De Dam

I must be one of the most freestyle bloggers out there. I don't follow a structure, I just type, this is definitely more like a log and journal. I'm not writing for anyone, hell I don't even share this blog (yet?). So Saturday the 9th anniversary of September 11. I went to sleep at 1:30 the night before finally and was planning to wake up at like 6:30 or whatever just to have time but that plan never works and I slept until about 7:30 so I had about a half-hour to figure out what I wanted to take. We had agreed to meet at the Central station around 8:30 so lethargically pulling out of the street onto Burgemeester Oudlaan at 8:15 I remembered what day it was and briefly flashed back to OAS on that Tuesday morning and being told what happened. It's the JFK Assasination Day of Generation Y. Goddamn mosquitoes, why the windows here have no screens is beyond my understanding. I've had a fair share of bees and mosquitoes and the windows don't even open that wide. Got to Central Station about 8:45, and we all filled our tickets, but we had to wait because one person had to go back to his apt to get his keys. He said he would meet us there so we got on a train about 9:15 and were in Amsterdam by 10:30. Once again I forgot to 'check-in' with my OV Chipkaart so I prayed to God there wouldnt be a conductor, and thankfully no one checked tickets before Rotterdam so a 14 Euro trip I got for free. Take that, Dutch public transit! So we got our I AMsterdam cards for 38 Euro for unlimited tram and free admission to sights and discounts at other places. First we went to OudeKerk, the old St. Nicholas Church across the Amsterdam Centraal station. Magnificent architecture, but as with most large, older churches, once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Then we went back outside and started to walk around the vicinity down towards Warboestraat and down by some of the canals, just a great city, as soon as you arrive you get that feeling it's a special place to be. We made it down to a square where a mobile stage was being set up for music later and we took pictures on bridges and in doorways. Then we headed over to take our FREE canal cruise. It seemed like it might be interesting, like a preview of what to see around the city, but it is no secret that the best way to see Amsterdam is simply by walking around. The canals are cool but after a while it's just houseboat after houseboat and bridges. We were in the back to be outside and there was no explanations but I assume they wouldn't have enhanced the trip that much. After the canal trip it was about an hour so we went to have lunch at an Argentine steakhouse. Thanks to I AMsterdam, we had a discounted 3-course meal, and we each had a plate of chicken wings to start off as appetizers and  most of us then ordered biftec as our main course. I was definitely gypped, it was like they gave me 1 minute steak whereas other plates had pretty much prime ribs. In Amsterdam, everything is really old, so everything is really small, and stairs are at like a 70 degree angle it seems sometimes, this is how it was when I went to the toilet on the 2...3...4th floor of the restaurant, just floor after floor of places to drink eat and sit! Food was good but it was already about 3pm by the time we finished. At this point, most of the tourist sites close at 5, yes even on Saturday kind of strange considering it's not Sunday. So we decided to go to the Historical museum and were there until about 4:30pm. It was cool but a bit underwhelming, it took you through time eras by room to highlight the progress of the city of Amsterdam and some general Nederlandse history. There were lots of cool artifacts, like swords and anvils, and lots of paintings of people at big tables. There was also an area dedicated to synagogues history and featured a kiddush glass, a yad, and mahzorim with each holiday titled on its spine. I thought I was rushing through things but everyone else was way ahead of me. It was free admission thanks to I AMsterdam so no having to 'get your money's worth.' Then we hopped the tram over to Heineken Brewery, and it was well worth it. I AMsterdam allowed 25% off discounts so 15 Euro became 11.25 Euro, inclusive of 2 beers at the end. The first part was kind of boring, just the history of the company and entrepreneurship, and awards and boasting about the secret "A-type yeast" but once in the actual brew room it was good. First there were the big vats where they cook and sorted things, and before that was an explanation of the brewing process and how hops, yeast, barley, and water go to create beer. In the brewroom, there was a guy serving samples of wort, which is barley + water, it is bittersweet, with a little of a strange aftertaste, it is the beginning stage of the beer. Then they have you walk through a passageway where you can see a stable with horses ( I guess breweries really pride themselves on their horses, who doesn't remember a Budweiser commercial on the Super Bowl where the horses weren't in it), then was a virtual reality ride like in a theme park. About 20 people go inside a small theater and stand on elevated platforms, a movie begins about what it is like to be beer being brewed. And there are external effects, like the floor shaking and jerking, water spritzing on you, UV lights to emulate heat, and fans for wind. It was a very unique, original media experience. After that, there's some interesting exhibits including chaise lounges where you can watch Heineken commercials throughout the years. I actually had no idea that Amstel was bought by Heineken all the way back in 1968! Then came the taste test, a bartender guide gave all small glasses and we looked through it, smelled it, and finally tasted it, but don't sip the head or you'll take all the hops out. Heineken is an okay beer, better than Coors and Keystone but not Sam or Blue Moon, it is only 5% ABV anyway. Then off to the Red Light District and canal area, met up with some of our people at the National Monument, and walked into the old city again. That stage from earlier now had live music and a good sized crowd, we stopped to watch. At first I thought they were one of those crappy experimental bands, but soon enough I heard the  familiar upstroke and it turned out they to be a reggae band, but not Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear reggae but more white-boy, California reggae like Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, and Pepper. It was okay, I bought their CD for 2 Euro. There were some funny people in the crowd dancing, namely a woman who looked like a Gypsy, and an old man in a Hawaiian shirt. Then we set off to have dinner, we concluded on a Mexican place because once again I AMsterdam afforded us 25% off coupons!  We had patatas bravas, I ordered Enchiladas, and the server suggested an order of Nachos, but he ended up bringing us 3 plates for just 7 people at 7 Euro per plate, HA! I also had a bottle of water (they don't do tap here, they have it but they figure if you want to drink something, you can pay for it), and a Corona. I always forget the word Enchiladas and I dont know why because it is my favourite Mexican food (forget burritos and tacos!), and I always say Empanadas but it's totally different! The girls had gone to the Central station to meet the Australians who had just come in, and it was now about 9:30pm so the group I was with was tired from the day so they headed to the trains back to Rotterdam. I on the other hand still wanted to experience the Red Light District. There a million museums around from Marijuana museum to torture to Sex museum. So we make our way down to De Wallen and with the red lights. My camera had died in the Brewery so I kept it off just long enough to get off 2 pictures of the alleyways, will have to go back again. We walked around the area for quite a while, just observing, being beckoned by winks, fingers, and kisses, some good-looking some plain trash, on side streets and main thoroughfares, I wonder if there is some sort of hierarchy based on the real estate. Some windows had audiences, others were empty, some curtains were closed ( Ooh!!) and some doors were open and some people had just come out, it was truly quite a riot and a spectacle. Once we walked past a door and a young woman walked out and said something like 'good luck! Ciao!' it seemed she was talking to the prostitute about the country they came from. Then we made it to a cafe, a place called Greenhouse Effect, at the suggestion of a friend, and it was a good place. I wanted to go to one just to say I tried it, because where else in the world do you go to a coffee shop and sit at a table and smoke marijuana. Since none of us were knowledgeable with rolling papers, we ordered a pre-rolled one for 3 Euro and shared it, it was good but with a bit too much tobacco, good feelings after that one. Then we decided to be adventurous and roll our own so we bought their smallest amount which is like 3/4 gram for 10 Euro, a few buds, and after trying to figure out how to make the pieces smaller we asked the girl behind the counter for help. A cigarette was used for the tobacco inside and they gave us a grinder (how silly we are to forget of course ! ) and finally it was rolled and we smoked that one and it seemed like the right balance of bud and tobacco was inserted but it turned out to have a reversing effect as I felt back to normal rather than more buzzed after we finished this one, it was good taste though. Then at about 1:00 I said I wanted to head back and we all walked over to the Central Station and caught a 1:45 back to Rotterdam, got to my bike around 3 and was back home by 3:30... Amsterdam is a good city. It is like what Rotterdam would look like if it had not been bombed in 1940.