Day 170: NEMO Science Center — Evan! — Stephan!
My lifelong friend Evan Freund flew into Amsterdam this morning for meetings starting tomorrow in Utrecht.
Margaret managed school for both kids, digging into three new logic games she picked up this week.
Evan and I had a long, leisurely breakfast and chat at Cafe de Pels. So great to catch up with him.
I gave Evan every possible out to explore the city without kids but he insisted on joining our full day of activities. So we rented bikes and caught up with Margaret and the kids plus Brandi and Ava at lunch at Bakers & Rosters before hitting the Nemo Science Center — a huge oxidized copper building designed by Renzo Piano to look like a ship at anchor in the middle of the harbor.
In the Uber on the way to the Science Museum, Margaret noted that there was a seatbelt alarm for the *back seat* of the car.
After a fun couple hours capped off by a Rube Goldberg demonstration the kids cooled off in the splash pool and fountains on the roof.
Then we all headed home — I had James on the front of my two-seater bike. We fought our way through rush hour. But man, biking in Amsterdam is so damn fun. It’s such a great way to experience the city.
We got a babysitter from Holiday-Sitters.com. She was a super nice girl named Madelyn originally from Philly, half Italian, lived in Barcelona and then moved to Amsterdam.
Margaret, Julia, Nate, Evan and I walked up the street to Cafe de Klos. Stephan Hein joined us and provided answers to all of our questions about this city. He’s a St. Albans ’99 grad and former colleague of Margaret’s who moved to Amsterdam a couple years ago. He’s given us a bunch of recommendations for our 5 days here.
My first question for him: are Dutch people jerks?
Background: I’ve had more not-so-friendly interactions here in Amsterdam with bartenders, waitstaff and retail employees than I’ve had in all of our other stops combined. It’s not everyone, and we’ve interacted with plenty of pleasant people. But it’s enough to wonder.
Stephan understood what we were seeing but chalked it up to a culture of being very direct and literal. Hmph. Not sure that excuses some of the attitudes I’ve encountered.
I think it also might be that the people here are just fed up with tourists. I get it. The place is swamped with foreigners like me.
You would think that they would appreciate the crowds because it’s good for business. But we also learned from Stephan that everyone is paid well enough that they really don’t rely on tips from a busy bar or turnover in restaurant tables.
It was a super fun night. We started with a couple gin and tonics at the bar across the street, then had ribs, steaks, baked potatoes and beers at a picnic table outside.
Evan headed out after dinner to catch a train to Utrecht. So great to intersect with him.
