Or “What’s Hemp Holland” if you know what I mean….I don’t know how to recap Amsterdam folks. Those of you following know I’m a little behind on synching the writing with where i’m actually at. Thats because this place threw me off, im just now recovering. I just got into Paris yesterday, but per the title, its going to be an attempt to blog about the Amsterdam experience.
We woke up early in London and took a couple of trains to get to a different airport then the one we arrived in, Luton. The airport is small and there were a few hicccups in understanding the meaning of “carry on” which caused Mike to lose contact solution and deoderant, but we made the very quick hour flight to Amsterdam without a problem. We took a train into town and walked to our hostel which according to the description, “overlooks the Red Light District.” Let your mind wander to what you think this mean in terms of the environment…Now multiply it by 10. It is all you can think of and 10 times more. Let me break it down:
CoffeeShops: Every other storefront is a coffeeshop, you can go and order coffee and marijuana like my mom goes to Starbucks and gets a scone. I knew it was acceptable in Amsterdam but I wasn’t expecting it to be so prominent.
Red Light Neighborhood: Composed of the streets where ladies make their living by practicing “the oldest profession in the world.”. Ladies are behind a glass door with a red light illuminating their young faces. Im just walking down the street, beautifully backdropped with canals and boats, but I can’t help but feel like i’m supposed to window shop or something. They’re waving, they’re smiling, they’re negotiating business with customers right in front of me. I wasn’t into the witnessing of negotiations, it took it past an interesting attraction to a car crash you can’t turn away from. I heard that out of the women working there, only a small percentage are from Holland. Many come from other countries to be a “madame” on the most famous district of the world, to be on the “Yankees” roster of all call girls, a team with switch hitters and all.
Waffle and Chips Stands: They are on every street corner, and are really tasty. The waffle with chocolate was my favorite
MPC ordered some “chips”
<;/a
A must see site was Anne Franks home. It was a very solemn but meaningful experience. It’s more than just looking in the secret annex that they hid in from the Nazi’s for over two years. The museum has done a great job of leading the visitor through the history of the family from the initial fear the Frank family felt and their desire to leave to the US, to their decision to go into hiding, to their eventual seizure and displacement to concentration camps where all except for the father met their fate. There is no picture taking inside the museum, it’s just a must see. The quotes from Anne Franks diary are written on the walls as you progress through the house. I read the book some time in the 6th grade or so but as an adult I appreciate the maturity and expression in her writing even more. At the end, there is a video interview of her father. There is a particular poignant quote from her father, Otto Frank where he makes a remark on camera, describing how despite the close relationship that he and Anne had with one another, after reading her diary after the war, “What her feelings were, I only could tell from the diary, and my conclusion is…..that most parents don’t really know their children…” Her actually diary is the climax of the tour, I was inspired to read it again, I encourage you to look into it as well. The exhibit was like I mentioned, solemn, but you leave with some hope for the future.
It was time for dinner at this point after lots and lots of walking around the Dam. It’s super cold in Amsterdam by the away….
Nothing like some cured Haring to get started:
Then I had pea soup which was delish and a pork cutlet with mashed potatoes which I devoured, and boiled carrots with cabbage which Michael ate because he’ll eat anything. Also, it was my first beer in Amsterdam, a Heineken of course. It’s now my new favorite beer. There is nothing like a fresh Heineken on tap from Holland, I don’t know if it’s the water or what but it was amazing and the first of many in this 44 hour trip.
Notice I don’t have any pictures of this meal. That’s because my camera decided to die and not return from the dead after I snapped a picture of the pea soup….the movie mode works, the panorama mode works, the regular photo mode does not work. It’s ironic that the camera decided to die in Amsterdam as in, “What happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam, Dummy!”
We had a really really funny experience at a McDonalds right after. The tears were rolling, we were hunched over laughing kind of experience but for that story, just ask one of us when we get back, its the kind to tell in person. We only wanted a Rolo McFlurry for goodness sakes!
It’s late, almost 11, but it was time to rally for our night out. We walked around (refer to red light district above) then ducked into a hells angel bar because of its glowing Heineken sign. That’s where we met Jonathan.
Jonathan and his wife were on holiday and it was pretty much their last night in Amsterdam. His lovely wife was not feeling like a late night party so he decided to have a beer on his own to the half hearted support of his wife. We sat next to him and struck up some conversation over a few glasses of Heineken. Jonathan is in the technology field. He met his wife in Thailand when they were on the same tour. They did some long distance courting since she is from Canada and he is from England, and then he moved to Canada and the rest is history. He used to have some fun in his day, so when Mike and I thought we would try another place, he asked to come with. He figured his wife was already telepathically, giving him the look of disapproval, so why not have some more fun. Made sense to us, so he joined in.
We went into this other little bar that had a DJ playing some cool house music, drank more Heineken, danced around, and the three of us had a good time. Its cool to see a European in their element. There is a specific dance move that i can imitate in person, but it was like the music was forcing Jonathan to dance, he couldn’t stop. It was awesome. Then we went to another spot called the Bulldog which was still opened at 2:30 in the morning and had…you guessed it, more Heineken. Here is our picture at the end of the night:
Don’t let Mike’s glass fool you, Jonathan and I had lapped him at this point. Ok so we walk to the hostel together, say our goodbyes, exchange email and blog info and called it a night. Phew…
And for those who don’t understand what Hup Holland means, which may be most of you except Heleen and B, it’s a chant that the folks from the Netherlands use to cheer on their soccer team. Day 2 tomorrow, and I’ll be writing about the country side and a meet up with a table full of Nicaraguan people!
Justine (tired)
<;/a
Posted with Blogsy
chicatravel 