Amsterdam

After Barcelona we jetted our way to Amsterdam. We arrived the evening of Halloween and the streets of Amsterdam were packed. Our hostel (correction, our horrible hostel) was in the old town not too far from the red light district. After getting settled, we went out for some supper and to explore. Every inch of the old town was packed and it was shocking. Around every corner were new surprises including large groups of leather-clad men, coffee shops, sex shops a plenty, and the girls in the windows under the neon-red lights either chewing gum or talking on their cellphones. The most hilarious sight was a grand presbyterian church completely encompassed by sin. On all sides its surrounded by brothels, bars, and coffee shops. But, what truly made it overwhelming was the sheer number of people on the streets for All Hallow's Eve. Half the people were costumed up and almost all had drinks in their hands as they made there way through the streets. No matter where you turned you would encounter hordes of people.

The next day we made our way through the old town again and it was a completely different experience. Everything was still neon, but it was calm and much easier to handle. We walked along the canals until we found De Waag which is the oldest building in Amsterdam and incidentally a great place to have lunch. We enjoyed some amazing eggs benedict 'In De Waag'. Next to De Waag, we found a very cute market and spent some time wandering through some Dutch antiques and other items. Unfortunately, it started to pour rain and it didn't let up for the rest of the afternoon. So, we opted to experience some of the what Amsterdam had to offer indoors. We made our way to the Heineken Experience located in their old brewery and it was quite the experience indeed. We learned some history, saw how they make that delectable beer (even explored some of the chemical engineering aspects!), became beer for a 4-D theme-park type experience, and of course enjoyed some wonderful beer.

After the beer, we went exploring for Amsterdam's finest munchies and came across nothing but deliciousness. They had everything from wok boxes, to crazy flavored chips (for example, bolognese and, my favorite, cool american. Those gnarly American's did taste good), to hot dogs topped like pizzas, to waffles topped like extravegant cakes. I have to say, I do miss those waffles. They were delicious and always came with a little plastic knork (that's right, knork. The half knife half fork concoction that every other place in the world would think is too dangerous to eat with). We also made our way to the sex museum which was simply ridiculous, but fairly tasteful. Just another one of those experiences.

The next day we got some fairly good weather (even though we thought it was quite cold after wearing shorts through Spain for a couple weeks) so we rented some city bikes. I truly want a city bike now, but I don't think Stu does... he managed to fall off of his within 5 minutes of renting it. He claims a pedestrian cut him off, but I didn't see said pedestrian :)

On our bikes we went to a famous pancake house where we enjoyed the best pancakes of all time. These weren't your standard pancakes, they were entire meals filled with anything you could think of. I had a pancake with bacon in it and Stu tried the bacon and apple. The syrup wasn't your standard syrup either, they had an incredibly thick, dark syrup that was a bit more molasses-y and still delicious.

We also saw the Anne Frank Haus which was an despressing but great experience. Reading and learning about doesn't compare to actually walking around the house/attic where they lived. Seeing the pictures Anne had posted on the wall and watching a video of her dad speak about publishing her diary after the war puts you in the situation. It makes you think when such monstrosities can occur in a peaceful country like Holland which isn't that different from Canada. At least there are places like the Anne Frank Haus, to keep history from repeating itself.

We spent the rest of the day biking the canals and discovering all sorts of wonders around Amsterdam which were so quaint and different from the red light district. Leidseplein and Leidsestraat were must sees, with beautiful buildings and great shopping. Leidseplein is the main square with restaurants galore and Leidsestraat is a large pedestrian street to wander and shop. (I love the concept of the pedestrian street. That's something I'll truly miss about Europe.) However, the best things we found were in random and quiet places along the canals. We found great cheese shops, cute shopping centers, a giant chess set in Maxeuweplein, and ducks in Vondelpark. The skinny buildings stacked on top of each other all along the many canals give the city such a charm. It amazes me that the houses are so skinny. The staircases inside are ridiculous. You know the stairs in old houses that go down the the small basements in those houses? The stairs in the houses in Amsterdam are steeper and less wide! It was not pleasant to have to hall our luggage up 3 flights of those stairs which spiraled in our hostel to our tiny room. Stu's theory is that the stairs in Holland are directly responsible for how tall those inhabitants who climb those stairs are. They are a workout!

Neat fact: The reason the houses are so skinny is the government enforced a law that stated that houses could only be 3m wide, otherwise they were largely taxed. I guess it makes sense when there is a limited amount of space on a city built on tiny islands.

All and all, outside of the tourist-swarms in the red-light district, Amsterdam truly is a beautiful city. It has such charm.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene