Monday, April 17, 2006

Amsterdamned

"Amsterdam w/o Matt...that seems dangerous. What if you are kidnapped by a pimp, robbed and forced to turn tricks as one of his slutty minions? I imagine you dressed in red pleather hot pants with stiletto wooden clog...no doubt you are wearing braids, holding tulips and there is a windmill softly churning in the background. It is quite picturesque!" -My sister

M
y trip began with a hectic start as I completely forgot the flight time and was wandering around the city shopping until almost 17.00 and my flight was at 19.15! I seriously thought that my flight wasn't until at least 23.00. I texted Jenn Green on the bus ride home and asked when we were meeting. When she said five minutes, I almost died and ran the way from the bus stop home. I threw everything in a bag and we called a cab. Fortunately we made our flight on time. Alex on the other hand, did not. He was on a different flight than us...6.15...which he thought was 18.15. We check our luggage, get some food and board the plane.

Goodbye Madrid! (aerial view)


Floating above the clouds


We arrived in Holland at about 21.00 and found our way to the center of Amsterdam via train and tram. Our hotel was in Leidseplein (which we later found out is not pronounced Led Zepplin as some locals laughed at us). We were all hungry and exhausted, so we wandered around for a bit and finally got a bite to eat at an Indonesian food place. It probrably would have been more delicious had I not been sick from running around the last few days and the plane ride. Regardless, we headed back to the hotel and got some much needed rest. Jenn and Joe had been in Andorra the past weekend skiing and were exhausted.

We slept pretty late the next morning, got up and dressed and had some complementary breakfast and headed out to rent some bikes and see some museums.

View from the hotel- one of many canals.


The three of us looking hot on our new wheels


Our first destination: Van Gogh Museum. While it was very interesting, what really caught my attention was the Rembrandt Caravaggio Exhibit. Granted I am a dork for art and art history, but this exhibit made the entire trip for me seeing Caravaggio is my favorite. Honestly the best exhibit of my life.

Click!
The line at the Van Gogh Museum


The Van Gogh permenant exhibit was nice...however, what really caught my eye was the Toulouse LauTrec Elles exhibit. It was very crowded and we were very hungry so we continued on. Our next stop was:


Another long line, but worth the wait as we saw the works of many famous Dutch artists including Vermeer and Frans Hals and more Rembrandt. Dutch art in general is another favorite of mine. We didn't spend too much time here, as there were many other things to see and do.
Jenn had bought a poster at Van Gogh, so we decided to stop by the hostel on the way to our next destination: Anne Frank House. We got sidetracked on the way and stopped by a coffee shop and got some fruity tea and a muffin.


As soon as we stepped out of the coffeshop, it began to rain. The line at Anne Frank was another long one, but this one was nearly intolerable in the cold rain. We finally get in and take the tour. The house was the one that her and her family had actually hid out in during World War II and she kept a journal of what happened during her time there. They took us through the warehouse below where they hid out and then up to the attic area.
Afterward, we went to the pancake bakery and the three of us shared three huge plates of pancakes. They were absolutely delicious. We went to a place called Abraxas, recommended by Maddy, and then headed back to the hostel. Jenn and I were exhausted and sick, so we called it an early night and Joe had been ready to party since we got there so he hit the town alone. He didn't realize that Amsterdam doesn't really have a huge night life and that most of the bars close around 1.00, so by default, he had a pretty early night himself. We weren't used to this type of lifestyle considering in Madrid, the bars don't really open until 1.00.

The next morning, we were supposed to get an early start, but Jenn convinced me to turn the alarm clock off for another half an hour and by the time she was showered and ready to go, it was almost 11.30. Our first stop was a super market where Joe bought himself a days supply of Struupwafels (which would last most of us weeks)


After we explored the surrounding area and decided, out of curiosity and convenience, to check out the Cannabis College. They explained the science and benefits of Cannabis, which I thought it was rather amazing that they had whole organizations dedicated to a plant.

We didn't spend too long there, but rather went down the block to check out the Torture Museum which summarized all of the medieval torture devices- purpose and use.


They also had all of the devices on display...with which we had fun:


We then crossed the canal to check out the flower district. There were thousands of Tulips for sale. I was going to bring Grandma back some bulbs, but they didn't have any for the states available for another month or so. They did however have many, many pairs of wooden shoes- for which I got in trouble for trying on.


Or maybe it was the fact that we were taking pictures and making a joke out of it...
I didn't buy any.

Joe tried on some braids for size:




We then went for lunch at a little cafe, another delicious meal. And headed over to the Heineken Experience. Unfortunately, we didn't leave enough time to fully explore the factory, but what we did see was very, very fun. For 10e you get a tour of the factory, three beers and a free Heineken glass. We had to leave early because our bikes had to be back by 17.45. It was sad to part from them...it had been a good two days.






We went back to the hotel for a bit to plan out our next destination. We had many things on Maddy's suggestion list to hit, so we decided to start with the closest- The Rookies. We hung out there for awhile and then wandered again. We had yet to go to the Red Light district, and what is a trip to Amsterdam without visiting the true vice part of the city. Jenn seemed a little unnerved and was destined to find chinese food, but Joe and I were both fully amused.


We found Jenn her Chinese food, ate yet again, and hit up another suggestion: Grasshopper (which there were two of and neither was anywhere near the rookies!!) Once again, we were exhausted and called it an early night. I had to be up at 5.30 the next morning to get my flight back to Madrid. It had been a lovely trip, but I was very glad to be back in my city where I could actually understand the language. I'm so excited that Spanish has finally become familiar for me...more familiar than Dutch!
Typical Dutch architecture


Joe managed to zip his hoodie to his jacket...


I made it back to the house around 13.00 and quickly unpacked, had something to eat, and repacked for our trip to Torrevieja. We met Matt's parents in Sol for our last dinner together at Botin (which is in the Guiness Book of World Records for the oldest restraunt in Europe) and caught sight of some religious processions on the way out to the bus station. We met up with Sara and found our bus. We were ready for some sun and relaxation.

Botin's famous suckling pig oven:



There was a huge line outside of the door waiting for the restruant to open at 20.00 and I felt like the big bad wolves trying to get in to eat the little suckling piggies. And my were they delicious.

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