Advertisement
Published: December 19th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Turns out my hostel is pretty sweet. It's called the Flying Pig and it's in downtown Amsterdam. When you first come in the door, you are in a common room with a pool table, a bar/check-in area, and a few bar tables. Everything is dark wood and colored glass. Past the bar area is a room especially for smoking. The rooms, bathrooms, toilets, and kitchen are in the other direction. At the moment, I am sitting at one of the smaller tables, drinking some coffee and enjoying the atmosphere. The music is semi-loud and a mixture of American, Jamaican, and Dutch, the people are all about my age and enjoying themselves. Plus, there are all sorts of festive decorations. Some Christmas lights are still up and for some reason there are about five lamps of different styles and periods hanging over the pool table. There are also a variety of strange things on the top of the bar including a couple bongs, a stuffed tiger, a porcelain bulldog, and a hat from Canada. Basically, it is pretty fun.
I got into Amsterdam yesterday at about 1 in the afternoon. It was a little rainy and a lot weird to see
so many signs in neither French nor English. Dutch is strange. Anyway, I had good directions to my hostel and the train station is really close. Check-in was a breeze, my room is clean, and everybody in it is definitely non-shady, so that is a plus. After I got settled, I decided to look around so I headed out and started walking without really examining the map much. I got lost and then unlost and then lost again, but it was interesting to see all the canals and the Golden Age architecture. Fancy buildings here are way different than the ones in France. They seem darker and more ornate and way taller. There is also a lot more space here. In a way, I think coming here before heading home was a good idea because I am being phased back into America. Or at least, it feels that way. Half of the stores here, and 90% of the music, are American. EVERYONE speaks English. It's amazing. But I've gotten off of my point. Yesterday. It was really pretty uneventful. I just walked around, got freaked out by some creepy Dutch men, got soaked in the rain, and looked at a
bunch of stores and their fabulous clothes. I came back to the hostel, hung out in the bar area for a while but didn't order anything and then went to my room.
This morning, after breakfast provided by the hostel (actually decent) I went to meet the guide for a walking tour of Amsterdam. This was really cool. The guy was a Brit, but he knew Amsterdam inside and out, plus a lot of history. Apparently, Amsterdam is all about the money: trade, taxes, and tolerance. After their occupation by the Nazis during WWII, the Dutch wanted to have the most anti-Nazi government possible. Basically, the structure of Amsterdam allows for everybody to do what they want as long as A) they do it discretely, B) no one gets hurt, and C) the government gets something out of it! Technically, marijuana is illegal here, but it isn't prosecuted as a criminal offense. Thus, the places that sell it don't advertise and are known as "coffee shops" instead. Mushrooms are also illegal, but again, not prosecuted. Prostitution is also legal, but they have started to close down the places that house it. The Netherlands decided they didn't like the image Amsterdam has as a place of debauchery so they are placing new regulations on stuff like prostitution and hard drugs. Also, there are a bunch of hidden Catholic churches from the time period in which everyone hated the Catholics. There is one inside an old rich merchant's house that actually has an organ and you would have no idea from the outside. The tour was about 3 1/2 hours long with a lunch break, but I really enjoyed it. It is always cool to see a place with an informed background and find the cool places off the beaten path. After the tour, I went to Anne Frank's House and Museum. My stomach kept turning over as I walked through the rooms in the Annex. Awful stuff, but I am really glad to have seen it.
A couple more things (kudos if you've made it this whole way without skipping!): I have never smelled so much weed in my life. Second, there is a machine in this open-air store that sells hot burgers, fishsticks, and other fried foods in a interesting contraption like a vending machine except with drawers. Third, I have been almost run over by bicycles three times so far. Lastly, I still get surprised every time someone talks to me both in English and with an American accent.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 14; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0421s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb