Road Trip

Note to self: don’t bike from Amsterdam to Marken. It looks far on the map, it is far. But, you get some pretty great photos out of it.

After hitting the Coffee Festival, Rachel and I had planned to wander around Noord, or North Amsterdam, which lies across the IJ (pronounced ‘eye’ and yes, both letters are supposed to be capitalized) River from the main city. This in itself isn’t a huge undertaking- we had already taken the ferry over to the festival, and it was one of those perfect, cloudless days- something rare in Asmsterdam.

My baby while I was in Amsterdam. You can not get around the city without a bike. If you’re studying abroad in Amsterdam, or anywhere in The Netherlands, here’s a few tips for buying a bike:

1. DO NOT buy a new bike. It will get stolen, probably less than 24 hours after you buy it (I’ve heard all the stories, people).
2. Don’t pay more than 100 euros for the bike, locks, lights, etc. I paid 60 euro for my bike, plus an extra 10 euro for two lights and a lock.  The lights were a little crappy (one fell off while I was biking and I McGuyver-ed it back on using a hair tie), but you get what you pay for. Don’t spend too much money on your bike, because….
3. It will probably get stolen. I somehow managed to go an entire semester without ever having my bike stolen (insert praising hands emoji), but I know several people who had their bikes stolen, and some had 2 or 3 different bikes stolen! It’s just a fact of life in Amsterdam. Which is why…
4. Don’t buy a super nice bike with all sorts of features. It just needs to get you from Point A to Point B. You don’t need a race bike or any gadgets. All you need is a solid lock that can’t be cut open easily, and you’re good to go.
5. Buy it at a flea market. I bought mine at Waterlooplein since it was right by my apartment, but any big flea market in the city will have bikes. If you buy it from a rando on the street who asks you if you need a bike, they probably just stole it and want to get rid of it quickly. I know I said to buy a cheap bike, but if someone walks up and asks if you want to buy a bike for 10 euros, keep walking.

Now that my little bike lesson is over, back to our trip.

We followed the IJ River down towards Nieuwendam, a little village that is still part of Amsterdam. So. Adorable. Rachel and I slowly pedaled down the cobblestoned streets, stopping every block or so to snap a photo (or ten) of the houses. 
   

Can I move here???

If you have ever noticed that some Dutch houses appear to be leaning forward, they are- and it’s on purpose. Before elevators, people needed a way to get furniture upstairs. Since staircases in the Netherlands are usually tiny and windy, the ever-resourceful Dutch figured out that they could haul the furniture up from the street using a rope and pulley. There aren’t any in these photos, but most Dutch houses have a long post that sticks out straight from the roof, with a little hook that hangs over the street. To keep the goods from banging against the facade of the house on the way up, some houses lean forward a little in the front, so that as the furniture is hauled up it won’t smack into anything!

Yes, those are horses in the yard. We’re still technically in Amsterdam!!

After winding through Nieuwendam, we made our way onto Durgerdam, a smaller village on the outskirts of the city. Durgerdam was really our goal for the day, as it seemed farther than it was. The main street of the city, Durgerdammerdijk, runs along the water, with all the houses facing out onto the water.

When we realized how far we had gone in such a short amount of time, we decided, hey, why not keep going? I blame the beautiful weather and all the coffee, but either way we were pretty eager to explore.

After a quick glance at the roadsigns, we originally planned to bike to a village that we could see in the distance. But then, we had a different idea- let’s bike to Marken! My roommate had done it before, and we figured, why not?

Gearing up for our long ride.

We mostly traveled along that skinny stretch of land, the water on either side of us, for several kilometers (Marken was only 13k away, which seemed short at the time, since we had already gone so far). We finally hit another village, and I’m not sure what it was called, but it reminded me of all the little neighborhoods out in the Hamptons- New York was originally Fort Amsterdam, after all.

Finally, after wondering if we would ever get there (our energy was fading), we arrived in Marken!! And were quickly greeted by a few new friends.

The town was even cuter than we had expected. After a quick stop for fries and ice cream (when in The Netherlands), and dodging a tour bus group that had just arrived, we locked up our bikes and wandered around on foot.

The edge of Marken.

We probably could have wandered around Marken for hours, but we knew we had a looooong bike ride back to Amsterdam (we tried getting onto the bus back, but no bikes were allowed). So, we said goodbye to our cute little fishing village, and headed back home.

But we made a few new friends along the way!

The cows were not amused by all of our snapping. Also, these are not zoomed in at all. That’s how close we were able to get!

Shoutout to Rachel for my favorite picture from probably the entire semester.

Our spontaneous little getaway to Marken was exhausting, but totally worth it. That’s what study abroad is all about- finding new places, especially within the country you’re studying. Sure, everyone can jet off to London or Paris or Berlin for the weekend, but I think it’s important to explore your own city and its surroundings. You may be tired and sore for a few days, but the memories you make will be more than enough. When else will you have the opportunity to live in another country, with endless opportunities to travel around it and see so many places that would never have made it onto your itinerary?

Was I exhausted after our trip? Yes. Did I bike to my favorite Thai place in Chinatown and consume an embarrassing amount of beef pad thai after this? Definitely. But was this one of my favorite days of my entire study abroad experience? 100%.