekerk and being stuck in the traffic jam on the ring every morning ....
TRANSPORTATION:
You forget bringing your car with you ... leave it outside the city (best at the metro station 'Van Booshuizenstraat' as this is the last area where you don't have to pay at least around 50 NLG to park your car ... if you want to stay for a longer term, just sell it ... within a year it will be smashed three times, you will find at least five times ugly scratches from bike drives on it and will pay a fortune to park it (jsut to remember: if the police cath you without valid parking ticket you have to pay at least NLG 125 ...) Just buy a bike and use public transport if it is raining (and they tend to get really croweded than ...)
BIKES:
It's really essential to have one here ! The city is small but you need some mean of transportation to visit it ... and I swear: taking a bike your view on the city will change completely, if it is already marvellous from the ground, riding on a bike will be a unique experience ....