Getting Married in Amsterdam?

Amsterdam is a remarkable city. Our recent trip there in April assured Tim and I that there are many places in the world we could live, but there are a few places where we would very much want to live, and this place was one of them.

Our Wednesday evening travel itinerary had us arriving at the train station in Amsterdam at about 9:30pm. I didn’t think that the delay we endured, trying to locate the #4 Tram, would affect us too much. However, it was actually 10:30pm, considering the Netherlands’s time zone. So, when the Tram stopped at Prinzengracht and Utrechtsestraat, we were elated and very fortunate to find our hotel to be right on the corner; we walked in about two minutes before the attendant shut the doors for the night.

After checking in and securing our cute little basement, street side room, we made our way to Rookies near the Leidesplein district. We relaxed with a pint or two of Heinekin. What seemed like a few minues was acually and hour and they soon closed. There are a variety of cafes, coffee shops, pubs, bars and clubs, and they all have different regulations on what they can serve (coffee, hash, pot, alcohol) and when they can serve it (midnight, 1, 2 or 3am). It was our first night, so we stayed out a bit more and walked into a place called the Surprise Bar. And it was a pleasant surprise. The bartender was extra flirty, and I’m pretty sure he was straight, but just working the clientele, the music was ‘dancy’ and the place was heaving with a good mix of people. We were entertained by the attractive and playful bartenders, and then called it a night. It was a beautiful and peaceful walk home that evening, following the Prizengracht canal back to our hotel.

After breakfasting at our absolute favourite spot, Aroma, near Leidesplein, we spent the better half of Thursday morning planning and reserving our upcoming tours; we rewarded ourselves with a stop at the Van Gogh Museum. It was an impressive place. I think I was most impressed by the layout. The first floor begins the tour with artists that influenced Van Gogh, moves onto his art on the next floor, and then finishes with comparisons between his contemporaries and artists that were influenced by him. I often feel like I don’t appreciate art—the material, psychological or aesthetic value-- the way I should, but I truly felt like I understood the important and the influences before during and after the era which the art we saw depicted.

Café Bern is a tiny little fondue place located in the Niewmarket (New Market), in front of the 15th century Waag, Amsterdam’s oldest surviving gatehouse—built in 1488. We had a seven o’clock reservation and joined a Dutch couple at their table. Even though people are speaking a different language, you know when they are talking about you. This was the case with this couple, but they meant no harm, and I think the gay of the two (because they eventually told us) probably thought we were cute Americans. Oh, is that vain of me to say? We were able to cook our own thinly sliced steak over a burner on a plate with a mustard sauce while we nibble on amazing cheese--we’re in Holland--AMAZING cheese and bread. A nice bottle of red wine completed our dinner delight and a very romantic night.

Before we left Scotland, we made plans to meet two of the students, from Dalkeith House, who were also going to be in Holland, for a pint. Rookies was an easy to find destination. We met Danny and Matt and spent the evening talking about the city, the sights and first impressions of city. A quick trip to the Surprise Bar, because we had to share the quirky little place, and then they left us to check out the Red Light District, because they hadn’t been there yet! It was one of their birthdays, and I can only imagine what kind of 'fun' they got up to...I'll leave it at that.

Friday morning, after what we then decided was maybe one pint too many the previous night, we promptly found some coffee and some bread and cheese snacks at a little bakery on Utrechtsestraat, about half way between our hotel and Dam Square. Our trip to the Keukenhof, which literally means Kitchen Garden, departed via coach from Dam Square. It would be difficult, to say the least, to accurately describe Keukenhof, without over simplifying or devaluing the beauty we observed. There were miles and miles of flowers, tulips, hyacinths, mums and more and literally hundreds of colour and type varieties. I told Tim that after seeing such a wonderment, he would never, ever be satisfied with any future garden of ours. Timely in our trip, we were fortunate to visit the bright and vibrant farm during the peak week of bloom. Magnificent!

We started our evening plans, after a little nap in our hotel, which, by the way, has really grown on us by this point as an ideal place in an ideal location. It is on a beautiful canal full of house boats and right near a park and the quaint Café Marcel. We made our way to Roondvaart canal Tour Company. We had a candlelight and canal tour scheduled for 9pm. We were greeting by a beautiful young man named Krzysztof, who turned out to be our tour guide. He instantly fascinated the entire audience on the boat with his charisma and flawless lingual abilities—he spoke 7 languages fluently—Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Swiss and his native Polish.

The tour provided sights of the marvellous city by water, with wine and cheese and music. There was one downside to the evening, and that was having to share our table with two young American students, who were studying abroad in France. They insisted on ripping on the French and making gross generalizations about the culture and people, loudly, as most young Americans are, all while sitting next to a cute little French couple. They were not impressed and Tim and I were embarrassed. Aside from that, the tour was two hours of peaceful history and sights. Krzysztof made his way to each table to visit as much as he could between the history he was providing the 20 member audience. He mentioned that it was his one year anniversary with his husband, Bert, the next day, and that he was excited to have a day off from working. Naturally, I was intrigued to find out more about his marriage; Holland is one of only 3 countries where gays can marry legally. When it was over, I approached Krzysztof and told him I had three questions for him.

One, “May we have our picture with you?” Yes, of course.

Two, “How easy is it to get married?” He said, hmmm, that’s a tough one, let’s go to the next question.

Three, “What language do you dream in?” He said, “When I’m in Poland, I dream in Polish, but here, it’s either Dutch or French.”

His charm was just hypnotic. We really wanted to talk more with this guy! He told us to give him 10 minutes, and that he’d chat with us outside of the boat. After he’d locked up, he brought us to nearby Irish pub and bought us a beer. He described the marriage process, and said that is was easier for him and Bert because Bert is Dutch, and the license and process were not too difficult to manage, but it might be difficult for Americans to attain. He did give us some web sites and information for a gay advocacy group that might be able to help us in the process. Tim and I are really in love with the idea of marrying there—it would be special to have that type of commitment. That led to conversations about inviting people to Europe to attend—would it be possible for some of our friends and family to make it over next summer? We exchanged emails and said our goodbyes. Tim and I, feeling ‘gay’ from the great time and conversation, wondered into our only gay bar of the weekend, a place called Spikers. Great music, a decent ambiance and the din various nationalities chatting each other up made for a good scene. We’d go back, and probably will on our next trip!

Saturday brought yet, another fabulous day of weather. Sunny and warm for the third day in a row, we were told it was a rare luxury. Being the nerd that I am, I wanted to do a self-guided walking tour. We started on Dam Square and proceeded to walk down the streets following the Singel, Keizersgracht, Herengracht, Reguliersgracht, Prinzengracht and Amstel canals. We saw beautiful 17th and 18th century architecture, gables ranging from the simple to the vary ornate—shell motif, dolphin ornament, unadorned and Dutch Renaissance styles, each reflecting the prevailing political, economic or cultural influences of the respective eras. We passed the famous Yum Yum brothel, homes of famous artists and foreign ambassadors—where we learned about a very drunk Peter the Great causing a bit of trouble for the Dutch Mayor (1716). The tour was full of stylistic homes and businesses.

Our trip ended, back in Niewmarket, with some gin and tonics at Café Fonteyn. We relaxed with our journals and the paper and then caught an evening flight back to Edinburgh. The city engulfed us for several days and will remain a favourite of ours forever.