We went to Amsterdam this past weekend. We arrived on Saturday afternoon. Being the space cadets that we are, we failed to bring the hotel information. Tracy was pretty sure she knew the street name and address, though, but she turned out to be wrong. We walked around for quite awhile and finally went into a bar called "Cafe Chaos", which is ironic because everything was put in order once we got there. We were given a phone book and found the hotel (Hotel Acacia) address. We hung out in the bar a little longer. It was dark and cozy and there were all sorts of angels and cherubs hanging from the walls and ceiling. Cool place. There was a man there that had his two dogs with him, which I thought was cool.
We arrive at Hotel Acacia, which is in the old Jewish section of town called the Jordaan. For a 3 person room it was only $99 Euro (and that included a free breakfast) which is very cheap for Amsterdam. We found out we were on the top floor (mind you, there are no elevators, of course) in Room#16. I think Amsterdam must have the narrowest and steepest staircases of anywhere in the world because we had to climb 6 flight of the most unbelievably narrow and steep stairs. It was like climbing up a ladder..WHOA! Once we arrived (breathless and with trembling legs) in our room, we were thrilled with the rooftop view of the city..gorgeous. Our entire room was light pink. The walls, and the bedding, which was funny and soothing to me.
After resting a bit from climbing up "the ladder" we went in search of something to eat. We ended up eating a really good Thai place. It was reasonably priced, too. The Jordaan rocks! It is an area that is full of narrow winding streets chock full of little shops and restaurants and it is fairly quiet because it isn't close to the touristy Red Light District and the famous Dam Square. We were able to walk around a bit longer before it got dark and some of the architecture is stunning. I distinctly remember it being 8 o'clock (20:00..I need to get used to military time because that is what is used) and hearing some beautiful church bells toll the hours away.
We made our way to Dam Square (full of people) and finally into the Red Light District. The feeling was of utter chaos and seediness. It was really surreal, really crowded and full of loud drunkards (especially on a Saturday night!) I was amused but felt kind of claustrophic and a certain amount of culture shock at this point. I have no problems with prostitution being legal, but the whole thing seemed comical to me. Block after block are street level rooms with windows facing the street. They are lined with neon red and back lit with sort of a black light/violet hue. Most of the women wear sexy bikinis or some sort of lingerie. Most of them sit or stand statue still, which made me laugh and was unnerving. They don't make any eye contact with women. If a man makes eye contact with them that is more than just a lingering glance they are catcalling to the man and blowing him kisses trying to get his attention. I actually saw a "sale"take place. This younger man was let into one of these window/rooms after the prostitute collected his money. They went in and a long red curtain was drawn as to keep prying eyes away. At one point I went by a storefront and saw what I thought was a women dressed in lingerie, but it actually WAS a mannequin, so that threw me for a loop. Hans got asked a couple of times if he wanted a variety of drugs. The drug dealers also stand on corners and make strange bird-like whistling calls to indicate that you can buy from them. On one of the streets (they seem to segrate the white girls from ethnic girls) there were some windows right across from a beautiful cathedral. What a sharp contrast! I've been told that you will never find a prostitute in the Red Light District that is actually Dutch. Most of them come from Poland and Russia. I guess it is very typical for most Dutch young men to visit a prostitute at least once in their life. It is sort of a rite of passage. Anyways, we could only stand so much of this area and so we headed back to the hotel. Along the way we walked down a street full of the "special" coffeehouses. The air was lightly perfumed with the scent of pot. I actually like the smell, but am not into getting high, so on we went...seeing all the dark, oily canals at night and the lit up bridges that cross them is an experience everybody should have once in their lifetime. The city is very beautiful, at night or during the day. All the tall, narrow houses have hooks at the top so that people can move their furniture in and out of windows high up off the ground. The reason for this is that the staircases/hallways are far too narrow for couches, etc. We were exhausted and climbed up our "ladder" to our room and I think I was asleep by 10:00pm. It is too bad we were all so tired, because to not go out to a club or pub or bar while in Amsterdam seems like a crime.
The next morning we ate our free breakfast. I felt a little silly asking for tomato juice when all most places ever have to drink is:coffee, black tea, or orange juice. Seeing that I hate orange juice and cannot tolerate caffeine, I had no choice but to drink water. We were given hard boiled eggs (Hans ate mine) and several different kinds of toasts and crackers and a plate of sliced ham and cheese, so we ate enough to be full.
It was a warm and sunny day and we headed over to the Anne Frank House (which was very nearby)...Tracy and Hans had already been through it twice and I told them I could tour it alone, so they went off to explore and I went inside the Anne Frank house. It was very fascinating but it wasn't until we got into her room that still contained the pictures (of movie stars like Greta Garbo and Ray Milland) that she had hung up on her wall to make it more cheerful. I was very teary-eyed by the time we got into a room about the death camps and the information about Otto Frank and his wife being separated and sent to different camps. They also had a little video going of old footage from the death camps that must have been taken by the Nazi's. It is extremely graphic and disturbing. I thought I might sob then so I quickly left that area. The whole experience was fascinating and very somber and sad for me. I want to re-read the Diary of Anne Frank now. I'd like to also read more about the Dutch Resistance. So, I was done with the museum and was sitting on a bench next to another girl, soaking up the sun and feeling so happy to be alive. I was looking at the canals...and saw a solitary pink balloon bobbing around in the water. This made me smile. Suddenly there were two girls standing in front of me..two American girls wearing flipflops in 45 degree weather who must have been about 15-17. They were waiting on their mom to come out of the Anne Frank House. When there mother finally sees them she is very angry because she had been looking for them and they weren't where they were supposed to be. They start arguing loudly (in front of me and a line of about 50 people waiting to get into the Anne Frank House) and the mother tells her daughter that she is grounded. I was glad when they finally left the area because they were so IRRITATING. I turned around to look at the girl that had witnessed this with me and we both burst out laughing. She turned out to be from California but was currently studying in Italy.
The last thing we did before leaving Amsterdam was to take an hour long boat tour of some of the more famous canals. That was relaxing and a good way to see some of the city (and our feet were very tired from the night before)
I have yet to see huge rows of tulips, but I have seen fields of yellow daffodils. You drive by them and it looks like someone has taken spray paint to a large section of earth, it is that surreally bright and beautiful.
The molens (windmills) are stunning, too. You have the more modern ones that are metal and we drove by row upon row of them. They are hypnotizing as you watch their synchronized dance. But I especially love the older ones that are used for grain storage. We even came upon one that grinds up plants, etc. to make colored powders that in turn are used to make paint.
My dutch is still non-existant, but since I've been here I've learned about 5 new dutch words and that is good to be able to use to describe something!!
This weekend we are going to Groningen to see some music and I will take all my stuff with me. We'll share a hotel room again and on Sunday I will take a train from Groningen to Berlin. Can't wait!!
