Monday, March 08, 2004
Happy belated birthday wishes to my sister, Tricia.
OK, I'm back from Amsterdam and I have a few things to say about it:
1. The city reminds me of gold for some reason and there were relatively few moments of sunshine throughout the trip. Still, if I were to describe Amsterdam in one word, I would call it golden. The streets and buildings seemed to sparkle and provide their own color in the absence of green leaves and sunshine. To tell the truth, the overcast sky added a bit to the beauty of the old town.
2. What is up with the toilets? I have no idea who could have possibly thought having 2 levels in the toilet is a good idea. One level for the business and another level for the water. That's right, business and water are separate. And in a very small space, I'm talking real small here, this division is brutal.
3. Sometimes letting your vacation happen to you is the best strategy. This was the case on Thursday. After arriving and situating our stuff in the Flying Pig youth hostel, we made our way down to Leidseplein and then onto the Museum area, where we were able to catch an duet of Mongolian musicians, in full wardrobe playing traditional Mongolian music on very old looking string instruments. They were set up underneath the Rijks Museum and the acoustics were marvelous. It was very powerful music and drew a large crowd. I was pleased to have been there at the beginning so that I found myself with a very good vantage point.
Upon leaving the musicians we entered the park that is in the middle of the Rijks Museum and the Vincent Van Gogh museum and that park feels like an art installation in and of itself. The trees were cropped into sculptures - I can only assume this is done in the winter time and that the trees are allowed to blossom during the Spring - which added a surreal element to the park. Phil and I hung out there for an hour or so and then made our way into the Van Gogh museum. Big fan of that museum. I have about 5 paintings that I liked more than the others and I don't think I can name them all right now, but one is the View of Paris, the other is Roots, and another is Green House, I think one is Fiddler and the last one might be Almond Tree Blossom. These five were ones that I had never seen before and truly found fascinating.
After the Van Gogh museum we went looking for a bite to eat and came across the city Casino. Now earlier that day Phil was talking about his passion for poker and his talent in the game. He was saying how much he would like to enter a poker tournament and see how good he really is. Well as soon as we get into the casino they tell us that there is a poker tournament tonight. 60 euro buy in with 60 contestants. Phil signs up for it. Yours truly knows better than to lose €60 playing poker, because yours truly knows where he stands with the game of poker.
So we have like 2 hours to kill before the tournament and we kill them both. We eat our worst meal of the vacation, Dim Sum and then make our way back down to the casino. Now, as soon as we enter the casino, Phil runs into a girl he remembers from college, Blythe. Apparently I should remember her too, but I got no clue who she is. Well, Blythe is now a flight attendant for Continental airlines and is here overnight with the rest of the crew. The co-pilot and Phil start talking about poker and the co-pilot is quick to buy in to the tourny. I strike up conversation with the rest of the flight crew and the night has just begun.
While Phil and the co-pilot play, I'm drinking and eating with the crew and as we are a loud group of Americans people come over and talk to us. Dutch, Albanian, English, you name it. Now I do have to say something regarding this good time, and that is the fact that these people had to get on a plane and work at like 10am the next day and we were partying late until the night. Seems that they MUST stop drinking 5 hours before the flight and that is the only rule. I kept thinking to myself that I was glad that this was the co-pilot over there and not the 1st pilot. Many hours later Phil tells me that he has made it to the final table of 10 out of the original 60. About an hour after that he comes back from a 6th place finish with €180 in his pocket. Not too bad.
After the casino we make our way back to the hotel via the Red Light district. Unfortunately I did not bring my camera with me at night so there will be no photos of the lovely ladies in the door who all want to ask you a question or two. Now I don't know anything about zoning and property value in the neighborhood, but all you need to do is look at the quality of the product in the window (I know that's really crass, but oh well) to know if this is a good part of town or not so good.
We finally turn in at around 3:30am and call it a night. Except for the fact that we were staying in a youth hostel and that meant that there were two other people staying in the room with us. Well one of these kids - we were easily the oldest dudes there - comes back at 5am and turns the lights on and begins to repack his clothes. This kid was hysterically stupid. He kept nothing in his locker, rather he stacked his clothes on top of each other and kept them in the middle of the room. His ID was left sitting on the floor and the one valuable thing he did have, his computer, he kept in the locker. The problem was that he left the locker wide open and the lock and key were on the floor. He left Phil and I in the room with all his stuff for several hours.
End of day one.
Beginning of day 2:
We wake up and have to move. The Flying Pig is a hip place and the rooms were all reserved for the weekend before we got in town. So we spend the next hour locating a place and find one, the Regent Hotel. I think that this is probably a 2 star hotel. Phil and I shared a large room that had its own sink and dresser. The toilet and shower were communal, but the overall cost was cheap and we were able to book it for 2 nights and so I was happy.
We wanted to get to the Hague on Day 2, but the room situation kept us in Amsterdam for the day, which was pretty relaxing yet uneventful. We walked around the neighborhood. We went to the Anne Frank museum and that is a very well done exhibition. Later that day I was able to buy a new pair of basketball shoes that were on sale and SO much better than anything in Joensuu that I had to make the purchase. We went back to the room for a long nap and woke up to have a wonderful Italian meal - Wine, salad, pasta, espresso, sambuca - it was the best meal I have had in a while. We finished the night rather early and prepared to get to the Hague in the morning.
And that is just what we did, we went to the Hague. That town was small, cozy and palatial. It felt like one big castle, with a crowd of Turkish protesters yelling about somehting or other. It was nice, but did not offer much more than beauty, so we came back to Amsterdam and went about getting ready for the night. We found ourselves in the bustling common area of Leidseplein, we grabbed a couple of seats outside of the coffee shop and sat and watched people all night long. The weather was chilly, but not unbearable and the crowd was friendly, but not too friendly. We finished up in the nightclub that was filled with British people and then eventually made our way home.
And that's that. I'm back in Joensuu and glad to be. The trip to Amsterdam was great, but next time I will make the trip with Karoliina, because there is a lot of romance to that town and Phil's just not my type of girl.
OK, I'm back from Amsterdam and I have a few things to say about it:
1. The city reminds me of gold for some reason and there were relatively few moments of sunshine throughout the trip. Still, if I were to describe Amsterdam in one word, I would call it golden. The streets and buildings seemed to sparkle and provide their own color in the absence of green leaves and sunshine. To tell the truth, the overcast sky added a bit to the beauty of the old town.
2. What is up with the toilets? I have no idea who could have possibly thought having 2 levels in the toilet is a good idea. One level for the business and another level for the water. That's right, business and water are separate. And in a very small space, I'm talking real small here, this division is brutal.
3. Sometimes letting your vacation happen to you is the best strategy. This was the case on Thursday. After arriving and situating our stuff in the Flying Pig youth hostel, we made our way down to Leidseplein and then onto the Museum area, where we were able to catch an duet of Mongolian musicians, in full wardrobe playing traditional Mongolian music on very old looking string instruments. They were set up underneath the Rijks Museum and the acoustics were marvelous. It was very powerful music and drew a large crowd. I was pleased to have been there at the beginning so that I found myself with a very good vantage point.
Upon leaving the musicians we entered the park that is in the middle of the Rijks Museum and the Vincent Van Gogh museum and that park feels like an art installation in and of itself. The trees were cropped into sculptures - I can only assume this is done in the winter time and that the trees are allowed to blossom during the Spring - which added a surreal element to the park. Phil and I hung out there for an hour or so and then made our way into the Van Gogh museum. Big fan of that museum. I have about 5 paintings that I liked more than the others and I don't think I can name them all right now, but one is the View of Paris, the other is Roots, and another is Green House, I think one is Fiddler and the last one might be Almond Tree Blossom. These five were ones that I had never seen before and truly found fascinating.
After the Van Gogh museum we went looking for a bite to eat and came across the city Casino. Now earlier that day Phil was talking about his passion for poker and his talent in the game. He was saying how much he would like to enter a poker tournament and see how good he really is. Well as soon as we get into the casino they tell us that there is a poker tournament tonight. 60 euro buy in with 60 contestants. Phil signs up for it. Yours truly knows better than to lose €60 playing poker, because yours truly knows where he stands with the game of poker.
So we have like 2 hours to kill before the tournament and we kill them both. We eat our worst meal of the vacation, Dim Sum and then make our way back down to the casino. Now, as soon as we enter the casino, Phil runs into a girl he remembers from college, Blythe. Apparently I should remember her too, but I got no clue who she is. Well, Blythe is now a flight attendant for Continental airlines and is here overnight with the rest of the crew. The co-pilot and Phil start talking about poker and the co-pilot is quick to buy in to the tourny. I strike up conversation with the rest of the flight crew and the night has just begun.
While Phil and the co-pilot play, I'm drinking and eating with the crew and as we are a loud group of Americans people come over and talk to us. Dutch, Albanian, English, you name it. Now I do have to say something regarding this good time, and that is the fact that these people had to get on a plane and work at like 10am the next day and we were partying late until the night. Seems that they MUST stop drinking 5 hours before the flight and that is the only rule. I kept thinking to myself that I was glad that this was the co-pilot over there and not the 1st pilot. Many hours later Phil tells me that he has made it to the final table of 10 out of the original 60. About an hour after that he comes back from a 6th place finish with €180 in his pocket. Not too bad.
After the casino we make our way back to the hotel via the Red Light district. Unfortunately I did not bring my camera with me at night so there will be no photos of the lovely ladies in the door who all want to ask you a question or two. Now I don't know anything about zoning and property value in the neighborhood, but all you need to do is look at the quality of the product in the window (I know that's really crass, but oh well) to know if this is a good part of town or not so good.
We finally turn in at around 3:30am and call it a night. Except for the fact that we were staying in a youth hostel and that meant that there were two other people staying in the room with us. Well one of these kids - we were easily the oldest dudes there - comes back at 5am and turns the lights on and begins to repack his clothes. This kid was hysterically stupid. He kept nothing in his locker, rather he stacked his clothes on top of each other and kept them in the middle of the room. His ID was left sitting on the floor and the one valuable thing he did have, his computer, he kept in the locker. The problem was that he left the locker wide open and the lock and key were on the floor. He left Phil and I in the room with all his stuff for several hours.
End of day one.
Beginning of day 2:
We wake up and have to move. The Flying Pig is a hip place and the rooms were all reserved for the weekend before we got in town. So we spend the next hour locating a place and find one, the Regent Hotel. I think that this is probably a 2 star hotel. Phil and I shared a large room that had its own sink and dresser. The toilet and shower were communal, but the overall cost was cheap and we were able to book it for 2 nights and so I was happy.
We wanted to get to the Hague on Day 2, but the room situation kept us in Amsterdam for the day, which was pretty relaxing yet uneventful. We walked around the neighborhood. We went to the Anne Frank museum and that is a very well done exhibition. Later that day I was able to buy a new pair of basketball shoes that were on sale and SO much better than anything in Joensuu that I had to make the purchase. We went back to the room for a long nap and woke up to have a wonderful Italian meal - Wine, salad, pasta, espresso, sambuca - it was the best meal I have had in a while. We finished the night rather early and prepared to get to the Hague in the morning.
And that is just what we did, we went to the Hague. That town was small, cozy and palatial. It felt like one big castle, with a crowd of Turkish protesters yelling about somehting or other. It was nice, but did not offer much more than beauty, so we came back to Amsterdam and went about getting ready for the night. We found ourselves in the bustling common area of Leidseplein, we grabbed a couple of seats outside of the coffee shop and sat and watched people all night long. The weather was chilly, but not unbearable and the crowd was friendly, but not too friendly. We finished up in the nightclub that was filled with British people and then eventually made our way home.
And that's that. I'm back in Joensuu and glad to be. The trip to Amsterdam was great, but next time I will make the trip with Karoliina, because there is a lot of romance to that town and Phil's just not my type of girl.
// posted by Howard @ 10:45 AM 
