Amsterdamned

Amsterdam was by far one of the best times of my life.

First things first, I should be completely honest, as the joys of Amsterdam cannot be fully told otherwise. I've turned into the stereotypical Kiwi boy out in the big wide world - I met someone. And no, for the love of god people stop asking if it's a boy. Her name is Elaine, and she's also on this exchange, coming from Minnesota in the USA. Elaine has been mentioned before, and this time its not in passing. Having spent more than a majority of time in her company has put a large smile on my face, and it's been there for some time. I dare say since the start of this exchange. Thank you.

With that in mind, it comes time to look at the trip to Amsterdam. The train trip there began at roughly 5:30 am on Friday morning. No mean feat. Everyone got on the train safe and sound and the journey began. The weather looked good, and as it turned out, too good.

Upon arriving in Amsterdam everyone else went to their respective hostels and hotels. Elaine and I didn't have anything booked. We were running on luck and turns out we got it in bucketloads. While everyone else was paying €35 to share a room with three other people, a toilet down the hall, and a shower attached to someone else's room, Elaine and I scored a 4 star hotel for €55 each. Sweet deal I'd say. The fact we could shower without decomination suits attests to that. The view from our room was pretty sweet too: The observant will be aware that this doesn't look like Amsterdam, and you'd be almost right. The hotel was on the North Side, over the river. A free shuttle service running all hours of the day and night served us well. Very well.

Now, this took up most of the day sorting out our accomodation, walking round in the stinking heat that we took our sweet time when we found some. Including going to the markets just across the road from our hotel, which was just so much fun filling nostrils with the aromas, and tastebuds with local treats.

Having split from the group for dinner we all caught up again after and proceeded to hit the town - beginning with an Absinthe bar. Bright green drinks are always a great way to start the night.

After sleeping in the following morning, Elaine and myself caught up with Nate and hit the bike tour on offer in the city - www.yellowbike.nl. Great tour, just stunning. It was exactly what I needed. Three hours of seeing sights of the city and hearing little gems was well worth it. The head quarters happens to be right next to the best coffee house in the world. It was mind-blowingly good. I mean it. If you're in Amsterdam, go there. The barista is worth it alone.

After this little bike tour, we headed back into dinner with everyone, celebrating the birthday of one of the people with us - Karen, from Osgoode Hall in Toronto. Was a great little Indonesian place. After which we proceeded to split off again into little groups, with the plan to meet up later at a bar. That was the plan at least. Elaine and I found this fantastic little place on the canal in the Jewish district. It was a tiny little old house turned into a bar. Quiet, serene, and over looking the canal down to the waterfront. It was simply amazing. Quite a stark comparison to the other sights we had seen that night - the Red Light District.

Amsterdam is notorious for its Red Light area, and it lives up to it. I have never seen so many red lights, black lights, and skimpy outfits before in my life. I was actually overwhelmed by it all, and a little squeemish too - I could only glimpse at the girls in the windows, whereas Elaine was staring wide eyed in wonder. We must have made quite a sight. But needless to say the bar mentioned above was a welcome relief. The hordes of people on the strip were just insane - including a large group of eldery tourists being taken there by their helpful guide. Weird, just weird. I feel a little uneasy about the fact these girls are a tourist attraction, being treated more and more like simple objects than they might otherwise be. Anyways, another argument another time.

Which brings us to Sunday. Again, after a large sleep in, we hit the Rijks Museum to see some good old Rembrandt and other Dutch artists. Nothing to say really, other than awesome. It was kind of surreal to see The Nightwatch in real life.

So in short, Amsterdam was just completely mind-blowing, and one of the best weekends I've had in a long while. The sights were amazing, the company superb, the experience sublime.