Before I leave for Amsterdam today I've got to check my text messages. Two of my friends from Santa Clara are flying in to Amsterdam this morning from The States. We're going to be meeting up today in The Netherlands. I check Facebook. It looks like we'll coordinate when we're all in Amsterdam.
The train is an easy 3 hours, and I find my hostel easily. Smooth sailing. I get in touch with Alex and Christian and we agree to meet at 7pm. I've got plenty of time to kill so I decide to go for a walk. On my map I can see that the flower mall is along the canal fairly close to my hostel so I head that way.
There are canals everywhere in Amsterdam. And there are bridges all over the place to allow people to cross. It's amazing. Along the rails of the bridges there are as many bikes as could possibly fit, all locked up, waiting for their owners to ride them all around this crazy city. The same goes for the boats. If they're not being driven around they're all docked along the sides of the canals. It's cool. Up ahead I spot three guys boating down the canal in a bright yellow wooden clog with their shirts off. Just a couple bros being bros.
I get to the flower mall and it's crazy. I didn't realize there was such a big market for flowers. I only every bought them for high school dances and Valentine's day. Or when I'm in the doghouse.
I keep walking around and find a place to eat. The big front doors are open and there's a cat lazing around on the floor inside. I go for a chicken sandwich with peanut sauce and a side of WiFi. The chicken sandwich is amazing. It's very peanut-saucy and hot. A few minutes into my meal a guy in a fedora sits down at the table across from me and orders a bowl of ice-cream. He looks completely stoned.
After lunch I look for my hostel on the map and start walking back. The streets are incredibly busy with people walking and running in and out of stores. And there are Vespas and bicycles whizzing by constantly. I almost get hit by someone as they ride by so I start walking more cautiously. A couple minutes later someone comes out of one of the doors to a shop on my right so I try to get out of her way but Holy Jesus, I found the Red Light District.
I respectfully declined her offer to come inside and continued walking back to the hostel. I'm even more cautious on my way to the hostel now.
After I get back and shower it's time to head out to meet the guys at their hostel. I head downstairs and walk out the front door of the hostel just as two guys in my class at Santa Clara come in. I know Cam, but I haven't met Hugo before. I can't believe I'm running into them here. They're in Amsterdam for two days. I tell them I'm heading off to meet Alex and Christian for dinner.
Crazy.
I head off after we agree to meet up at some point in the next two days. We'll message each other on Facebook.
I get lost on my way to find Alex and Christian, but with the help of four Aussies and an iPhone with Google Maps I make it alright. I was only just around the corner. After some quick hellos and a little bit of talk we head off to find dinner. We settled on €5 pizza and pasta and it was well worth it. Afterwards we head off in search of a sports bar that's advertised 10 shots of Jäger for €10.
When we find the place it's on a plaza right next to where a breakdance crew is about to perform. They tell us they want our money after the show.
We decide to stay and watch, but we'll head into the bar right behind us at the end when they ask the crowd to throw a few euro in their buckets. The show was entertaining enough, but we left at the end, as did the majority of the crowd. We stand outside the bar, which has a street cafe and tables outside, debating whether or not to keep walking around or go in. Next door to the bar a couple of girls start yelling at each other. Then a girl throws a punch.
Now it's a fight.
A bunch of girls start running into the scuffle and fists are flying everywhere. They bust through the little door that leads out of the sidewalk cafe and crash into the tables where people are eating. Glasses break, fists fly, and people are clearing their tables and getting out of the way. Just when I think it couldn't get any better, a couple big guys run in and try and pull the girls off each other. It's no use. (By now the breakdancers' crowd had turned around to watch the spectacle). It's way too much to handle for the two guys and the fight is raging on, when suddenly a behemoth security guard comes into the mix and hacks away at the girls arms to break them apart. Then he carries two flailing girls, one in each arm, walks them through the cafe, and throws them out into the street. Then he comes back for the other girls and shoves them away from the restaurant. After all was said and done, the security guard got a roaring applause. Much more enthusiastic than the applause the dancers received.
In the end, we finally went into the bar then out around the city after the Jäger. We decide to meet at the Vincent van Gogh museum tomorrow.
The train is an easy 3 hours, and I find my hostel easily. Smooth sailing. I get in touch with Alex and Christian and we agree to meet at 7pm. I've got plenty of time to kill so I decide to go for a walk. On my map I can see that the flower mall is along the canal fairly close to my hostel so I head that way.
There are canals everywhere in Amsterdam. And there are bridges all over the place to allow people to cross. It's amazing. Along the rails of the bridges there are as many bikes as could possibly fit, all locked up, waiting for their owners to ride them all around this crazy city. The same goes for the boats. If they're not being driven around they're all docked along the sides of the canals. It's cool. Up ahead I spot three guys boating down the canal in a bright yellow wooden clog with their shirts off. Just a couple bros being bros.I get to the flower mall and it's crazy. I didn't realize there was such a big market for flowers. I only every bought them for high school dances and Valentine's day. Or when I'm in the doghouse.
I keep walking around and find a place to eat. The big front doors are open and there's a cat lazing around on the floor inside. I go for a chicken sandwich with peanut sauce and a side of WiFi. The chicken sandwich is amazing. It's very peanut-saucy and hot. A few minutes into my meal a guy in a fedora sits down at the table across from me and orders a bowl of ice-cream. He looks completely stoned.
After lunch I look for my hostel on the map and start walking back. The streets are incredibly busy with people walking and running in and out of stores. And there are Vespas and bicycles whizzing by constantly. I almost get hit by someone as they ride by so I start walking more cautiously. A couple minutes later someone comes out of one of the doors to a shop on my right so I try to get out of her way but Holy Jesus, I found the Red Light District.
I respectfully declined her offer to come inside and continued walking back to the hostel. I'm even more cautious on my way to the hostel now.
After I get back and shower it's time to head out to meet the guys at their hostel. I head downstairs and walk out the front door of the hostel just as two guys in my class at Santa Clara come in. I know Cam, but I haven't met Hugo before. I can't believe I'm running into them here. They're in Amsterdam for two days. I tell them I'm heading off to meet Alex and Christian for dinner.
Crazy.
I head off after we agree to meet up at some point in the next two days. We'll message each other on Facebook.
I get lost on my way to find Alex and Christian, but with the help of four Aussies and an iPhone with Google Maps I make it alright. I was only just around the corner. After some quick hellos and a little bit of talk we head off to find dinner. We settled on €5 pizza and pasta and it was well worth it. Afterwards we head off in search of a sports bar that's advertised 10 shots of Jäger for €10.
When we find the place it's on a plaza right next to where a breakdance crew is about to perform. They tell us they want our money after the show.
We decide to stay and watch, but we'll head into the bar right behind us at the end when they ask the crowd to throw a few euro in their buckets. The show was entertaining enough, but we left at the end, as did the majority of the crowd. We stand outside the bar, which has a street cafe and tables outside, debating whether or not to keep walking around or go in. Next door to the bar a couple of girls start yelling at each other. Then a girl throws a punch. Now it's a fight.
A bunch of girls start running into the scuffle and fists are flying everywhere. They bust through the little door that leads out of the sidewalk cafe and crash into the tables where people are eating. Glasses break, fists fly, and people are clearing their tables and getting out of the way. Just when I think it couldn't get any better, a couple big guys run in and try and pull the girls off each other. It's no use. (By now the breakdancers' crowd had turned around to watch the spectacle). It's way too much to handle for the two guys and the fight is raging on, when suddenly a behemoth security guard comes into the mix and hacks away at the girls arms to break them apart. Then he carries two flailing girls, one in each arm, walks them through the cafe, and throws them out into the street. Then he comes back for the other girls and shoves them away from the restaurant. After all was said and done, the security guard got a roaring applause. Much more enthusiastic than the applause the dancers received.
In the end, we finally went into the bar then out around the city after the Jäger. We decide to meet at the Vincent van Gogh museum tomorrow.
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