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Published: August 25th 2010
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Hotel Nova
Where the red canopy is The Syracuse Study Abroad Eurovision seminar for group blue officially started in Amsterdam after a flight from JFK to Madrid and then on to Amsterdam. We only had an hour to make our connection in Madrid, so we had a exciting time running through the airport to the very last gate in the terminal, sweating up a storm along the way, and then sitting on the most cramped Airbus plane I have ever been on. There was no leg room and an armrest the size of a twig. But I was tired and pasted out most of the flight. (We were all curious as to why we didn't just fly straight to Amsterdam).
We arrived in Amsterdam around 11 in the morning and made it to our Hotel Nova in the center of the city. It was in an absolutely great location. That afternoon just consisted of welcome meetings and orientation material. The meetings were especially ruff for some people who had managed to find a cafe in the two hours we had between arriving and beginning the meetings. As most people know, cafes in Amsterdam don't just sell coffee, but also every kind of weed imaginable that some people
in the group could not get enough of. The pot culture reminded me very much of San Fran. I was very impressed by "Grasshopper" the 3 story mega house dedicated to pot. I also particularly liked the bar that was called "Smokey's" that was actually a drinks only cafe (ironic).
One of the first things I noticed about the city was the number of beautiful people. Literally, everyone was just very tall, and pleasing to look at. There are also bikes everywhere! Rain or shine, bikes are the mode of transportation for most everyone in the city. And these bikes are not really fancy or new, but rather old and not so nice looking in fear of theft. But everyone from students to business professionals in their suits and moms with their kids in baskets on the front rides bikes where they need to go. I was more fearful of getting hit by a bike than a car when crossing the streets.
Our time in Amsterdam consisted of a very nice group dinner the first night at a beautiful restaurant along the canal (where the tap broke earlier in the day... this was devastating news for a bunch
of eager beer thirsty American college students who just got to Europe). We also went to the Van Gogh Museum which was nice and interesting, but museums and art have never really been my cup of tea. We also toured Anne Franks house along with hundreds of other people (the place was packed and is not that big).The best thing we got to do was visit the Heineken Beer headquarters and bottling plant.
Heineken is the 3rd largest beer company in the world and the largest exported beer. The visit starting with a short movie about the company and then we boarded a old English Double Decker bus to the bottling center. We got to see the entire process take place. At this particular bottling center they do 69,000 bottles, 90,000 cans and I can't remember how many kegs an hour! It was really impressive to watch. And the whole thing is automated where they only need 8 engineers to monitor the entire complex (plus the techs and maintence people). It only takes them about one hour to fill an entire wherehouse on beer most of which is then shipped to the United States from this particular plant. It
was interesting to learn that the green bottles that they are famous for are only found in America, because we are dumb enough to pay more for them. Else where they are sold in recycled brown bottles. The trip finished with a sampling session (this is at around 10 in the morning too). Of the three beers I sampled, I really liked Brand Beer.
We of course also had to check out the Red Light District. The whole district is quite large, but the girls are on about 3 or 4 blocks that run on either side of a canal, with girls in a door. When they are busy they simply shut the curtains. It was not quite as scandalous as I had imagined... I was more disturbed by the people who were there, watching the girls. The area was unlike anywhere I had ever visited...
Next up is Heidelberg, Germany
INTERESTING FACT: Most of the buildings in Amsterdam are very narrow, but long and deep. This is because they tax by the width. So in order to avoid high taxes, people build back rather than out. This was the reason for the VERY skinny stairs in
our hotel that I managed to slip on and bang up my knee on. I could barely get my toes on some of these stairs!
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Muy Bueno
You're doing such a great job with your blog. I love it and look forward to your new entries. I look forward to Skyping with you very soon.