Amsterdam

Gillian, Floor, Anil, Lisa, Marlies

Smash Cut to some wonderful momos with Gillian. Super-size me motherfucker! (You won’t get that. Only Gillian will.)

Amsterdam was really cool. And this is from a guy who didn’t spend his days in the coffee shops and his nights in the clubs. Amsterdam just has this really wonderful atmosphere. On Friday, our first full day in town, we pretty much just walked around. Took in the sights, got a feel for the city, and ate some nice food. It was also our first full day together on our whole backpacking-through-Europe trip. So it was a good start and the weather was beautiful. And Mom: Gillian always makes sure we re-apply sunscreen when needed, so no worries. No burns so far.

One thing that was really nice is my friends Floor and Anil picked us up at the airport when we arrived. We sat in a cafe, caught up with each other a bit, then went home to Floor’s place. Floor was such a wonderful host to us. We could not have had a nicer, sweeter person to stay with - she gave us so much and it was no problem for her at all. It was really cool. So now she has to come to Toronto (or Ebeltoft, Denmark) so she can stay at my place and I can give her a place to stay, show her around, cook for her, and give her the royal treatment. So Floor, if you’re reading this: come to Toronto! (and just make sure I’m there, so I can do all these things for you :D)

Friday night was really nice - Floor, Anil, Gillian, and I went out to dinner at an Argentine restaurant in Rembrantsplein, as a connection to where I first met Floor and Anil - in Cordoba, Argentina a year and a half ago. Afterwards, we walked around (I got to see the difference between the older, heftier daytime Red Light District and the younger, slimmer nighttime Red Light District) and then went to a nice bar, where Floor got the bartender to make me a nice alcohol-free cocktail. I believe it was a Nojito. At the end of the night, Anil made his way back to Den Haag (The Hague) on the night train (which I think goes to show how small and cosy Holland is).

On Saturday and Sunday, we went into Tourist Mode. We went with Floor to see the Van Gogh Museum (which was the second time for me and frankly I could go a third), which was awesome, especially because Floor hadn’t seen it before. I think it’s a really special museum because it really gives you a feel for Van Gogh as a person, not just a painter. The collection of personal letters especially illuminate is tragic life and spiral downwards, as well as his brother and sister-in-law’s undying devotion and support. I get teary-eyed just thinking of it. On Sunday, we visited the Anne Frank house, which was also nice and informative and very interesting (it’s hard to say “cool” to tour a place that was a dank, often uncomfortable, hideout from the Nazis).

Saturday night we went to the restaurant Floor serves at, which was sweet because she served us and so we ended up getting the star treatment, lots of bread, and free drinks! Just another example of how cool Floor is.

Sunday, we got to meet up with Lisa and Marlies, both of whom I met while studying Spanish in Buenos Aires (the month before I went to Cordoba). This whole Argentina reconnection thing was really cool for me because that was my first big backpacking adventure (where I met a lot of Dutch peeps), so it was like connecting the two trips together. Both girls (young women) are very sweet and fun, and they took Gillian and I to a place to try “bitterbollen”, which I don’t really know how to describe. They’re sort of a Dutch pub food, deep-fried balls of batter and I think maybe some meat and what looked like spinach? So good. Mmmm. And Gillian and I also tried Fristi, which is this pink yoghurt drink that Dutch kids (like, little kids) apparently love.

So all in all, I think Gillian and I got a really good coverage of Amsterdam. We spent time in all the major neighbourhood/areas of the town and got to hang out with some locals and do local stuff. On Monday, we visited this really nice cafe called Latei that a friend of ours recommended us and then went for a walk in the main park, which was full of people walking/lying down and enjoying the sunny weather. And where I bumped into Lisa who was with two friends (which, again, goes to show how small and cosy Holland is). Having never accidentally bumped randomly into someone I know in a foreign city before, this was really cool. And since it was this city... with the people I know here...

...really makes seriously consider job-hunting in Amsterdam when I’m done. Hmmm...

Brief comments on Gillian (I’ll write more on her later ;) - very cool travel buddy. We both have a lot of things to say about what we see, so things never get dull. We can also comfortably enjoy silence together when waiting on a bus/train or when one of us is checking our email or reading. Also Gillian belched a big burp around me the other day. Which was nice. Both for its magnitude and to show how comfortable we are around each other. Hopefully we can keep that up without killing each other. :D

So, on the train from Amsterdam to Brussels, I have a new dilemma - yet another city I want to live in and keep returning to. It makes me not want to leave, especially away from such wonderful friends, but I guess it’s kind of a good “bad thing”. I mean...

Wouldn’t it be the most awesome trip if it was like this for every city I see?