We all know of the infamous Amsterdam. Green coffee shops, the red light district, picturesque canals and bikes all over the place but there is so much more to this place.
First things first, there so many more bikes than you could ever imagine. I thought ‘yeah Amsterdam is known for having a lot of bikes’. NO! Amsterdam has more than just a lot. Picture a shitload of bikes and then multiply that by 1000 and you’re getting close. And with all these bikes, come the bike gangs. Hordes of cyclists riding about like they own not only the bike lanes but all streets and footpaths as well.
I never thought I could fear cyclists but here I was standing in what I thought was a harmless footpath admiring the great Vondelpark when I had an entire bikie gang wiz past me from all directions (I swear one of them pinched my bum)! I quickly learnt to always be on the lookout for bikes. But anytime I had a lapse in concentration I was sure to find myself close to crapping my dacks because they were dinging their bells while zipping past. I still get twitches whenever I hear a bike bell. Maybe I should have just hired a bike but I seriously haven’t been on one in years. This would have been worse than being a pedestrian. Ahh just writing this brings back the bad memories.
But once you move past the fear of bikes (who knows, maybe it’s only me being melodramatic – it wouldn’t be the first time) you’ll come to love all the great quirks Amsterdam has on offer.
Forget the Leaning Tower of Pisa (it’s pretty shit anyway. I’ve been twice and was underwhelmed both times). Just about every terrace house in the city centre is leaning one way or another. Some seem as if there diving into the canal in front of them while others are nudging their neighbours (even the architecture seems to show the houses screaming out in fear because of this – look at the picture on the left). Still, it’s quite fun trying to find the house which leans the most. Give it a go.
But prepare yourself for expensive living costs. We had just come from Prague where we had quickly grown accustom to super cheap… well everything. Fortunately for me, Amsterdam happened to be the place where my Europe holiday intersected with that of my parents. Being the super awesome people they are, they paid for so much of my food and booze while I was here. Those of you who don’t happen to have your parents around paying for stuff, look out for bargains down little alley ways away from the touristy spots (though this is something that remains true for just about every city). The food here is great. I struggled to find any ‘traditional Dutch food’ but had some great Indian, Thai and Chinese eats.
After food experiences, came the art and culture hit. Mum and Dad paid for my Vincent Van Gogh Museum ticket and we spent a great morning looking at his famous artwork. His use of colour just gets me. I could have stayed here for the entire day. This museum was my favourite as I loved each and every one of his impressionist paintings. Even his biography, the interactive dimensions of the museum and the souvenir shop got me excited. I bought a Van Gogh mug. I don’t need a Van Gogh mug. What am I going to do with it in London? OK I’ll drink tea out of it, but still. Silly me. I was just too excited to not get anything.
I started to get a bit ill around the third day in Amsterdam The next day but still got to see the Anne Frank House and the Red Light District at night (with hindsight, combining the two was probably a bit wrong). We pre-booked tickets for this as well so skipped the crazy long queues and went straight into the exhibit. While this was great, going in so quickly meant that I had little time to prepare myself for what I was going to experience.
Walking through the very hallways and rooms of the building where the three families hid from the Nazis made me go all quiet. Hearing their stories, reading her surprisingly insightful and honest writing was extremely confronting. I was close to tears on several occasions but somehow managed to keep myself together. Seeing her name on the concentration camp list and then on the deceased list made me stop in my place. What was worse is that there were four Aaron Franks above her name on the deceased list and this page, full of at least 100 other names, only represented a tiny fraction of all victims. If I can only just keep myself together while I’m here, how am I going to deal with the concentration camps in Germany? I guess that’s future Andy’s problem.
All three of us left in an understandably sombre mood. We didn’t quite make eye contact with each other and little talking took place as we made our way to the Red Light District at night.
Being in this state of mind, I only felt sorry for the women selling themselves through the windows. I thought of the sex trafficking trade which takes place in these streets and how some of these women looked like mothers. But the strangers around me were loving life and thought this was all hilarious. I guess I had somewhat of the same reaction when I accidentally stumbled across the Red Light District the day before and lost my shit due to the general surprise. Making eye contact with these women was just awkward for me. Maybe I should have worn an ‘I am gay’ T-shirt so they didn’t waste their time ushering me over. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I wasn’t so sad. Oh well.
Unfortunately, I got tonsillitis during my time here and spent a day or two laying in my hostel dorm by myself sleeping and taking antibiotics. It sucked to miss out on so much time in Amsterdam and it was even worse when I had to pay 55 euros to go to the doctor but at least my mumma and papa were around to take care of me. It just so happened that as I was on my way to the pharmacist, I walked past my parents having lunch in a café. They bought me some chicken soup and we talked about life and shit for quite some time. I’m so lucky to have them around during this part of my holiday. It is the last time I’ll be getting this love and affection from them for about a year as I won’t see them while I’m living in London. Must get all the love I can now!
Being sick meant I missed out on going to a coffee shop and grabbing a brownie (none of my fellow travellers wanted to do this so not getting high on my own may have been a blessing). I also couldn’t make our cycling tour around the city (this was probably another blessing as my bike fear was real). I didn’t even get the obligatory canal and IAMsterdam photo (a small part of my selfie loving self died because of this). But these were the only main things I missed out on.
So my stay in Amsterdam was full of mixed emotions. I loved parts and was in a pretty crappy state of mind for quite a bit of it too. But the best/worst part had to be when my parents took me on a river cruise dinner on my last night there. We had a great time chatting, eating and making fun of each other but it was also the last time I’d see them for at least a year. Hugging them both goodbye wasn’t an easy thing to do. At least we can Skye and Whatsapp each other occasionally. Plus I’m a big boy, I can survive without my parents (I hope).
So much happened while I was here but I must return to Amsterdam in the near future so I can really take advantage of everything. Maybe I’ll even overcome my new found fear of bikes.
Tales of an Aussie Traveller 