Amsterdam, The Netherlands

May 31st
Well here comes my week of travel right after Interlaken. I had one day in Germany to pack and wash clothes. Guess how that turned out. Not so good, for got my converter for the camera, hair brush, and razors (eek!). So I did what I had to, borrow converter from my roommates in each city and buy some things.

The train ride up to Amsterdam was over night. Took about 8 hours to get there. Only one change in Ulm, so I was able to sleep the whole way. Before I left I had to make a reservation. Let's see board the train and my cabin has no lights on and it is completely full. Well is this how it works? I went down each one and found a cabin with only two people in it. Problem was the light was on and I was ready for bed at mid night. I dozed off and woke up to just one person left with me. The train was making another stop and he was about to leave, but turned on the heat for me and then left. Very nice. People look out for me everywhere I go. Two girls came in the cabin once I turned out the light. They sat together and I had the row of three seats all to myself. I layed out and slept until 7a. My train wasn't arriving until 9a. I ate a banana and yogurt, then I fell back asleep.

Arrived in Amsterdam on June 1st and it was cloudy, I departed the station and already saw a parking garage for only bikes. WOW there are a lot. All I heard is that eveyone in the city rides a bike and it is crazy to be on one here, but best way to get around the city. 

I stayed at the Flying Pig dowtown. The two girls from Interlaken also stayed there and said it was great! It is only 5 mins from the train station and very accessible to eveything. I actually had a map of the city from the Hostel in Prague. I showed up at 10am they said the room would be ready in a half hour, also I had to change rooms the next day since I had to book one with 10 beds and one with 6 beds (ensuite). I went down at the breakfast spot and grabbed a coffee. Two guys from Cairo started talking to me. They had been here once before and loved it. I checked into my room and it was dark, no lights on. My bed was near a window so there was light shinning in. I put down my stuff and headeed out for the day to rent a bike and see the city. The hostel was downtown with shopping all along the streets in Nieuwendjik. One block over was the main street - DAMARK.

There was a lot of construction by the train station and these were the billboards. Thought they were pretty interesting works of art.

On my way to rent a bike from Yellow Bike Rentals right down the street from the hostel. The guys from Cairo said that they go over details of the rules of the road and to understand everything.

I did not find this to be the case, I walked back and there was two people sitting behind a tall desk. I said hello and they finally acknowledged me after some time waiting. I told the girl that I would like to rent a bike. She flipped a book open to English and pointed for me to read. Then asked for a photo id or passport and credit card. Would I like insurance for 3 Euro. Yes and had to put a deposit of 100 Euro. The other person behind the desk lingered on over and brought me a bike. Showed me how to used the lock and key and said to test it out make sure it worked. I was a little short for it, but hey what can you do. So I was off to ride through Amsterdam on a bike!

Headed directly South I came to the Dam Plein.

Here come the Canals....

Just started riding the bike in and out of the winding streets. Not sure where I was headed to. Thought that it would be best to check out as much as I could in the 2 days.

The water was really green, not exactly what I expected.

Also I found out how bad the map from the Flying Pig was. Everything is enlarged and doesn't give you the reality of the cities streets and how fast they change from one street to another.

I love all the little house boats. There were so many!

Another favorite is the reflections on the water.

I wanted to try and hit the Van Gogh Museum and Vondelpark (compared much to Central Park) so I was headed to Uptown.

The reason Amsterdam is so great is because it has so much characteristics. Every time you turn around you see something quirky. It was so fun just hopping off the bike and walking around for a bit and then jumping back on.

Stumbled upon this bridge and never went back to it or found it again!

When I thought I found Vondelpark, it was actually Sarphatipark. I sat down to have a picnic and was watching some kids play baseball, a dog chasing the birds, and feed the ducks some bread.

I figured out it was the wrong park when there wasn't very many paths to go down!

I went up on this terrace to take some photos and I had the bike, there were open grates for the ground and I was trying to balance the kick stand on the line so it would not fall into the openings. Two guys that were working in the park watched me. The bike stayed up and didn't fall over. They were quite impressed and called me a genius. I told them I was just lazy. Then one of the guys was explaining how they put in a new pumping system to keep the water clean. It was just installed 2 months ago.

Then he asked where I was from and told him. There was a camera crew coming and someone getting interviewed. Probably about the irrigation system! I went down the path and found this slug.

Side note on slugs! Sabine went to get a salad (head of lettuce) from the garden so we could have it for lunch. She comes back and asks if I could wash it and I say of course. Then she goes just be careful there are little snakes in there. I jumped back so fast and go ugh, snakes. She said yes are you scared? Yes I am scared to clean lettuce with snakes in there. She meant slugs/snails...was really very funny.

So after I was messing around on the tree, hopped on the bike and ready to ride off when I hear, Hey Chicago! It was the men that worked in the garden, they were planting flowers and offered one to me. Then we were talking a little bit more about the work and planning of the garden. Here they are in action.

I had the flowerpot in my purse but it fell out while riding, oops. Across the street is the Albert Cuyp Market. Full of junk and little toiletries.

Made way to Museumstraat where the Van Gogh and Rijks Museums are. I went to take a photo of the I amsterdam up close and there were 30 students running up and jumping on it. One kid yelled out hey guys wait. I told them I am in no hurry, I said I can help take a photo for the class. Then the teachers gave me three cameras. I asked where they were from, France. The accents didn't sound French.

So it was almost time for me to meet Joris, Kaitlin's friend, he was working so we planned on dinner. I rode passed the Heineken Factory and thought maybe I should go find where we were meeting first. It was 5 mins away. Back to the Heineken Factory.

Well it was 15 Euro to go tour on your own and then receive a free beer. I decided it might be best to buy a bottle opener that I was in desparate need of (brought up some beer and couldn't open it) and then head to the bar across the street where it is exactly the same and cheaper.

The bartender was looking at me and obviously talking about me to her co worker and some other guy sitting next to me. The two guys left (co worker and his friend) and she told me that she thought we were together. And was confused when the guy told her that he didn't know me. Weird. Then I asked her if I could have some coasters, this is how many she brought me!

It was time to go and meet Joris and Mark for dinner. The restaurant they brought me to was really modern. I forget the name of it, but I had ravolis with anchovies and artikokes. Pretty delicious.

Then after dinner and drinks, Mark left and Joris took me to look at this little fiat, ended up being really cool, the license says AL! How perfect, I asked if this is the reason he showed me. He said No.

Then I found this little dutch clog that you can sit in. We rode and went to this coffee shop that was really large but overlooked the canal. It was a bit cold so we sat inside. He kept telling me he should get going, but then ended up hanging out for 2 hours longer. I must be that fun!

Thanks Kaitlin!

Oh kind of odd, Joris told me that him and Mark said I was shorter than they thought, looked at some pics on facebook. After coffee and cake we rode around the Red Light District. Soon be in Paris seeing the real Moulin Rouge.

I headed back to my hostel to see what other people were doing since Joris went home. Well you can imagine....       

I on the other hand used my new bottle opener and drank my beer. I started talking to two guys who were playing an Italian card game. Then we went out and walked around a bit. They wanted to see the Red Light District. I was just there.

Then we just headed back to the hostel and parted ways.

June 1st

So there was a concert that I read about that was free every Wednesday. I got up and went to some of the shops near the hostel. Then I had to renew my bike rental. I talked to a different person at the Yellow bike and he was much nicer and more informative. He said that I could just keep it and bring it back at noon the next day.

I made it to the concert a little late so I had to sit in the lobby. A classical piece was performed. It was very nice, should have made it on time. I was right next to the Vondelpark so I headed right over there.

The park was very large and had many little areas with cafes for eating, ponds to sit by, and open grassy areas. I went to this cafe and tried a new beer.

After the park I wanted to head over to the Anne Frank House. Unfortunately my sandel broke when I was in search of it. I went down a little street and saw a shoes repair place. The guy was like it will cost 14 Euro to fix so just go buy new shoes. I went into little shops, but I was in a very expensive district, Jordaan. There was even a mall and yet the prices were really high. So I went back to my hostel area really quickly and bought a pair of shoes from H&M for 9 Euro.

When I was looking for the Anne Frank House I was right in the plaza and there was a little kiosk with fish. Some people came out eating fish sandwhichs so I thought I should try one. It had Herring, onions, and pickles on it. Very good actually. I went back to ask what it was called, a Herring sandwhich. You can only get them in Holland.

Then I stopped by the Anne Frank house and wasn't really that thrilled about waiting in line to get in. So after all that time looking for it I didn't go in.

Instead I rode around and took more pics. Stopped for a coffee to see what the atmosphere was in the smoke shops. Then I met up with Joris for an hour and he showed me where a good place to have dinner on the canal.

I went back to the hostel and met some people while I was sitting at the bar and they were from France. The bartender couldn't understand what they were trying to order. Their English was not great but still not horrible. I chatted with them for a bit, but then called it a night.

The next morning I got up and went out for a run! It was such nice weather. I returned the bike and paid 23 Euro for the two days. Then I had some breakfast. When I checked out of the hostel the receptionist asked how my run was this morning. There was a cheese shop that I wanted to go back to and buy some cheese, they had samples out and it was really tasty.

I went to the train station and wanted to board the earlier one I looked up online. They said that train requires a reservation and my pass I bought doesn't work. I had about an hour to kill, so I went to some of the tourist stops.

All in all Amsterdam was a great start to the week! Headed to Brugge....