Well, I made it back to Dublin alive although it was touch and go at times. My jaunt with Norah to Amsterdam/Brussels was at the same time one of the most awesome and most infuriating trips of my life. I'm going to do a separate Brussels post, this first one focuses on the God forsaken city of Amsterdam.
The quote above surprisingly describes my reaction to Amsterdam, I didn't like it nearly as much as I thought I would. However, I am really happy I went because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I think I'm just past the part in my life when I would find Amsterdam cool, now it just seems a little immature. Between the drug use and other legalized entertainment, it was hard for me to respect it.
I will say that I liked the people for the most part (except when they told me that the street signs face in OPPOSITE directions!). Our tour guide was very amusing and informative, she even took us out for traditional food afterward! Everyone is extremely welcoming and very accommodating to tourists, probably because they make billions of dollars off of them each year. Everyone is also extremely tall, I was either level in a crowd of Dutch women or shorter! That was definitely a disorienting feeling.
I LOVE the food (as you'll see from the photos) and I really enjoyed the concert!
Let's get into the pictures. The one that opens the post is of a shopping center across from the Palace believe it or not. The palace is under construction right now and apparently has been for well over 7 years.
Here's me being positive on our first night in the city! I love Stroopwaffles, they are basically two waffle baked wafers filled with some kind of caramel concoction. I ate an embarrassing amount while I was in Amsterdam!
Here are the terrifying steps to our hostel! Basically you open the door and its a straight-up climb, I can't imagine trekking up with anything more than a backpack. I was pretty pathetic coming down these steps, holding on with both hands for dear life.
Here's our elaborate room. The bed was extremely uncomfortable, but I got two of the best sleeps of my life in it. Norah and I were so beat they probably could have gave us a sheet to lay on and we would have passed out. What do you want for 20 euro a night in the heart of Amsterdam? Not too bad.
This was the best part of our first day, dinner at Oud Holland! We got steak which was basically like a Salisbury steak with carrots, potatoes, salad and beets. Our waiter was hilarious, he thought we were very American for ordering steak.
Cookie bar on the morning of our second day! Great lattes and delicious banana and cinnamon muffins straight out of the oven!
For some reason Amsterdam looks more European to me than Dublin. Lots of leftover Medieval architecture, bridges and canals, extremely narrow alleys, it's definitely a very unique looking city.
Probably my favorite picture of the city.
Here is a shot of the narrowest house in Amsterdam! They used to tax citizens based on the front of their home, the Dutch are pretty tricky.
Here is a building where squatters live, basically more than half of this city is stuck in the 1960s.
I kind of forget what this is called, stroompot, stropot, something like that but it's a traditional Dutch meal. We snagged a deal, all you can eat for less than 7 euro! I only had the one plate, but Dan could have definitely done some damage.
Most depressing building or THE most depressing building? Appropriately it houses the Van Gogh Museum. I was super excited to see one of my favorite paintings "Wheat Field with Crows" one of the last paintings he did.
Word on the street is that this sign is famous, so being the exceptional tourists that we are, Norah and I took a picture. It says I amsterdam.
Waffles and Cappacino, much needed after a three hour walking tour and a visit to the Van Gogh museum.
We finally found the venue where Kevin Devine was playing, The Neuwe Anita, basically an underground concert venue because it doesn't even have a sign pointing it out. Before we ventured inside, we stopped at a Spanish restaurant next door for appetizers and Sangria!
Hilarious. No words needed. I didn't take any pictures at the show but Norah did, I'll try to swipe them off of her at a later date. Kevin was actually excited that I was strangely in Amsterdam at his show rather than in NJ or OH, I just thought he was going to be freaked out. I don't want to be "that fan."
The next morning we woke up super early to catch a train to Brussels, and all of that is another story for another post. Graffiti covers Amsterdam, so this is an appropriate ending picture from the train station. I found this one pretty amusing.
All in all, I'm glad I went, but it's not exactly on my list of dream vacations. Definitely a city that needs to be seen to be believed. Las Vegas calls itself Sin City? It ain't got nothin' on the Dam.
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