Amsterdam

Well hello again. Its been two weeks since my last post..I've been busy, but mostly I've been too lazy to sit down and write.  Amsterdam and the journey to and fro were fantastic, so here's a review: 12 people went on the trip; me, two other American guys, 4 Aussie guys and two Aussie ladies, two french guys and one french girl...it turned out to be an ideal group.  We rode a bus to the airport near Stockholm and got there way too early just to be safe, and were bored for three hours in the tiny airport.  We boarded the RyanAir plane that looked like it was leaking fuel, but it was just de-icer...funny nonetheless.  The flight went fine...good moment: I took a photo of a flight attendant and she got angry and demanded I delete it, so I pressed some buttons but kept it on my camera...a humorous photo.  We got off the plane in the Netherlands and waited for our bus to Amsterdam, which, when we boarded, was only taking the 12 of us to the city, so the bus was ours and we think our driver was high.  We all slept on the two hour ride to Amsterdam, and woke up on the outskirts of the city, all of us getting very excited.  We got dropped off on what seemed like a random street corner, but I guess it was a legit drop-off location...didn't matter, we were there.  It was night already, and the city was alive.  People everywhere, bright lights, cars, bikes, trams, busses, honking, yelling, drunks...woah, so this is Amsterdam? Ok guys, where to go...find the hostel? Where is the hostel? Again, didn't matter, we had two hours till check-in, and we were ready to explore.  We were all hungry and thirsty, so were ventured through the city and found some grub, and then, our first coffeeshop.  Yea, that kind of coffeeshop, as in walk in and get bombarded by the smell of marijuana.  No way...these places are real?  No details, but I'll just say that that was an interesting experience, and only could happen in Amsterdam.  We found more food after that, the munchies you could say (haha), and then tried to find our hostel...key word: Tried.  We wandered and laughed and walked down random streets, past a huge building with all red windows: our first glimpse of a whore-house (is that the right word? Yes, I think so).  I took a photo, and found out later that it's illegal to take photos of the red-light windows and/or the women inside and that I could have been arrested and my camera smashed.  Oh well, I got the photo.  We somehow stumbled upon our hostel that was 5 minutes from the heart of downtown and in what we thought was a somewhat dirty area, later realizing that all of Amsterdam was like our street (the big whorehouse from a few sentences back was 5 buildings from ours!).  We checked in, found our rooms which were surprisingly nice (they better be, we paid way more than we would have liked), dropped our bags and headed back out to explore.  The night was rather uneventful...we wandered around for a while but were all pretty tired so called it a night early.  However, we did locate the main square, Red Light District, and some key locations...and figured out the best way to and from our hostel.   The next day we woke up early...there was breakfast available until 9:30, so we ate, showered and walked to the main street in town.  During the day the city was a little more calm (but not really)...the buildings were huge, gorgeous, historic...simply amazing.  All of them; central station, houses, hotels, random places: all were truly European and exactly what I expected, but nothing like I had ever seen.  It felt so great to be in a real, BIG European city (oh yea, it was saturday, 2/9/08, we got there friday).  Our first stop was the Sex Museum, where we wandered through the exhibit: Sex Through the Ages (again, only in Amsterdam).  This place was hilarious.  I can't even begin to describe what we saw...from disgusting images to funny models/robots and interesting art; bottom line, it was a sex museum.  We wandered through town more (we wandered a lot), stopping at whatever place looked interesting (from coffeeshops (both for coffee, and coughee) to pizza places and tourist shops) and just explored this crazy, beautiful city.  We made a long stop in the main square where we took photos and videos and took in the experience.  We then walked to try and find the Van Gogh Museum, which we eventually found, but it was about to close so we didn't go in.  Right around there were other gigantic buildings that looked like castles and also some amazing historic houses...I can't explain how cool/different the architecture was, especially from anything I had ever seen, even in Sweden.  We headed back towards our hostel and got lost, not bad-lost, just "well, we're lost, let's go that way and see where it takes us" kind of lost.  Which was great.  We made it back to the main square and headed for the Red Light District, and oh man, it's everything you would expect.  Whorehouses, coffeeshops, bars, offerings of cocaine and extacy every 50 feet, potential pick-pockets...it was strange, shocking, and, well, the Red Light District.  We explored, laughed at the half-naked dancing women in the red windows, pretended we were interested, drank some beer, and ate more food.  Food killed me on money, it killed everyone, we didn't drink much at all and bought few souvenirs, but the food was sooooo expensive, but not surprisingly, the place was one huge tourist trap.  The night was fun, but after 10+ hours of walking we were all exhausted.  The next morning we woke up early again and headed for the Anne Frank museum.  Half the group went in and the other half went to explore Amsterdam more (I explored, there was a long line, it was expensive, and I wanted to see the city, not a museum, plus we were going to Van Gogh later).  We walked through town, through the backstreets and real life areas.  It was amazing.  Canals were everywhere, lined with boats and beautiful homes, gorgeous bridges, again, I just can't explain the sites, it was just so amazing to look at the city.  Our half-group walked to the Van Gogh museum to wait for the others, where we sat against the museum looking out at a gorgeous park with people walking, kids playing, birds flying...and everything/everyone was so relaxed, it was just a "no worries" feeling the whole time.  And oh yea, we had clear blue skies and warm weather the whole time, which was simply perfect.  We met up with the group near the museum to get some food, we plopped down on a little statue to eat and drink coffee, and were pleasantly surprised by a band that started playing about 30 feet from us...none of us said a word as we laid in the sun, listened to music and enjoyed our food and drink...that was a great moment.  We were all smiling, no one needed to say a word, it was all just about being there, living, being free and enjoying life.  I just got the chills thinking about it...it was a perfect moment.  Anyway, we headed into the museum, observed gorgeous, inspiring Van Gogh (and other artists) works of art, and tried our best to stay awake.  Afterwards it was back to the main square, Red Light District again, and some bars.  We went down some side street to get a beer, sat down inside a bar near a stage and drank and had a smoke, and then a good band started playing.  It was so cool.  We had front row seats to some good music and great times.  Everyone loved it.  It was our last night, we didn't drink much at all, but it was a great finale to our time in Amsterdam.  The next morning we had to check out early...we walked into town to buy souvenirs and postcards, take our last photos and get some food, and take in the beautiful city for the last time.  Overall, I think my favorite moments were the three or so times that the whole group was sitting together, either in the park, on the statue, or on the edge of a canal eating lunch, when not one person said a word for at least ten minutes because we were all so astounded, inspired and complacent with where we were.  I've said that to friends here and they said "oh yea cause you guys were so high".  No.  Not the case whatsoever.  Yea we did the whole coffeeshop thing, but that was not the point, nor the reason for being quiet together.  We would just sit, look at each other and smile, but no one had to say a word, because everyone felt the same way and was just happy being there, in the moment, relaxing and enjoying life.  Amsterdam, despite how crazy and shocking things could be, was such a relaxed place.  Although there were people everywhere, trams buzzing by and nighttime parties, the whole vibe of the place was laid-back, free-spirited and "live and let live".  It was freeing.  It was inspiring.  The group that went was a great group to go with...we are all better friends now, we all appreciated the adventure, getting lost, being shocked, having fun.  I don't think I can really be surprised by anything anymore, I mean, the Red Light District and other parts pretty much had no reservations, no rules, no inhibitions, no restricions...you get the idea, and thus, I've seen the worst of the worst, and the best of the best.  The city was amazing.  The adventure was great.  Though expensive, I am very happy I made that journey.  I saw things I've never seen before, and will never see again.  I appreciated the buildings, the European lifestyle (the Amsterdam lifestyle), the canals, the parks,  the streets.  I loved the freedom, I loved relaxing and being open-minded.  I'm sure some of you will hear more details when I talk to you personally, so ask questions, I'm more than willing to answer.  It's been almost two weeks, so my recollection isn't exact, I know I left stuff out, but you get the idea.  My next post will be about the two weeks since Amsterdam, cause they too have been fun (including a day trip to Stockholm), but maybe a few days from now.  In less than one month Colleen and I will be in France and Italy, doing the European spring break together, and I can't wait.  Also on my list is Norway, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and maybe Russia.  I love Europe.  I love being here, alone, living my life and meeting people.  Amsterdam was great, but that's just one step in this amazing journey of mine.  Until next time...Thanks for reading.