From b182093011ad2819924eb6f1d12c745b39dc6496 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Brian Picciano Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2018 23:40:35 -0500 Subject: add amsterdam to mr. worldwide --- _drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md | 48 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 48 insertions(+) (limited to '_drafts') diff --git a/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md b/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md index 80b0408..b830dde 100644 --- a/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md +++ b/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md @@ -382,3 +382,51 @@ and history and things to see, and I absolutely would love to go back. But despite all that, there was definitely a feeling a depression while I was there, like I was totally alone. When I got onto a plane and took off, I was more relieved than anything else. + +## Amsterdam, The Netherlands + +One of the first things I noticed when I landed in The Netherlands (which is +such a strange name for a country, now that I'm typing it out) is that they have +a sun. It's a stereotype that the UK doesn't get much sun, but it was absolutely +a true one while I was there. There was literally cloud cover the whole time. +That probably had to do with why my mood was down the whole time, unbenownst to +me. + +With my extremely pale ginger self back under the sun, it felt like I'd been +holding my breath for weeks and I was now finally able to breathe again. + +Amsterdam is sometimes called the Venice of the North. Like Bruges. Unlike +Bruges, Amsterdam is gritty and in some places delapidated. The buildings are +sinking into the soft, slightly-under-sea-level Holland soil, and so lean +precariously over the streets. House boats line nearly all canals, many +appearing abandoned. Most canals have a layer of debris and trash floating on +them. + +Some parts of the city are littered with bars and clubs and "coffee shops", +giving them a grunge feel. And others had wildly colored houses and quiet +corners on the canal. And then the museum district, with the amazing Van Gogh +Musuem and the laborynthian Rijksmuseum (those were the two I went in, there's +like five in that little square). And still there's the red light district, with +sex shops and cheesy tourist shit and live shows and, obviously, prostitutes. +They each have a little window where they try to grab your attention from. It's +kinda weird. + +Despite that, Amsterdam was probably my second favorite place I visted on the +whole trip. Like Lisbon, the city feels real. The grunge lets you know people +actually live there. The hostel I stayed in was really cool, and I made a bunch +of friends. One of the nights there I confirmed a long-held suspicion: that I +would hate bar crawls. Now I know for sure. On a different night me and friends +went out, visited a "coffee shop", and hit up the Sex Museum. This turned out to +be a great idea; it wasn't even that raunchy, just kind of mind-boggling. + +Amsterdam also turned out to have the best Belgian fries I've ever had, for +whatever reason, and they ended up being my lunch almost every day. I'd grab my +fry-cone and wander the canals, finding small corners and tucked away cafes to +sit and read at. I wouldn't have thought that a city known for nightlife could +also be home to so many serene little spots; nevertheless, the city is full of +them. + +My bus out of Amsterdam was an 8 hour overnight journey which deposited me in +Copenhagen. Before getting on the bus I killed the last of my "coffee" that was +in my pocket, contorted myself into a ball fitting into the two seats of space I +grabbed, and got the best sleep I've ever gotton on a bus. -- cgit v1.2.3