Amsterdam

The Thursday I left for Amsterdam was unlike most. There was no Sandwich the night before. Instead, I had awoken at eight. I did two loads of laundry. I finished one paper and then wrote another. I turned three papers in to their respective departments and to the international office. I packed, completely. How did I pull this off? I don't know. I finished writing three papers in about 72 hours (including research), and that includes watching a full movie and several clips from other movies to write one of my papers. I am a golden god. I was ready for the weekend. Only one more paper to write when I got back, and that was simple. I was ready to relax and have some fun.

I was flying in on EasyJet with Cait, Scott and Jen. Eventually we would meet Chris, Shank, Derek, Fran, Avivah and Jordan there. Big group. Apparently, Shank and Derek were supposed to be on our flight, much to our surprise. And apparently we were supposed to go to the airport with them? None of us knew this, due to major miscommunication. But it seemed to work out, they were going to catch a later flight. Except when they got to Gatwick, they found out they had booked the earlier flight... oh, and by the way, they were also to late for the flight they booked anyway. So they slept in the airport and made a Friday flight.

Cait and I were extremely tired, since we were both up writing papers late/early. Instead of going into the city center, we went to Leidseplein, a square near our hostel (which was wonderful, by the way.) We went to go eat at an overpriced restaurant, I had a cheeseburger. Then we went to this place called the Bulldog, which was straight out of the 80s, it was pretty awesome. We sat there for awhile, drinking Heinekens (because they actually taste good there) and watching Cait fall asleep at the table. It was strange seeing people at the bar of any age just smoking a joint. There were these two older guys just sitting at the bar, talking to the bartender sharing a huge joint. It was a pretty good time.

Friday we had an unspoken agreement to sleep in. I don't know about Jen and Scott, but Cait and I really needed it. So we eventually get ready and set out, with our ultimate goal being the Red Light District. We first hit Dam Square, which has the Royal Palace and the National Monument. Also close by was this fry place that boasted they were Amsterdam's best fries. So we got some. I got the "Fry Sauce" which was some mayonnaise based sauce. They were excellent fries. I'm not a fry connoisseur, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were the best in Amsterdam. Then we wandered around the red light district for awhile, and well, I can't get into that, as this blog is family-oriented. Eventually we met up with the people that were coming in that day. We met at this awesome hostel that had a huge bar on the ground floor. Stayed there for awhile, then since the new people hadn't seen the red light district, we went back there for awhile. Eventually got some food from some place I don't remember and went home.

Saturday our group met up with the others and walked to the Anne Frank house. It was a decent walk from where we stayed, Vondelpark. I was able to appreciate how beautiful the city actually is. All you hear about Amsterdam is the red light district, coffee shops, Heineken... but the city is actually really really nice. The canals make it very interesting. Another thing, is that there are usually more bikes on the road than cars. The bikes have their own lanes, their own traffic signals, it's really cool. It's definitely a place I would like to go again, and perhaps rent a bike to take around town.

Just getting in line at the Anne Frank house is very sobering. And it's contagious. All annoying tourists cease to be annoying, there are no kids running around, no one really laughs. I haven't read the diary in probably 15 years, so I my memories of it are very few, but the others seemed to know the story well. They were more affected by being there. I just found it amazing, seeing it, how many people lived in that small area and how they were able to avoid detection for so long.

After the house, we walked down the street a little and found a pancake place where we ate brunch. Jordan and I got an amazing hot chocolate with rum and I got a bacon pancake. They're not the pancakes we have in the States, they're very thin and very big. And it was very good. Then our groups split up, they went to the Van Gogh Museum and we went to the Heineken factory. Again, Heineken factory was like all the others, except instead of giving you a full pint at the end, they gave you a half pint. Cheap Dutch.

After that, we went back to the hostel and ate dinner and had a few pitchers. We ordered a traditional Dutch treat, which was just fried meatballs. And since it was fried meat, it was very tasty. I also had lasagna, since there wasn't much of a selection. Eventually we made plans with the other group to meet back at Leidseplein. We tried to find a good place and originally settled on the Bulldog, the place we had been on Thursday night. This time, however we went upstairs and through the glass doors, which allows for more activity to take place. The group got thinner and thinner until eventually I left with Scott, leaving behind Jen, Cait, Derek and Shank . Scott and I immediately went looking for food and the first thing we saw was McDonalds, so that's what we got. I lasted all that time without getting American food and on my last weekend in Europe, I broke down. Thanks, Amsterdam. We were woken up at 5 in the morning by Jen and Cait returning from some club they went to after Bulldog. They were just as loud and annoying as the Welsh in Dublin. Great times.

For this last week, we have a Christmas dinner party, last quiz night, last Sandwich, our dinner at St. John fell through, so we're going for Greek, then the last night in London. Quite a lot to do, and I still have a paper to finish.

Picture link added on the right.