Arrived in Amsterdam and it was cold and rainy….not the most inspiring environment after little sleep the night before. This was my third trip to Amsterdam and the city has a special significance for me. The first trip was in Nov 1999 and the first destination as an independent traveller on my post uni. travels with Robert “balloon city “ Doole, an old friend from Canada. The second time was on my 24th birthday on September 11th 2001... (A significant day for me all right, was with an old girlfriend in the airport departure lounge in Liverpool when the planes hit and then in the air 20mins later . So I have always associated Amsterdam with 9/11).
Got to the hostel( a big place in the south side of the city) and checked in. Was sharing a room with three American cousins who were in Europe for the first time. A nice bunch of people. That night I treated myself to a decent meal in the local Irish pub an noticed that Amsterdam had got considerably more expensive in the last 10 years. ( 5.60 euros a pint no less) Next I hit a local coffee shop and then went for a walk around town. I think it would be fair to say I was lost in about 15mins…Of all the places I’ve been Amsterdam is the hardest to navigate, ( not just due to the state of mind you are usually in when you are there) My map reading skills again were letting me down. However with no set destination it was fun just wandering and taking in the vibes. Joined a crowd of people watching a covers band doing 60’s blues and r+b . The band was made up of 19-20 year olds who must have been music students because they were the tightest band ive seen in a while….really good.
Wandered around trying to recognise the areas id been before but every thing seemed hazy ..Amsterdam by night is a crazy place, Very liberal; tramps, drug dealers and prostitutes share the streets with bug eyed tourists and local trendies. Neon lights line the canals and there are all manner of shops catering to all manner of vices.
Every now and then would see a couple of kids in their early 20’s giggling uncontrollably on the streets…reminded me of my first trip to “the dam “….Also saw a lot guys on British stag do’s behaving aggressively (was a sharp reminder that id be back in the UK in less than 2 weeks putting up with that kind of anti social shit …) There were also the obvious sex tourists who were concentrated in the red light district, a seedy part of town but also surreal in the neon glow of the night. Found my way back to the hotel around mid night after walking randomly for about 4 hours and starting to feel normal again. Was out like a light…….
Next morning I went to the nearby Vondel park ( somewhere I hadn’t been on the last 2 trips) . The sun was shining and spent a couple of hours wandering around and chilling by the ponds …park was really cool and was felling good. That afternoon I met up with a guy from Amsterdam called Bart who I met in the hostel in Sarajevo. He showed me round the city for a couple of hours…really lucky a free history lesson and tour… we went to the Van Gough Museum after ( always fun ) and then had a couple of pints and talked about travelling and Science ( Bart was a physics student)….always good to have a local perspective when you travelling and it was cool of Bart to give up a few hours of his time to hang out.
That evening I went to the hostel Bar and got talking to the Bar maid and then a couple of American students… We decided try find a club to go to and ended up going to another minimalist techno night (this time with a more impressive sound system)…I got separated from everyone during the night but stayed on until around 5am and then got lost again trying to get back home. Ended up meeting a couple of girls from Hamburg in the street and went back to their self catered accommodation to carry on drinking ,we were joined on the way by a crazy Dutch film director… made for a strange but hilarious morning…..esp. as the crazy Dutchman insisted on shouting in German at the top of his voice for comedy value despite the several noise complaints from the hotel staff……. eventually made it back to the hostel at 745am and lay on the bed for a hour before getting up to catch a 930 train to Hamburg.
I think my experience in Amsterdam has brought home a few truths that I have been avoiding for a while. Basically im not one of those giggling 20 year old kids anymore. Overall, rather than enhancing my experience, my coffee shop visit seemed to distract from it, robbing me of my mojo…..( the final line of the movie “half-baked” also sums this epiphany up nicely ) .After 2 days of excess following a night out in Berlin beforehand I felt truly “Amster-damaged” and slightly spiritually lost as I made my way to the train station ….decided the best thing to do was ignore any negativity I was feeling and carry on to Hamburg for Saturday night out (and possibly the last big session of the trip) before staring a week of wilderness appreciation and spiritual self-healing in Scandinavia.
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