I'm going to be spending 2 weeks in Kampen, NL in July. Wondering if anyone is familiar with the area and has any suggestions. I'll be about an hour from Amsterdam, so I'm sure I'll be there during the weekend I'll be staying. So, besides pot and the red-light district, any ideas?
Borrow a push bike and do around some of the smaller villages , its like going back in time , small stores , canals with ducks :) , Hey maybe even catch a ride on a canal boat....
I went with a buddy on his delivery route one day and all the back roads were great ,
Zandvoort race track ( old F-1 track) is not far from Amsterdam ,......maybe there are some races there....
and the Indonesian food is pretty good , just look out for the "landmines" with the peppers in the food :)
Ohhh and speaking of "landmines" unless its got better everyone walks their dogs and lets it poop on the sidewalk , but no one picks up , so its pretty bad , This was in Den Haag 10-15 years ago , so watch your shoes !
I always had fun , the car swap meets were interesting but mostly motorbikes !
2 weeks will go by quick :)
See if you can get a tour of a restored windmill. People live in them. The tourist bureau is called the "V.V.V." Pronounced "Vey Vey Vey." Don't ask what that stands for.
There are lots of cool little museums in Amsterdam. I enjoyed the sex museum, torture museum, and especially the psychedelic museum. It was in the basement of this guys house. He used to live there but got hassled for having residential and commercial combined and the neighbors complained so he moved out and made it all museum. It’s not the most mind blowing stuff but his enthusiasm really sold it.
The Van Gogh museum, if you’re into art, was simply breathtaking.
Any idea how I can find an autocross, hill climb, or some other way to torture the rental car?
A hill in The Netherlands. You phunny.
A trip around Amsterdam canals on one of the small boats. Rental bikes to roll around. Train tickets are cheap and get you lots of cool places quick. Awesome museums. Lots of fun places and open fun folks.
The key question is, when? The second question is, what type of things do you enjoy?
The Zwolle area is not in my wheelhouse but other areas are. Do you plan to get around with a rental car or public transportation? My hit list would include A-dam, Utrecht, Gouda etc. If it was warmer weather, a trip to the tulip fields near Noordwijk and the tourist attractions in Volendam and Marken. Amsterdam or any historic city with canals, a decent cathedral, and square ("plein") will give you the impression of the Holland part of the Netherlands. Gelderland though? Who the hell knows what they do there.
There is a ton to see and do depending on your interests. Pot smoking you can do all over the US now and not many people do it in the Netherlands anyway.
DrBoost said:Any idea how I can find an autocross, hill climb, or some other way to torture the rental car?
Go drive to Germany and 'see what she'll do.'
In reply to TheGloriousW :
I actually started in Germany, and I had that XC70 topped out! Good times.
Netherlands was great. Flat, but great. The architecture was sinply stunning.
here are a couple videos I shot.
https://youtu.be/1c-c4xXSgAI
Here's another flight. About the 1/2 way point I lost signal because of the stone church I was behind. The drone paused, turned around, and searched for the signal. My heart was pounding! Then is simply returned to where it started from and landed!! Amazing.
https://youtu.be/nbLbi9HDQiA
Stick your finger in a dike.
In Amsterdam...
The Red Light district is being de-touristized. Unless you want to partake I am not sure what there is to see there now. Otherwise.... the Ann Frank house (definitely), Rijksmuesum, van Gogh museum, one of the markets to buy some cheap foreign junk, rent a bike and explore, eat some from friet by a Bram Ladage (patat orloog is my recommendation, mayo-peanut sauce-onions), a broodtje kroket for another snack, sit in an outdoor restaurant - eat and people watch, visit De Druif or de Ooievaar for a kopstoot (known as a boilermaker in the US)...
Find out what they call a Burger King Whopper.
Streetwiseguy said:Stick your finger in a dike.
Love me a good double entendre
In the 70s I worked for a company affiliated with a Dutch company. Every year one of our development people would go over for an orientation. Someone would drive our guy around for an afternoon and show him the country...in one day. The redlight district was still a thing then and everybody was taken by. The old fellow that accompanied my boss negotiated a “visit” for him. She offered to do the old man for 1/2 of the price for my boss. When he asked why, she said my boss was young and might want to go twice.
Streetwiseguy said:Stick your finger in a dike.
Get her permission first. :)
Rotterdam and The Hague are also great places to stop. Hague is the center of government. Very interesting place.
Most Dutch folks are remarkably friendly. You don't need to brush up on Dutch since most of them speak very good English, but they do tend to respond favorably to efforts on your part to know a few things. Above all, familiarize yourself with some road sign-type words. When you're out there on the road, knowing what they mean will save you tons of trouble and possibly death.
Netherlands is currently in this big fight in their government. While we're fighting left vs. right, their big dilemma is that they have too many road signs and no really coherent set of rules. In most countries (like the US for instance) you can travel from state to state knowing that you are allowed to turn right on red unless there is a sign saying otherwise. You always stay to the right side of the road. Lack of a stop signs implies yield, etc. The Dutch like to leave it to your imagination, and then control traffic with 40 signs at every intersection... most of them in Dutch... and none of them very intuitive for non-dutch-speaking folk. They use signs to make rules for every unique situation instead of making blanket rules that apply without the need for a sign.
Take this for instance:
So, you can probably guess that "verboden" means "don't do it," but what is the "it" they're telling you not to do? You see an arrow pointing up and to the right, then you see the bike and moped and wonder what "uitgezondered" means. Does that mean whatever you're not allowed to do is just if you're on two wheels?
In all of this hot mess above, that all means "no left turn, except bikes and mopeds." But it's a sign that has an arrow up and right. And funny words.
Sure, you get your share of the obvious signs, like this one which obviously means... um... don't be blue?
Then you have lovely things like this, which quite obviously say that the speed limit is 50, but absolutely NOT 50. (this is from a video game, but they really do look like this sometimes)
All I'm saying is... do your research. There is an app you can get for your phone that tells you what Dutch road signs mean. There is also a law that can put you in jail if you use your phone while driving. I can hop in a car in most European nations and the signs are pretty intuitive. Not NL. In Italy, they have roadsigns that are pointless because no one reads them. They just play bumper cars all day. In many of the Germanic countries, they all drive like very fast saints, because getting into an accident can cost you your license on the spot if you're at fault. In the UK, no one is sure how to drive, nor are they sure they ever got a license, but as long as you shake a fist at a bicyclist and knock one over occasionally, you are a respected citizen.
In NL... learn your E36 M3 before you drive there.
Curtis said:Then you have lovely things like this, which quite obviously say that the speed limit is 50, but absolutely NOT 50. (this is from a video game, but they really do look like this sometimes)
The crossed out sign mean you are leaving Middelburg and the 50 kph restriction is lifted. I am pretty sure there is the same type of sign in Germany.
The yellow sign is easy. Straight or right are your choices. There is no need to read. If you are on a bicycle you can do whatever the hell you want.
TheGloriousW said: If you are on a bicycle you can do whatever the hell you want.
Suddenly the Netherlands have gotten a lot more interesting.
Brett_Murphy said:TheGloriousW said: If you are on a bicycle you can do whatever the hell you want.Suddenly the Netherlands have gotten a lot more interesting.
Why?
That doesn't seem much different than North America
ShawnG said:Brett_Murphy said:TheGloriousW said: If you are on a bicycle you can do whatever the hell you want.Suddenly the Netherlands have gotten a lot more interesting.
Why?
That doesn't seem much different than North America
They have a law or two that basically state that if a bike and car are involved in an accident, the car driver is automatically at fault. I might not have that 100% correct, but that's the general approach taken towards bicycles, so you really don't worry about cars there when riding a bike. Thoroughly recommended way of getting around.
They have bike lanes between cities too ,
but I am sure there are Dutch rules on the bike path , .......
Curtis said:Streetwiseguy said:Stick your finger in a dike.
Get her permission first. :)
Rotterdam and The Hague are also great places to stop. Hague is the center of government. Very interesting place.
Most Dutch folks are remarkably friendly. You don't need to brush up on Dutch since most of them speak very good English, but they do tend to respond favorably to efforts on your part to know a few things. Above all, familiarize yourself with some road sign-type words. When you're out there on the road, knowing what they mean will save you tons of trouble and possibly death.
Netherlands is currently in this big fight in their government. While we're fighting left vs. right, their big dilemma is that they have too many road signs and no really coherent set of rules. In most countries (like the US for instance) you can travel from state to state knowing that you are allowed to turn right on red unless there is a sign saying otherwise. You always stay to the right side of the road. Lack of a stop signs implies yield, etc. The Dutch like to leave it to your imagination, and then control traffic with 40 signs at every intersection... most of them in Dutch... and none of them very intuitive for non-dutch-speaking folk. They use signs to make rules for every unique situation instead of making blanket rules that apply without the need for a sign.
Take this for instance:
So, you can probably guess that "verboden" means "don't do it," but what is the "it" they're telling you not to do? You see an arrow pointing up and to the right, then you see the bike and moped and wonder what "uitgezondered" means. Does that mean whatever you're not allowed to do is just if you're on two wheels?
Note - I don't speak Dutch, but I can usually decipher it as once you read it, it tends to be reasonably close to some Northern German dialects that I can mostly understand.
This one means "Attention - no left turn", with (I think) the exception of bicycles and mopeds - "uitgezondert" IIRC can mean "except". As you wrote.
In all of this hot mess above, that all means "no left turn, except bikes and mopeds." But it's a sign that has an arrow up and right. And funny words.
Sure, you get your share of the obvious signs, like this one which obviously means... um... don't be blue?
Standard European no parking sign, applies to the side of the road it is posted on. Means you can stop to let someone out, but not park.
Then you have lovely things like this, which quite obviously say that the speed limit is 50, but absolutely NOT 50. (this is from a video game, but they really do look like this sometimes)
All I'm saying is... do your research. There is an app you can get for your phone that tells you what Dutch road signs mean. There is also a law that can put you in jail if you use your phone while driving. I can hop in a car in most European nations and the signs are pretty intuitive. Not NL.
"Don't use your phone while driving" is pretty much the law in any European country, not only NL. They might just be a little stricter than others like Italy.
In Italy, they have roadsigns that are pointless because no one reads them. They just play bumper cars all day.
Road signs are advisory and/or minimum speed signs in Italy 
. Especially if you drive a recognisable fast car.
In many of the Germanic countries, they all drive like very fast saints, because getting into an accident can cost you your license on the spot if you're at fault.
Not unique to Germany/Switzerland/Austria. They can and will seize your license immediately for certain offenses in a lot, if not all of the EU countries.
Heck, if you're speeding in France on a foreign license, they'll escort you to a cash machine on the spot if you're from certain countries like the UK, and won't hand you your license back until you pay the fine on the spot.
In the UK, no one is sure how to drive, nor are they sure they ever got a license, but as long as you shake a fist at a bicyclist and knock one over occasionally, you are a respected citizen.
Don't confuse your average London Uber driver with the way the rest of the country drives . That said, noticing any kind of two wheeled vehicle is something that they only do in the summer months. It's the country of SMIDSYs[1]. And a lot of bicyclists, especially in London, don't seem to be aware that the rules of the road apply to them.
[1] "Sorry mate, didn't see you". Lost a couple of motorcycling friends to that.
When I was in Amsterdam, it was explained to me that bicycles have the right-of-way but if you're standing in the middle of the road and get hit by a car / bicycle / tram etc, it's YOUR fault.
Seems like the correct way to handle things but what do I know?
stroker said:Find out what they call a Burger King Whopper.
Seriously, nobody got this?
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