No Guns. No Croissants.

Considering a trip to Bulgaria. During my preliminary research I ran across a post of this photo, which made me laugh out loud. No guns, dogs, mobile phones or croissants allowed? God help us if people storm the place brandishing fresh croissants. Well, at least they have not forbidden glazed donuts, I would hate to proceed completely unarmed.

Buckle your boots for a bumpy ride.

Today I learned that returning faulty merchandise is a lot more of a nuisance here than it is in the United States of America.

Americans give outstanding service. I took it for granted until I moved here, but Americans are very keen on keeping their jobs, and it shows. They are also intent on keeping their customers, so they treat them well, because competition is stiff in America. You have to be better than the next guy, or you go under.

As an American, I find the attitude of many Dutch merchants baffling. Many clerks and even shop owners themselves project a demeanor of disinterest as to whether you are there or not, whether you buy or not, whether you have a nice experience or not. To me it seems that many Dutch shopworkers are not very interested in working. When a store here closes at 6pm, that means that the employees are on the sidewalk by 6 pm. As a customer, you may be subjected to exasperated glares if you step into the shop fifteen minutes before closing.

So, I suppose I should not be surprised that my efforts to exchange my defective boots today were foiled. Days after buying boots at Te Invito on Leidsestraat a decorative strap fell off of one of them. Let's have a cultural lesson in retail practices:

Exchanging boots in the USA

American consumer: Hello, a piece of this boot came loose a few days after I purchased them. I have the receipt. Could I please exchange them for another pair?
American retailer: Of course. We are sorry for your inconvenience.

********************************************************

What happened when I tried to exchange boots here in Amsterdam today.

Me: Hello, a piece of this boot came loose a few days after I purchased them. I have the receipt. Could I please exchange them for another pair?
Retail clerk: I can't do that. I need to get the manager. (leaves to retrieve manager)
Retail manager: We need to see if we can order the part and put it back on the boot.
Me: Can't you just give me other boots? (Clerk and manager laugh as if I have just asked them for a free leather coat)
Me: How long will this take? I really want to wear these boots.
Retail manager: It depends. We have to call headquarters and see if they have this part and if we can put it back on.
Me: Okay, well I'll check back next week.
Retail manager: (panic-stricken look) It's better if we call you, then you don't have to trouble yourself for nothing.
Me: (I say the following lightly with a smile, while simultaneously shooting him a look that says, 'Buddy, you really don't know who you're dealing with') "Oh, well I won't trouble myself, but if I"m in the neighborhood I'll just stop and check." (yeah, you'd love for me to disappear until you call me wouldn't you)
Retail manager: (slightly dejected) well sure, if you're in the neighborhood.(damn, I may actually have to address this issue)

He reluctantly gave me his name, and I can only hope that Paul and I conclude our business soon. Stay tuned, and buckle your boots, 'cause I'm preparing for a bumpy ride!

Oh puhleeeze! You have my money and I have a pending problem. What is wrong with this picture. I was so floored by the "we will get the part" bit that I temporarily lost my ability to reason. That's okay. I'll have another chance on Monday, or Tueday, or Wednesday or Thursday...or gee, maybe he should just give me new boots and get on with his week. Ya think? Hmph. Yes. I believe Monday I'll let him know he can just give me my money back.


UPDATE: Well, only fair to tell the ending. I returned over a week later. Shock of shocks, the store had not found a replacement buckle that they could add to the boot. The manager found another pair of boots in my size, and exchanged them for the defective ones, exactly what I had wanted him to do in the first place. All's well that ends well.

Winkeling!

The Dutch word for shop is "winkel" and here I am after a recent successful afternoon of winkeling. When all is said and done, you just can't beat Hema, H&M and V&D for good bargains on trendy clothing. I found beautiful boots at Te Invito on Leidsestraat and really cool flats at a Dutch stored called van Dalen, also on Leidsestraat.

Pretty blooming tree.

This gorgeous tree stopped me in my tracks. Right at Noordermarkt, and across from what seems to be a lovely and lively cafe called Proust.

Mystery flower.

I just love this funny boxy frilly flower. I'm trying to identify it.

MeMe Monday 12 May 2008(delayed because of Pinkersdag)

The glorious weather continues, and none too soon. Man, I really needed to get some color.

Happy New Week everybody. Yes, My MeMe Monday post is late, so I've belatedly embraced the Pinkersdag holiday, which was yesterday, and I offer that as my feeble excuse. Apologies to all the legions of readers whose hopes were dashed when I failed to post for MeMe Monday yesterday. I will promptly refund your monies. What is Pinkersdag, you might ask, as have I. Why, it's just another name for Whit Monday, silly.

So...sez me, the American chick, what the heck is Whit Monday? Why, it's the holiday celebrated after the Pentecost. And if you don't know what the Pentecost is, you heathen, then just pack it in and go straight to hell. Right. I'll see you there.

Volks Tuinen Park Sloterdijkmeer

If you take the bike path that runs along the back side of the Westergasfabriek park it leads you past the Volks Tuinen Park Sloterdijkmeer. This is a little Faerie Eden of tiny garden home cottages. Everybody was out in their garden today, so I was unable to take any shots of the actual houses, and had to settle on the flowers along the path that rings this little paradise of an urbanisation.

Sculpture at WesterGasfabriek

I took my bike out to the Westergasfabriek again, and even rode a bit beyond that. The weather has been perfectly gorgeous the last two weeks, a very welcome respite from quite a long dreary winter. Until May, we were exiting the house wearing full coats and long undies. But now, wow. All the parks are full of people sunbathing, dog-walking, lounging, girl-watching, boy-watching, relaxing, having picnics. Ahhhh. It's intoxicating, almost makes you want to live here (-:

Frederik Hendrik Plantsoen

Wisteria in bloom

May 5 2008

I actually "did" my hair today. I rolled and gelled and dried and said magic words and voila, I can finally show you Rudy's work (captured by Brett Laumeister).

Rudy Kouwenberg is my new hairdresser and I love him and I will never leave him. He listens. He's friendly and warm and after my horrible hair experiences here in Amsterdam I am sticking to him like glue.

You'll find Rudy at Spuistraat 224 not far from the Dam (020 423 3733). He also runs a B&B, the Palace, which appears to be quite nice from the site's photos.

The weather the past few days has been unbelieveably gorgeous. I just can't get off my bicycle. I find wisteria to be one of the most enchanting flowers, and it's blooming all over the place here now. I went a bit further than Brouwersgracht yesterday, and explored the Westerdok area. What a great place to catch some sun.

This interesting scene I saw over at the west end of Brouwersgracht. A nice example of new and old Dutch architecture, and I love the wooden boat.

On Saturday I checked out the WesterGasfabriek and marveled at the huge open sunny space there, with a water dipping thingy for the kids even! It's so nice to see people enjoying public spaces, and here they do. The Dutch are mad for sunlight, and you will find them in any sunbeam, no matter how public.

City residents set up little tables with wine and cheese right out on the public sidewalk. They sit there reading the paper, doing paperwork, visiting with friends as if they are in their own living room, and nobody blinks an eye. I'm dying to get a snapshot of this activity, but perhaps a bit paradoxically, Amsterdammers are private folk, and I sense they would be none too keen to be photographed as though they were a zoo exhibit. Still, it's a goal of mine to snag a shot of this sun-madness.

There is even a humorous ad campaign at the moment where a young man taking a driving lesson curses the sun as it blinds his view. Cut to the shocked expression of his instructor, cut to neighbors gossiping in a coffeeshop, cut to his family stricken in shame, trying to explain themselves. The instructor reprimands the youth and demands that he apologize...to the sun. The startled youth murmurs, "sorry, zonne" and everyone in the ad breathes a huge sigh of relief. This is the rainy dark cold cloudy Netherlands. There will be no cursing of the sun here, by God.

Queen's Day - Amsterdam 2008

On the right, folks checking out the street sales and Dutch flags flying. Yard sales are unheard of in the Netherlands, but on Queen's Day everybody is permitted to sell things.
I barely caught these orange hot tub guys before they disappeared under a bridge. Then, my camera battery died. The guy below found an innovative way to carry his QD street purchase home....Um...not sure why this text is all underlined. Also peeved that I am unable to arrange these photos to my liking, but I guess I get what I pay for. I'll deal.

The weather cooperated for this Queen's day and a lovely time was had by all. Only 20 police arrests, same as a normal weekend. Pretty amazing considerng 500,000 people were added to this city of 700,000 for one celebration. Reports say we're 100,000 less than last year, probably because of cloudy skies. I spent this QD in Jordaan, and if you want the real Dutch experience, I suggest you go there instead of any of the big pleins. Lively and crowded, but with a gentle smiling atmosphere. I saw a female drum corp, several impromptu small singing groups, barbecued sausages, raw food muffins, caphirinas (oh yeah, had a few of those), japanese pancakes, exotic teas, a great stage band playing 80s favorites, drag queens, lots of orange cowboy hats and smiles smiles smiles. I bought a CD from an older sing-along Dutch group, "Het Zwanenkoor" that was performing in the street, then I bought a cloth bag from India for ten euros to carry it home in. Hoera voor Nederland! Hoera Oranje!!! (shot of me by Brett Laumeister)