After Bruges we came back to Amsterdam, just in time to meet Ben and Shannon who were in town for 2 nights only. We grabbed a quick dinner with them and then took it upon ourselves to show them around the red light district. We marvelled once more at the neon lights that never seem to turn off, they make the girl’s underwear glow and their skin seem so dark. We found the golden boob in the sidewalk which we rubbed for good luck as the fortune told us to and settled down at a pub by the canal to watch the nightlife go by and compare stories of our travels so far.
The next day Shannon was sick but Ben joined Claire and I on our first day of bicycling around the city. We weaned ourselves onto riding by starting in Vondel park where we had been once before. Strangely I have discovered that I am allergic to Vondel Park, I have been twice now and both times found myself sneezing and developing puffy eyes which is strange as I have never had hay fever type allergies before but I guess Vondel Park is a rule of its own. After finding our bike legs there Ben showed us the ‘IAmsterdam’ sign that we had not managed to find before. It was down in Museumplein where we had not gone before, surrounded by the Van Gough museum as well as several others. Claire and I later returned to buy oil paintings from a shop there, I got Van Gough’s sunflowers and Claire now has the bedroom.
After MuseumPlein Claire and I showed Ben the floating flower markets by our house as well as introduced him to the cheese shops! He wasn’t quite as confident about standing there and eating all the cheese as we were but he got the hang of it. We went back to Pete’s for lunch then hopped on the bikes to ride up to NEMO. NEMO is a science museum up on the harbour of Amsterdam and you can walk up to the top of the oddly shaped building for a view over the city. It was also scattered with giant games of connect 4 and chess so we played some of that before a windy storm swept over us and we ran down from our exposed position. We rode around the city for a little longer before the cold and rain forced us into a cafe (there are worse things than being forced into a cafe). Our last destination was a windmill on the far edge of the city which we had seen on our map. We got kind of lost and wet getting there, but I argue that if you have no time limit and no reason to be anywhere in particular, can you really be lost? When we got there it turns out that it is a working windmill with a pub next to it where they serve the beer brewed in the mill. We couldn’t go inside so we sat by the canal and admired the view before taking our bikes back to the shop in the city and walking home.
Shannon joined us for dinner back at Pete’s and we all ate on the rug bathed in the candle’s lights which are always flickering at his place, he is big into ‘warm lighting’. It was a relaxed night and we said goodbye to Ben and Shannon until we see them next in Santorini.
We had a few quiet days after that whilst the cold weather hung around just ducking out to look around the local shops or people watch from the large window. On the Friday we noticed the vast majority of people in the pubs around us were dressed in white and gold and as they became more and more common we had to ask what was happening. We were told that every year four Dutch pop stars come together to perform as one in a hugely popular concert. The theme was white and gold and queens. We didn’t get explained why these dress-ups lasted all weekend but the city was taken over by these almost glowing people for three days.
On Monday we decided that no matter the weather, we had to get out. So we hired some bikes again and this time took them on a ferry across the harbour to a residential area which quickly led to fields crisscrossed by channels, dotted with wildflowers like poppies, canola, iris, clover and cowslip and scattered with cows, horses and sheep. Our end aim was Holysloot which was a cute town consisting of about 25 houses, a pub and a preschool. Claire and I ate our packed lunch in a field with some cows. Stroop waffles are our favourite food and we have figured that ‘stroop’ probably means caramel, mmmmmm.
On the ride back I stopped to pick some flowers and I had a lovely large bundle of ‘harvest flowers’ to bring home to Pete. When we dropped the bikes off we saw that a large arena had been set up in Dam Square. People were rushing into it and we didn’t want to be left out so rushed over to get a seat inside as well. We found a sand covered soccer pitch inside on which an orchestra was playing. They did a few songs then were joined by a choir who sang what I can only describe as the Tooheys ad ‘It’s a big ad, very expensive ad’ it was a very powerful song and made me want something cold and refreshing but I guess that’s brainwashing for you. The sun was out for the first time in days which was good as the main event was a series of beach soccer matches. We hung around for quite a while checking out the talent before heading back because Mitch was coming!
Mitch and his cousin Tom had contacted us to say they were coming for a few days and Pete had been happy to share his apartment, as long as they were ok with the floor. We got them some food and then went to say hi to Pete in his coffee shop where he introduced the boys to Amsterdam. Claire and I then took them up to the Red Light district. It has been commented that Claire and I seem to be spending a lot of time in the Red Light district but it is truly a fascinating area. Back at Pete’s it went like this – 1 room, 2 beds, 3 blankets, 4 pillows and 5 people but we worked it out and a decent amount of sleep was had.
On Monday we woke to a spectacular day. No clouds were in the sky and the decision was made to visit the beach. Pete had the day off so he joined us and helped us find the place via the train. We went past Haarlem and also found out where Zeeland is, Haarlem’s more famous counterpart being in New York and our own ‘newer’ Zeeland closer to home. The beach was one of the longest I’ve seen, not white sand but definitely not the pebbled beaches of England and there were plenty of people out to enjoy it. We stripped to our swimmers and tested the fairly cold water. Claire was hesitant but I whispered to her that we needed to uphold the Australian beach image in front of Mitch and Tom, so we ran straight in. As always happens we got used to the cold and splashed around in the waveless water. We figured that it was probably the North Sea but we are yet to confirm this with a map. Once out of the water Claire and I built a couch in the sand and relaxed in the sun, Amsterdam impressed me with its beach.
Finally on the 31st we said goodbye to Amsterdam, we walked to the station with Mitch and Tom who were going on to Cologne and said goodbye for the second time before rushing to our bus to the airport. We spent the whole day travelling and ended it in a very warm caravan park in Rome eating our first bowl of Italian pasta (still not as good as the one in Bruges).
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