Amsterdam

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Well what can I say? I did not expect to get here mid way through the trip due to my financial situation, which I don’t know if I told you was corrected by my kind friends at the Westpac fraud department a few weeks back. All I have to do is get the card posted to me. I got into Amsterdam at just after 2pm and jumped on a train into the city, where my hostel (The Globe Hotel) was located. It did not take long to walk past a number of coffee shops to get a whiff of that pleasant mull haze that blew out the door. My hostel (hotel) was located at the bottom of a dark and dingy English pub, so I was off to a flyer and then I was pleasantly greeted by my someone’s undies and tees on my unmade bed, so told the chick down stairs who brought me some clean sheets and dumped the other dudes gear. I knew from the outset that this joint only had its position going for it. It was not that clean and no atmosphere apart from the drunk Poms down stairs watching the English surprisingly pump Kazakhstan. So I dumped my gear and hit the streets in search for the net and some food. I was able to contact the folks who told me I was going to be required to get some slacks, shirts and respectable shoes for my job in Milan, so that arvo was spent strolling the streets looking for this kind of gear. I was able to find myself a few sales and planned to return once the weekend crowd had perished. The joint was packed, and a majority of them, at least in the pub and red light district area, were Poms. After a stroll around town day became night and the shops closed and the town died in some parts and got busier in others. Once again mainly the pub and red-light district area, which my hostel was a stone’s or used condom’s throw from. There is no point in being in Amsterdam and not taking a look at the red-light district (even though originally I accidentally ended up there) and just for the record as beautiful as many of those girls were, I kept my cash and other valuable assets where they belonged, in my pants. It was quite funny to walk around with the other thousands of people taking a good perv at the birds and then moving onto the next window. Not only was it full of smashed boys in their 20’s and 30’s but there were truck loads of old couples and groups and the odd family (mature aged kids). This surprised me the most. I doubt I would hit the red-light district with Chris and Joy and I suspect they would not with me either (hi guys if your reading, which I know you are, think you’re the only ones to read all of these rambles). It was not a massive night after that as my dorm room was still empty and no one seemed to be around to enjoy an ale with, apart from the drunken Pom’s still down stairs.

On Sunday morning I enjoyed a bit of a sleep in and was awoken by the rest of my dorm room mates scrambling to get all their gear together before the 11am check out. They each seemed like the night before had taken its toll as things were getting thrown every which way and their back packs where being stuff full of their clothes. Very similar to my time in Santiago. I took my English friend Matt’s advice to hire a bike and get lost in the city. Matt had lived a number of years in Amsterdam and had given me a big list of sites and areas to try and visit. Since Amsterdam is such a bicycle friendly place I loved the experience, it was easy to hire bikes, and the paths and streets either had bicycle lanes or were one-way streets so you had no problems with the traffic. It is really amazing how many people are out riding and the fact that all the bikes are old school bikes, no one really riding the flashy racers, mountain bikes or the new chopper cruisers. Since it was the weekend, many families were out riding with their kids, with special seats made on the front and back of the bike as well a few having a big wooden box for the kids to sit in. I am sure that a number of their configurations would not comply with the Australian rules and regulations, but they seemed effective enough. My First stop was to the Anne Franc museum which is held within the house that her and her family had hidden in for a number of years during the German invasion of Holland and its surrounding countries. The building has been restored to its original living conditions except the furniture no longer remains as it was taken by the Germans. It is really amazing to her the story’s that have been recorded on videos in the museum from her father and the people that helped them during there time in the secret loft, also the detail in which a girl of her age described what was going on around her that time in her life. Since I had the bike I tried to cover as much territory as I could. I headed to one of the major parks near the Van Gough and Rembrant museums, where the I Amsterdam large lettering sits by a large man made pond. The place was packed and impossible to get a picture of the sign without 20 people being in the shot. Personally unless it’s me or a friend in the shot I do not really rate it, but that’s the problem of travelling to the worlds most popular destinations. Since I was in the area I knew that the Boils Cocktail museum was near by and my fondness to try its smell, sniff and taste exhibits out weighed that of the Van Gough and Rembrant’s museums. I must say I picked the right one. It was quite interesting with taste strips being used to understand that it is both smell and visual ideas that attribute to the taste. First you put the strip on your tongue and images of fruits appeared on the screen. After they stopped it was only then that you could taste the vanilla then the word appeared on the screen. The other was one where you would put the strip on your tongue and hold your nose. Until you released your hold, you did in fact taste it. Also there was a fragrance test for each of the spirits, with the flavour sign covered which you could reveal after testing its aroma. After that there was not too much to see apart from the free cocktail, which you could choose from a large selection of drinks. I decided to test out the Pomegranate Collins cocktail, which was quite nice and if you asked the bar men what they used they would allow you to individually taste each of the shots free of charge. After this experience I thought it would be best to jump on my bike and head toward the Heineken factory where you can do tours and for a cheap 10 euros and get 3 free beers during the trip. It was a very sad sight to see that the building was under restoration and the tours would not be held until beginning of November. What to do, what to do, jump back on your bike with your heart a little broken inside and visit more of the outer areas of the city centre. It is here after taking some of Matt’s advice that I did get lost within the city, but the area was a lot more enjoyable than the centre itself, with the local cafes, restaurants and parks packed with locals and not tourists. I got to see people enjoying their weekend without going over the top like in the centre. There were also a number of the traditional river boat homes, some were quite nice and very stylish, even if they did require a lick of paint. As I said I was getting lost in the town, so I was thankful I found a gentlemen, like most Dutch that could speak English and direct me back into the centre after getting disorientated. It was getting a bit colder and darker once I arrived back into the centre, so I grabbed some warmer clothes and wandered across to the train station to book myself on the overnight train to Milan for the following evening. It was a lengthy process, but I did get a helpful sales person who made every effort without my asking, to get me a top bunk (window seat) for my trip. Unfortunately this did not work, but I got a seat by the aisle which was the bottom bunk. I decided since this was one of the last few trips and it would take 15 hours to arrive in Milan that I should try the couchette arrangement and enjoy the journey. After that I headed to grab a bite to eat before retreating to the hostel for a bit of a chill out. I had the whole 10-bed dorm room to myself, so it was pretty quiet and relaxing. After a bit of a chill I headed out for a wander of the streets and ended up visiting the sex museum in the centre of town. It was funnier than anything else. There were moving mannequins doing dirty things, plus a large collection of pornographic artefacts, paintings and pictures. I was surprised to see some pictures dating back to the 1840’s. Plus a large array of sex toys dating back centuries ago. It was not something that I would recommend as a must see around the world, but if you’re in the area, it’s good for a bit of a laugh, not a massive educational experience. After this I hit the hay and enjoyed a good nights sleep before having to get up and check out at 11am. I was in a better state than my Irish room mates the day before. Since the hire bike was for 24-hours I was able to take it out for a spin and see a few more of the parks in the area. I also headed back to the I Amsterdam statue to get some pictures without hundreds of people standing around. Also on one of the major streets for designer clothing I found that there was a large Ferrari race car parked and a number of press taking photos. The Ferrari racer was in fact not an original but a copy, that had been made out of Lego which was quite impressive and as my mate says if you’re good with Lego you’re good with women. (hi Saul if you’re reading this, which I am sure you’re not). After that I had to return the bike and make my way to the no less busy streets of the retail district of Amsterdam. As it was time to shop (giddy up) with money in the account to purchase myself some clothes to fit into the crowd of Milan, well fit the roll of school teacher. So I had done some recognisance the day previous and located some good business shirts cheap as well as some slacks, also a pair of black leather boots that I loved, not so cheap, but a future investment (in picking up and maybe work). So I shopped till I dropped and then went to the hostel to figure out how it would all fit into my bag. After this I did some grocery shopping and made my way to the train station.

The ride was a good one, considering it was a 15 hours. I enjoyed the cabin to myself for a few hours before a German man boarded somewhere after we crossed the boarder and then later 4 giggling German school girls who were noisy at first, but not too much of a problem. Since I was in the couchette I was able to get quite a good nights sleep. The train conductor also takes your ticket and passport at the beginning so that you are not woken during the evening at each boarder crossing.

Amsterdam, maybe more enjoyable for some if they enjoy some natural products that I did not take involvement in. But I did enjoy my time and would have possibly loved it more if not on my detox and was able to head out for drinks and enjoy the clubs and cafes more than I did. But I saw it and will probably return at some time in the future. Apart from this I would love to get to see more parts of the country. Now I head to Milan where the next 2 weeks will be very different to those of the rest of this trip, getting back into a home life and working. It will be very different, plus my Italian tongue is going to need some, well a lot of improving.

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