Rotterdam, Netherlands: Architecture for the 25th Century

Everything I had heard about Rotterdam revolved around architecture. "It's nothing like Amsterdam" was the common theme. I figured surely that was an exaggeration- two Dutch cities less than an hour apart couldn't possibly be that different could they? The answer, apparently, is yes. Yes they can. And, given the theme of the past few posts, you might come to the conclusion that the reason Rotterdam is constructed of such cutting edge architecture is because all of the old city was destroyed in Allied bombing raids.

Well you would be wrong. But only partially wrong. It was in fact destroyed in a German bombing raid referred to as the "Rotterdam Blitz." Don't make the same mistake I did, thinking that's the name of a Dutch dance move. The Dutch will not be not amused. The name does, though, remind me of the "Ballroom Blitz" which my former boss once attributed as my theme song. I can see it. 

Subsequent to the war, Rotterdam became an epicenter for futuristic architecture and the city was rebuilt in a completely modern style. My first experience with this architecture was actually at my hostel- the StayOkay Hostel which is located in the cube houses. What do I mean by cube houses? I mean precisely that- houses in the shape of cubes. 

What does the inside of a cube shaped hostel dorm look like? Pretty much as you would imagine.

Kind of ridiculous. The far wall also leaned in at the same angle as the wall on the left. A great way to bash your head in the morning when you wake up. One thing I can say for that hostel is that they take great care to make sure their guests are aware of any dangerous situations which may ensnare them.

It's a TRAP! Haha. Pretty much the entire center of Rotterdam has been rebuilt in a modern style, however, there is a small place along of the old port that retains the classic Rotterdam style, identifiable from the large building dubbed the white house. As it was right behind the hostel I was able to get a nice picture of it at dusk. 

It was already getting dark by the time I had arrived in Rotterdam my first night so I decided to take a walk up to the Chinatown portion of the city in search for some good noodles. Along the way I got my first glimpse at some of the renowned Rotterdam skyscrapers. 

I did manage to find the Chinatown but it was small and expensive so I ended up just grabbing a snack and retiring to the hostel. That night at the hostel I met a new friend, Sidney, from Guangzhou who studies in Lyon and was visiting the Netherlands during her break week. We were both planning to visit Kinderdjik in the morning so we decided to team up. Ultimately we ended up going to Den Haag (The Hague) as well but I'll cover that in a separate post.

My third and final day in Rotterdam I actually got around to doing a serious expedition of the city. One of the most notable features of the city is the Erasmus Bridge named, like many things in Rotterdam, after their famous university Erasmus. Behind the bridge are several buildings under construction which are designed like blocks stacked askew. And just behind the bridge to the left you have a building which from one side appears straight but when you see it from the other side it expands outward from the ground like a Chinese fan.

To the left of these buildings, and dominating the skyline, is the rather conservative but exceptionally large Deloitte building. Doesn't matter where I go in the world- they're always there haha.

As a quick aside and a break from all of the architecture discussed and to come, there is an interesting type of tree in northern Europe that when it looses its branches, the remaining pattern looks like an eye staring at you. There was a line of about 15 of these along a street near the Deloitte office. Extremely creepy... stop staring at me trees!

Now seems like the appropriate time to mention the other thing that Rotterdam is famous for apart from the architecture. Rotterdam hosts the biggest port in all of Europe! As a port enthusiast it gives me a tingly feeling when I can track down and gaze out upon a magnificent port. Watching wistfully as giant container ships, the chariots of the seas, sully back and forth the wares of every region of the globe. It's something to be witnessed while enjoying an expensive cigar and fine cognac. For you Kev, the biggest port in Europe:

It's so huge I couldn't even fit it all in. That's what she said. Sorry, couldn't resist. Childish humor aside, because of the destruction and the rebuilding process, as well as it's role as THE international shipping hub, Rotterdam is a city full of worldly influences. These influences have led to some interesting curiosities that you'll find scattered throughout the city. For example, near the old port you will find this:

Yep, a massive Chinese shopping center and restaurant complex. Looks like old town Shanghai. Or maybe this will suit your fancy. When they rebuilt the northern port area they created a new bridge in line with the new road. But instead of moving the road around on the other side, it just goes through a building.

If you trek far enough west, however, you will exit the very city center and come across an area of old Rotterdam which survived the Blitz. To make it even more super-authentic looking they've left an operable windmill at the confluence of two of the canals.

Heading back to the central part of the city I noticed something I found humorous. Since I didn't give you any photos of them in Amsterdam, here is a "coffee shop" named Nemo right next to a fish n' chips place also named Nemo. I'm sure they're owned by the same person; perhaps the idea was for patrons of the coffee shop, now blighted by munchies to proceed directly to the fish n' chips place for refreshment. In any event, I can almost guarantee the owner did not get a license from Disney for the name.

More stuff about the port, you say? Ok. Right in the middle of the city along one of the old canals is the Maritime museum. In addition to the interior portion, there is a massive assortment of all types of shipping vessels and equipment scattered around outside the building. You're free to roam around at your leisure. I particularly enjoyed the container crane. Made me feel like I was back down at the port, smoking my cigar and sipping my cognac.

Some of the really dramatic office buildings are located close to the central station. One of my favorites was shaped like the blades of a windmill with some serious vertical support beams to hold up the vertical "blades."

Making my way back toward the hostel I came across some really cool apartments along one of the canals. Would be really sweet to have a balcony right along that canal... except when it floods or in high mosquito season of course. 

"Is there anything left of the old city center that you could show us, Mike?" Sure. There's one prominent thing: the St. Lauren's church. It was hit during the bombing but not completely destroyed and has since been rebuilt. There is a massive square behind it which is used, as I found out, on Saturdays for a giant flea market. 

Compare that with this picture on wikipedia from right after the bombings. Staggering. It was my last night in Rotterdam so I took a stroll around looking for something interesting. There are a number of bars in the area but it was one of those all-too-common Europe bar scenes where everyone goes with their groups of friends, gets drinks, and then sits at a table. No one mixing it up with other people.

I really miss that about US bars- just strolling into a random dive in NYC and mixing it up with whoever is there. In most places in Europe that just isn't done. Anyway, I got pretty bored so I decided to retreat to the hostel where I met a few people hanging at that bar. Still, it was a relatively quiet night and after a couple beers I called it a night. I think I've finally partied myself out. Took 7.5 months but it happened, haha.

Rotterdam is a cool city- certainly one worth taking a look around. Because I didn't really get into much nightlife though, I can't really give you a good bead on whether it would be a cool place to live. It has some of the intangibles- international feel, good transportation, lots of restaurants, bars, etc., but I just didn't get a feel of the overall scene. Oh well. I suppose if I really wanted I could always get a job at the Deloitte Rotterdam office and really dig in- they clearly have enough office space to accommodate me.

Next up I'd be heading into Belgium for a much much much anticipated 8 days of Belgian beer drinking extravaganza, including meeting up with a friend and fellow beer enthusiast from back in Granada. Whoo whoo... that's that sound of the beer train, better hop on board. Amped doesn't do it justice!

Bonus photo: there was a pizza place near the hostel cheekily called VIP (Very Italian Pizza). I gave it a try out of courteousy (and still with the great pies of Dusseldorf haunting my dreams). Opted for a pie with prosciutto, parmagianno reggiano, and arugula. Tasty but no where near Dusseldorf quality. Damn you Dusseldorfers, ha.

A Huge Thanks!

First of all I want to say a huge thank you to you, dear readers, who have stuck with Wanderlust through all of my adventures and periodic poor recounting of the tales thereof. As of today Wanderlust hit 5,000 page views which for many blogs is a few days or hours worth of traffic, but for me has exceeded my greatest expectations for this humble enterprise.

As you may have noticed if you track me on Facebook, Stint Two has officially come to a close. However, I have a handful of posts yet to publish including the last of the Netherlands, all of Belgium, Luxembourg, and a return to Paris and London. At some point, once I've been able to digest this grand adventure, I will post a cumulative recap entry discussing some of the things I've learned along the way, some of my favorite places and experiences, and a (hopefully) full tally of every item/article of clothing or gear that I lost, wore through, destroyed, or had stolen. I love fun stats like that.

Anyway, thank you again from the bottom of my heart for reading. It's been a long wild ride and I've got two months to recuperate and steady the ship before I depart again, this time for the far east. Yes, Wanderlust will be returning for Stint 3 into Eastern Asia for somewhere around 5-7 more months of insanity. I can't tell you exactly how long because I booked a one way ticket; if nothing else it should add to the suspense. This time around, however, I'll be bringing along a companion- a dear and long time friend who I hope will be the Sancho Panza to my Don Quixote for what can only be another wayward and frantic adventure. 

I implore you: retain your commendable courage and keep reading. I hope the best is yet to come. 

Always yours,

- Mike

Utrecht & Haarlem, Netherlands: Elbow Deep in Localities

On Tuesday before Halloween I decided to strike out on a day trip to Utrecht followed by trip back up to Haarlem to visit my Estonian friends. Originally I had planned to do each of these on a separate day but after reading up on the amount of time it would take to walk around both, coupled with taking Sunday as a more or less R&R day, I was constricted to accomplishing both simultaneously. No sweat for the seasoned traveler.

The main draw to Utrecht is the city's medieval roots but the city's history goes back long before that. It is believed the area was inhabited from the Bronze Age and possibly the Stone Age, however, the city proper where it stands today started as a Roman fortification in the middle of the first century AD. During the early medieval period heavy walls were built around the city to fortify it, and the city became the central hub of Christianity in the Netherlands for over 1000 years starting in 650AD. 

These days Utrecht is home to the Netherland's largest university and is the fourth largest city in the country with a population of around 316,000. By comparison, Greensboro, NC has around 273,000 people and ranks as the 69th largest city in the US (Utrecht would come in around 59th, just ahead of Riverside, CA). The most notable feature of Utrecht are, you guessed it, the remnants of the medieval structures, including the exterior canals (former moat) following the shape of the old city walls & fortifications. 

But it wasn't all the history that first struck me when I arrived on a cold cloudy morning, it was a snack shop near the central (centraal) train station operating in giant vending machine format. I've seen this before in NY, imported in from Japan, but I never would have suspected finding one in the fourth largest city in the Netherlands.

The most beautiful part of Utrecht is without a doubt the Oudegracht, or "old canal." This canal was constructed in the 1100's and more or less retains its original look. Compare the following picture I took merely days ago with one from 1890. The staggered level with space for cellars was completed in the 13th century and has remained mostly unchanged.

Similarly, the most imposing medieval structure in Utrecht is the Dom tower constructed in the 1300's. It was once connected to the rest of the Cathedral by the unfinished nave which remained so until it collapsed in 1674. Since then the tower is apart from the rest of the church. The tower can be seen from almost anywhere in Utrecht- this picture was taken several blocks away.

In fact, there is a street between the rest of the church and the tower, both of which are seemingly impossible to fit into one photo. To give you an idea, here is the church. The tower is about 50-70 feet more to the left of the edge of the photo.

And here is the tower. I had to back up a couple hundred feet to squeeze it in.

As luck would have it, and as you'll likely notice from the statue of the oxidized green man which looks strikingly similar to the one above, the Town Hall is in the same plaza as the Dom church and tower. It actually reminded me of the one in Dusseldorf. To my immense disappointment, however, I was unable to locate a large Japanese community OR Neapolitan pizza in Utrecht. :(

Humorously, those two people were relentlessly photo-bombing me- popping up in about seven shots I tried to take of the plaza. Whoever you are, enjoy your moment of "fame" on Wanderlust. Without a map and having seen the three major structures (not to mention the vending-snack place), I decided to take an aimless stroll along the old moat canals. I won't post a ton of pictures because they're more or less like Amsterdam but with more grass and less buildings. Here's a good example looking across the way toward what was once just empty space beyond the city walls.

I also noticed a number of dredging projects going on throughout the canals. I may have touched on this in a prior post but many cities around Europe use the fall and very early spring as their time for construction or renovation prior to the main tourist season. Evidently this encompasses the prime canal dredging season as well.

There were some other interesting sights around the city as well but since I had no map, and could never locate the tourist information center, I had no idea what they were. The flickr descriptions should be ample evidence of that. Suffice it to say it's a lot more canals and medieval buildings. One thing I thought particularly cool was that along one canal there were a bunch of these... "water-bus stops" is the best thing I can come up with. It looked like you could wait for a boat or similarly disembark here.

Maybe it's just a fence to keep people from running down the stairs and into the canal... but who would run down stairs that quickly and recklessly? And if they did, they probably deserve to fall in the canal. Anyway, I found it puzzling. Here is a pretty bridge for bearing with me.

As I made my way back toward the area of the central train station, I came across the canal/moat bend of the easternmost fortification. At each of these points the canal/moat juts out in a triangular point- a common defensive feature of most forts. But on the interior corner sat what appeared to be a prison of some kind. I walked all the way around it but couldn't make it out exactly but there was barbed wire, lights, and what looked like guard towers.

Not wanting to risk becoming a temporary inhabitant for snooping around, I headed back toward the station where I hopped a train back to Amsterdam and connected with a train heading up to Haarlem. Haarlem is somewhat like a suburb of Amsterdam and lies about 20 minutes north by train. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the neighborhood of Harlem in New York lies about a 20 minute train ride north from downtown Manhattan (formerly New Amsterdam).

That's where the similarities end. For a great period of its history Haarlem was a larger, richer, and more powerful city than Amsterdam. Because of its location north of Amsterdam, it collected significant toll revenues on the heavily traveled north-south trade route. The rise of shipping eventually forced much of the seafaring industry to Amsterdam and the majority of industry followed subsequent to WWII.

Personally I was in Haarlem to visit Mati, Reino, and his girlfriend Stella whom I had med way back in Porto on that crazy port-infused night and day. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I stepped off the train- I couldn't help thinking about Harlem in NYC which is jam-packed with interesting things to see, do, and consume, but not what I would deem a quaint touristy area. The clouds finally started to break as I arrived and I was greeted with this scene not minutes from the train station.

Really love how that photo came out. Kev- your camera is kicking ass! Not wanting to make the same mistake as Utrecht and roam around without a map, and also needing one to find Mati's apartment where I was to meet him, I followed the signs to the tourist information center. Along the way I passed this:

Nassau Street! I walked back and forth searching for the bar but couldn't find it! For those in the know, the aptly named Nassau bar on Nassau St. in NYC is one of my absolute favorite bars in the city and was essentially a guaranteed starting point for any post-work nights out in the city, especially in the summertime. 

The most stately edifice in the city, the Great Church, happens to occupy the premier real estate in the Grote Markt, where it has held sway for well over 600 years. It's a lean, mean, churchin machine and it's undergone a number of changes over the years due to fires, new contractors, etc. But here it is.

Also making his presence felt in the Grote Markt is Laurens Jansz Coster, or his statue's presence anyway. He's the father of bookprinting. And, little known fact, he was green.

From there I headed due east to one of the main canals where the Windmill de Adriaan rests. Just as I arrived the light, clouds, and water worked in harmony to provide me with some great pictures. Here is one from the side showing the bending of the river.

And now probably my favorite one from the back rear showing all of the little shops along the peninsula.

And one from the back showing the whole bend. Man these really turned out great. Kev's camera is killing it.

I bet you're thinking the next time you're in Amsterdam Haarlem is worth a visit. And you'd be right. For me it was already dusk so I didn't have time to explore all the way to the old city gate or check out the Cathedral. I had to make my way to Mati's. But along the way I was able to cruise the main canal where I spotted the old weigh house (the one in the center)- a building largely responsible for many of the riches that once flooded this city.

At dusk this area of the canal is a great place for a relaxing walk where you can peer out toward the just-illuminated windows of the houses scattered along the water as night gently sets in.

At Mati's we all assembled and since Mati was on call in case some last minute work came in, Stella offered for him to ride her bike to dinner. He's used to a bike without concave handlebars and one with the seat higher so you lean into the handle bars. Attempting to ride in that fashion on Stella's bike made it impossible for him to turn- giving us a chuckle the entire way to dinner.

I finally suggested he right as upright and Victorian as possible which corrected the problem but was an even funnier sight.

For dinner we went to a very local spot where we all had the plate of the day, beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes, salad, and a candied pear with a beer. It cost only 7 euro. Awesome.

After dinner we went for a couple of beers before I finally had to say goodbye to my good friends and make my way back to the station before the last train to Amsterdam. Two cities in less than 12 hours- what a day! While Utrecht was worth a peek, I'll definitely be spending more time in Haarlem the next time I find myself in Amsterdam- especially if the qualify of company remains as high as it was.

Bonus photo: yours truly freezing on the train platform waiting for that last train to Amsterdam. This was accidental but I like it.

Amsterdam, Netherlands: (Not) A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

When I sent my father an email telling him I was in Amsterdam, the response I got back was "watch out for all that vice in Amsterdam..." In this particular instance I'm not sure if he was telling me to watch out to avoid it or watch out to capitalize on it, but the idea that Amsterdam is a city of immeasurable sin seems to be the prevailing view these days. 

A city rife with alcohol, soft drugs, prostitution, and rampant homosexuals. And while all that may be true to a degree, it's also a charming city with a host of other things to occupy your time other than vice. Similar to almost anything in life, it's a choose your own level of involvement affair. Just because you're in Bangkok doesn't mean you have to go to a ping pong show. In my personal opinion that's a part of the "allure," (if you want to call it that, maybe "experience" is better) but there is a ton of awesome other stuff to do aside from that element. The same goes for Amsterdam. I mean, look at this train station, does it look like the entrance to a city of debauchery?

Recently, someone was telling me about a political campaign advertisement they saw in the US about why gays shouldn't be allowed to get married. In the commercial, whoever it was standing against gay marriage rights made the analogy that, if gay marriage passed, the United States would become a hotbed of homosexuality like Amsterdam, bringing on an apocalypse of fashionable dress, dancing, saucy attitudes, and ecstatic flamboyancy. 

Besides the obvious absurdity of this statement, and not to mention that allowing a group of people to become legally bound to others would naturally seem to decrease the "reckless" behavior the advertisement seems to fear, the comparison is simply not true and frankly an affront to gay people and the city of Amsterdam, as well as the sensibility of ordinary Americans who respect and honor the rights of all and don't believe in shameless bigotry. Anyway, sorry to get a bit preachy but blatant ignorance annoys me.

Before I dive into the post, however, I'll provide a brief primer on the items above as I don't want you to feel unfulfilled dear reader. Most people think marijuana is legal in Amsterdam. That's not technically true. It's decriminalized. It's legal to possess, use, sell, and buy it up to a certain amount (5 grams I think). You have to buy it at a "coffee shop" which actually does sell coffee but cannot sell alcohol. You may be thinking, "well if it's illegal to buy more than 5 grams, how do the coffee shops get their supply?" Someone once told me their explanation is that the supply is "magically delivered" to their backdoor at night. At least it's creative.

Some other soft drugs are legal including hallucinogenic mushrooms but since I'm allergic to mushrooms I've never even bothered to ask what the deal was with them.  Finally, prostitution is legal in Amsterdam but it's very heavily regulated. All "workers" have to apply and pass regular health exams administered by the government. They pay a flat fee for their "booth" per day and charge a base fee but are free to charge additional amounts at their discretion. So, if you go to Amsterdam and you're looking to really dig in, now you're prepared at a base level.

So while Amsterdam certainly does have its fair share of alternative activities should you choose those avenues, so does nearly every other city in the world- most on a much seedier level than Amsterdam which does things cleanly, safely, and out in the open. But I wasn't here to delve into or crusade against the more "colorful" aspects of Amsterdam, I was here first and foremost to see my friend Abi from graduate school and her husband Wes, both fellow Tar Heels. Whoo hoo!

First just let me say they were fantastic and gracious hosts. They put me up for 6 nights on an extremely comfortable bed and provided me a key so I could come and go as I pleased. The first night we were there they took me to get Indonesian food, something I had never tried before... perhaps one of the only Asian cuisines I haven't tried. Since Indonesia was a Dutch colony, they imported the cuisine back to the motherland, and the specialty of this cuisine is called "rice table." 

As you can see from the photo, it's a massive array of small dishes (generally for 2, 3, or 4 people) that comes with a big bowl of rice and host of seasonings and sauces. When they laid the spread in front of me I'll admit I was both confused and intimidated. I let Wes lead the way and we marched dish to dish becoming gradually fuller, each dish seemingly increasingly delicious. I couldn't tell you what all of the dishes were but there wasn't a single one that I didn't really like, and there were some that were flat out amazing. But, I'll let this photo show how much I really enjoyed it.

Happiness. On the way home I saw a curious sight. The Amsterdam police had set up a DUI patrol on the main road to Abi & Wes' apartment. Only, it was unlike any DUI patrol I've ever seen. First, it was apparently sponsored by Red Bull as indicated by the Red Bull-mobile and reps running around with those little cans of jet fuel. Second, after the breathalyzer was administered to a driver, the officer and driver would both laugh heartily after which the driver would be handed a Red Bull and sent along his/her marry way. I couldn't stop laughing at this...

Unfortunately it didn't really come out great but the person leaning into the window was handing the driver a Red Bull. Anyway, we went to the grocery store and purchased some stroopwafels (thin waffels between a layer of caramel) which we ended up eating over the course of the next several days. 

The following morning was Saturday and it was a beautiful day so I decided to take a walk. As you've undoubtedly heard, the most remarkable and well known feature of Amsterdam are the series of concentric canals, complete with a ceaseless series of similar looking bridges and buildings. 

I'll admit it looks lovely but it's confusing as hell, especially when you get to the area of the rings. Because the canals are in a concentric circular formation, if you are walking away from the center and are one or two streets left or right of where you need to be, with each step further you get proportionally further away from the street you need to be on. After 3-4 blocks, your 1 block mistake now requires you to walk 4-5 blocks over. Having been to Amsterdam before I figured I would be able to avoid this, but nope, it happened nearly every time I went out.

My goal was to get to the outdoor Saturday market near the main train station. I eventually found it but tragically I couldn't find the hot stroopwafel booth, however, I did end up buying a block of cheese out of a feeling of obligation to the nice lady at the cheese stand. With block of cheese in hand, I made my way to the south of the main island of the city to track down a shop called Posthumus which sells wax seals. I'd been eying these up since 2009 when I last visited Amsterdam, and I was overjoyed that I was able to relocate it.

The last time I was here it was closed. This time it was open. Yet, tragedy would rear its ugly head again as they were completely ransacked of inventory. The next inventory drop was expected to come right around the time I'm leaving Europe. DAMN YOU POSTHUMUS! All hope wasn't lost however as my constant chatter about wax seals piqued Wes' interest and he agreed to check the place out for the seal I want sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Just in case you're wondering, the canals surround the small island that forms the main part of the city like a U. The little streets in that main central area are a bit tight and if you pay attention and get a little bit lucky you'll stumble on the best place to get pommes frites (french fries) in Amsterdam.

The one thing I don't like about these fries are the choice of sauces. The ketchup is too sweet and the mustard is not spicy. Even the garlic sauce is sweet. The Dutch love sweet sauce. So this time, I opted for the spicy Samurai sauce usually reserved for a late night kebab run. It's ok in small portions when cutting through the meaty greasy innards of a kebab, but dalloped on fries is just too much. Most of the sauce went in the garbage but the frites were great!

Anyway, the rest of my afternoon consisted of strolling around the canals and ultimately relaxing in the Vondelpark near Abi & Wes' apartment. Since it was the only day when it didn't rain during my time in Amsterdam, here are some more nice shots of the canals in glorious sunshine:

This one I particularly like:

And some odd hexagonal planters in the Vondelpark which were surprisingly difficult to walk around. No one could seem to master them, myself included.

That night I joined Abi and Wes and their friends for an excellent Italian meal and afterwards I met up with Rick who was in town after visiting with a friend in Denmark for a few days. Right before I was due to meet him, I got a message from Mati (from way back in Porto- I LOVE my Porto friends) who was coming into Amsterdam with Reino. 

They met us near one of the main bar districts and we made a night of it. It was my first real night going out in Amsterdam and it was also the main Halloween celebration night for the city. We ended up in this tiny little bar packed with people where the bartender, between pouring drinks, was doing karaoke to the songs blasting out from the DJ. I got up to my old tricks and made us some friends with a group of Dutch girls studying in Amsterdam. 

At some point we lost Rick and, since it was approaching 3am, Mati and Reino suggested we make for the biggest club in that part of town. We went in, paid the cover, and were never tipped to what was going on that night. When we got inside we came to discover the club was rented out for the biggest gayest Halloween bash of all time. Haha. Thank goodness the film crew for that political ad wasn't in the building that night- they would have had a field day. In all it was very fun very gay Halloween, but by a little after 4 I had to call it a night. I got the report the next day that Mati and Reino rode the party to another bar and into the sunrise. Bravo gentlemen. 

The next day was rainy and windy and I was exhausted and a bit worse for the wear. I ended up spending most of the day chilling in my comfy bed getting some true R&R. Later in the afternoon, Wes took me to get a kebab at what he deemed the best kebab in Amsterdam (and I certainly couldn't argue there). When we arrived it wasn't open yet so we headed up the street to the oliebollen stand. 

Oliebollen is a Dutch holiday treat, but in the states they are more commonly known as donuts. Only these don't have holes, are somehow more greasy, and are usually coated in powdered sugar (although custard filled, chocolate, strawberry, and other flavors are available as well). I opted for a custard and chocolate one and nearly finished it before suffering a mild stroke. If you're going to do it, might as well go big right?

We staggered our way back to the kebab place and Wes proved to be prophetic as the kebab was so tasty I forgot to take a photograph. When we got back to the apartment I had an email from Rick saying he had an extra ticket to the Hot Chip show that night. In case you are unaware Hot Chip is an electronic band from London. I wasn't too familiar with them but I had heard some tracks in Berlin which sufficiently fired me up for the show.

The opening band didn't show so Hot Chip ended up playing a bit of an extended set which I think everyone would have preferred anyway.  I wish I could remember the names of the tracks I really liked- I'll have to look them up and post. Anyway, here is my favorite shot. Namaste.

After the show, I made a comment to this one girl about her jacket and we ended up going for drinks with her and her friend. They knew a really cool little bar nearby and we opted for the strong La Chouffe Belgian beers. A few rounds of these were succeeded by a few rounds of silly photos, one of my favorites of which was this:

I think Rick was smelling her hair. He actin' a fool. Eventually we parted ways but since it was too late for the tram I had to walk back to the apartment... again! Damn you early ending trams! The next day I decided it was high time to visit the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, except, that museum is currently closed until sometime next year. Not to deny the influx of tourist money, however, they set up a makeshift (some might say jackleg) exhibit at the Hermitage Museum. So... I went there. 

Annoyingly there was a no photos policy that was strictly enforced by an overabundance of security personnel. So the only shots I got were the outside and this weird room in between the Van Gogh wing and the impressionist wing. What is everyone staring at?

That night I took it easy and the next day I got my tourist on and went to Utrecht during the day and Haarlem at night to visit my Estonian friends. Those adventures will be covered in a separate post. The following day, Wednesday, was Halloween proper and Rick and I decided to take on the city that evening. The day portion, however, I devoted entirely to R&R. With the exception of a shower and making some lunch I don't think I left the bed until about 5pm. It was a great day.

I met Rick in the central part of town and before getting after it we grabbed some dinner at this place called BurgerBar which makes the best burgers in Amsterdam according to his guidebook. It's not Shake Shack but I'll acquiesce BurgerBar makes a handsome burger and fries. They also gave me a luxuriously indulgent blue cheese dipping sauce. My oh my.

While we ate we witnessed a guy get the cops called on him for causing a scene over his burger coming with bacon. He wanted a full refund and they would only refund him the bacon or something. It was pretty funny watching someone hauled off in a cop car over a burger. Sated, we headed to the north part of town to check out the bars/scene there and ultimately did the customary stroll through the red light district. In all it was a relatively calm night for Halloween- the ghosts and ghouls must have been all partied out from Saturday.

I don't think we made it out much later than 2, although just late enough for me to have to walk back AGAIN! In all Amsterdam was a great time. While I didn't quite dive headlong into the cesspool of sin that everyone claims it is, I did finally get a chance to sample some of the bars which were fun but nothing extraordinary. The best part of my time in Amsterdam was akin to the best part of all cities- spending time with good friends like Abi, Wes, Rick, Mati, and Reino. 

Next up I was off to Rotterdam which would be my base of operations for three days while I explored that city as well as Den Haag (The Hague) and Kinderdjik. Bonus photo: me looking tired/intimidating on my last night in Amsterdam. Or tired and intimidatingly dashing! Or like I was about to rob someone's apartment, ha.