Such a free people - The Dutch

Where to begin? Hmmm, I have so much to say about my weekend in Amsterdam. First of all, we need to back track to last Thursday night before my early departure. It was a fairly long day at school, I was definitely feeling very tired and still had lots to do before my trip. Well, that evening, I went to the ATM around 10:30 to take out the cash that was needed to pay for my hostel because they only accept a cash payment upon arrival. So I insert my card at the same ATM that I use every time, I type in my pin, it takes me to the next screen, I select the amount of money I want to take out, hit "continuar" and then the screen says something along the lines of "your card isn't coming back out, please contact your bank for further info." I nearly had a heart attack in Plaza Catalunya at this very moment. After everyone that I've talked to, no one seems to be able to tell me why the machine kept my card, just that it did! I guess it was just feeling frisky!? lol WHO KNOWS! So I immediately come home and call Bank of Freaking America...another screw up company that the government gives money too! Anyways, I explain the severity of the situation to the lady and she says that the only thing to do is to mail me out another card in standard mail and it should arrive in 10 -14 business days. I tried to kindly explain to her that 10-14 business days in America isn't the same as 10-14 business days in Spain and that i'll be lucky to receive it by the end of the month with the way their mail system works here. (This was during my "nice" phase.) She had really ticked me off by the end of the conversation mainly because she just acted like she didn't really give two flying fucks that I was living in a foreign country with no access to my money which I "trustingly" put into their hands because they said they could "offer me a lot through their international banking options." So, later on when I had calmed down and looked at all of my other options for cash, Alex and I decided that we would call back and talk to someone else. Luckily, we got a guy on the phone this time and he told me that they have options for this and that I could also call VISA 911. Gezzz, who knew this? Obviously not the first idiot that I talked too. So he says that it is possible to send the card through FED-EX (another option the lady insisted was impossible) and that they could also wire me my money, free of all charges, through western union and that I could just pick up however much I needed to hold me over until my card got here. So, TA DA!!! I felt a little bit better about the situation but I still had no cash, so I had to cash two of my traveler's cheques the next day in order to have enough cash for the weekend. So, point of this story is Bank of America and I are finito (finished) upon my return to America (if I come back!) Before I knew it it was past midnight and I was supposed to catch the bus at 3:30ish to get to the airport so I decided that instead of sleeping for about an hour that I would just go ahead and finish my packing, get a shower, head to the airport, and sleep there just to make sure that I didn't miss my flight. I'm glad I left when I did because it took the bus forever to get us there. I got checked in, went through security and tried to take a nap before my flight. I didn't get much sleep because I was nervous as usual before I fly but miraculously I got some sleep on the plane which is rare! I guess I was just THAT tired! I slept through the descend into Amsterdam so when the plane hit the ground at full speed I woke up scared to death!! I thought we were going down. (probably not a good experience for someone who is already scared of flying!)

So after I landed I had to wait around in the airport for about 30 minutes because Kevin and I were on different flights. I located some directions and such and when he arrived we caught the train to Central Station. Our hostel was a short walk from the train station, easily locatable pretty much in the center of the red light district! How pleasant! The hostel...hmm...I'm not sure where to begin on this one. My book recommended some good ones but they were completely booked and we would have gotten into this one hostel if it wasn't for Kevin wanting to wait and see if we could get a house boat? So instead, we had to stay at the White Tulip, Kevin also found this place. The name is a little decieving. There was nothing pure about this place. Granted, it could have been worse but the showers weren't the cleanest, and I had originally requested to stay in an all female dorm but upon arrival the stoner at the front desk was like, oh well I'll just put you guys in the same room together! I didn't want to come off rude and ungrateful because he probably felt like he was doing us a favor when in reality, he wasn't! So, I had to sleep on a top bunk in a room with 2 other girls and 7 other guys! It was a sausage fest in the room and guys are disgusting and loud. It's like they don't know how to sleep peacefully. They snore and they make noises, i don't know its just not the same as a room full of girls. I was not happy with this situation but it seemed like the hostel was pretty full and you can't really do much complaining at these places. Also, the guy who was sleeping on the top bunk perpendicular to mine, his feet were in my bed pretty much the whole night. It was so nasty, I couldn't sleep because I was scared that my feet were going to touch his. EW!! AND another thing - right across from our hostel was a shop called *Ohmibod - The most vibrating shop in town* if this gives you any idea about the area that we were staying in! lol We were surrounded by sex, sex, and more sex!!

Aside from the hostel, I had a great time in Amsterdam. Oh the Dutch! There is just so much to say about them and their way of life. They are such a free people. Anything goes in Amsterdam is my observation. It's a beautiful city with a rich, rich history and it's equally full of an extremely diverse population. Everything is very laid back in this city, at first, like other people, I wanted to contribute that to all the ganja they smoke but after a weekend there I don't think that's the only reason! lol The canals are so soothing and peaceful and everyone rides bikes, there are hardly any cars. Therefore, the city is very quiet. So quiet from the normal hustle and bustle of Barcelona that it almost seemed eerie at times. I thought that Amsterdam was a non-stop party kind of city but now I'm on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and I've decided that it would be really nice for a peaceful weekend getaway, as long as you don't stay in the Red Light District! lol So here are a few essential things to know about Amsterdam. Like I stated previously, almost anything goes here. It is legal to smoke weed here as well as do other "soft" drugs (Mushrooms were banned in June of 2008). Any place that you can buy weed is called a "coffee shop" and a bar is well, a bar. The government put these terms in place in order to differentiate the type of establishment in which the weed is actually sold. Some restaurants and bars are smoker friendly meaning that you can smoke weed inside but not cigarettes in most cases, obviously in some bars you can smoke either. Amsterdam also has many sex shops and smart shops. A sex shop is well...basically a porn store or a sex shop and a smart shop is where you can get all sorts of different herbal enhancers and hallucinogens as well as vitamins, aphrodisiacs and things of that sort. You can also buy space cake in amsterdam otherwise known as "weed brownies!" Ok, so now that we have the basics down....let's start with my adventure.... :D

The first thing we did after dropping off our bags was head straight for something to eat. We first made a stop at a "coffee shop" so that Kevin could buy some "laughing buddha" (the name of the weed that he bought) and then we ate at a small cafe that was smoker friendly. lol The food was really good, I had a banana juice with a raw salmon, cream cheese, and tomato sand-which on a white bagel. It was delicious! After lunch we headed for the Anne Frank Huis or House. We had to wait in line, it was pretty crowded. I have never read the book! (I know, don't judge me!) I've always wanted to but I've just never found the time (It'd probably make a good christmas gift!) I've heard a lot about it though and I know the story so it was still interesting for me. It was also sad and just seeing the actual journal that she wrote in made the whole thing so much more realistic for me. It's really terrible what happened to her and her family. Unfortunately you weren't able to take pictures, which is understandable, so I don't have any photos to show you. The house was really amazing though. It was so small and the stairs were incredibly steep. It has been renovated somewhat but for the most part, it's in the original condition. It was a really moving experience. I'm glad that I did it.

After this we headed back to the hostel to take a nap because we hadn't gotten much sleep obviously and we were really tired. After we woke up later we headed out for some dinner. We ate at a chinese restaurant and it was also good. After that we went to another coffee shop called El Guapo, it's pretty well-known. I bought an already rolled joint here and Kevin rolled one of his own. (Now don't act so surprised, I know what some of you are already thinking, OMG she smoked weed and she's writing about it in her blog for everyone to read!?! --- NEWS FLASH - #1 I'm in Amsterdam - Like they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans - Same goes in Amsterdam!, #2 I'm not ashamed of anything I've done - no regrets - if you don't live like this then your cheating yourself, and #3 This is MY blog about MY trip in Europe and I'm not about to not write something in here just because someone might not agree with it, these are MY memories and I gave everyone a fair warning with my email invitation.. *It might be rated "R"*) Deal with it!

So we stayed for a while and watched some pool on TV and then the international timber chopping championship came on and guess who was representing the USA? A husky looking mountain man from...you guessed it...WEST BY GOD VIRGINIA!! AH!! lol I was pretty excited! After all this we stopped and got a sweet treat at this little cafe, it was basically a small waffle with chocolate topping with nuts and whipped cream - served hot! Delicious!

Saturday we had a lot that we wanted to accomplish so we started out the day at the Heineken Experience. Now, I'm not sure if you are aware but Heineken isn't actually brewed in Amsterdam anymore, they recently moved the brewery to some other town in Holland so they converted the brewery into a museum basically and called it "The Heineken Experience." With admission you get 1 free taste and 2 beers so basically you get 3 beers. For 15 Euro though, I'd better get a gold beer mug! lol It was expensive but it was a pretty cool place. I'm not a huge beer fan but after the tour, I definitely liked Heineken a little bit more. I'm trying to expand my horizons to drinking beer and I'd say that I've definitely pushed the boundaries and improved my tolerance on this trip. Beer is just such a big thing here in Europe that it's hard to not partake in drinking it! I took lots of pictures here!!

After the Heineken experience we headed to the Van Gogh Museum. It was a whopping 12.50 Euros to get inside. Now, I know your thinking oh, 15 Euro here 12 there isn't really that much, but let me spell it out for you.... E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E! Here is a nice calculation to go by 15 Euro is equal to 22.50 US Dollars! So, these admission fees add up and in Amsterdam not many places offered student discounts so I was kinda disappointed in this aspect. The Van Gogh Museum was really great. I got to see many of his famous pieces but the one that I really wanted to see Starry Nite wasn't there! Come to find out, it's in NEW YORK! UGH! I was really sad but, I got to see Iris's and some other really good works. I also got some cool pencils for my collection here! :D (The best ones are always found at the museums.) After the museum Kevin and I went our separate ways. I did some shopping and he did some seed shopping and frequented some more coffee shops. He likes to smoke in case you haven't gotten the hint! lol I met up with him later at the hostel and we went out for a quick bite and went to another coffee shop to hang out. Afterwards we took a nice stroll around the famous Red Light District! WOW! I've never seen so many prostitutes in one concentrated area in my entire life. There are seriously 100 on every corner. It's rude to take pictures so I didn't but it's just like in the post cards, half naked women in little rooms with a door with red lights framing the door. It's truly something to see before you die! It's a little outrageous. There were some pretty girls and then there were some really nasty girls! lol

Sunday - We slept in and after we woke up we went to the Cannabis College, Hemp Museum, and Hemp Gallery. All together cost 9 euros. Not too bad, I learned some interesting facts so I wasn't totally disappointed! I learned a lot about hemp and I had no idea that it could be used for so many different things. It's such a versatile product. I was really amazed. AND, I bet you didn't know this but, the USA is the only industrialized nation in the world that refuses to use hemp or allow it past it's borders!! I don't want to go into how stupid America is AGAIN so I'll spare you the misery of another rant and just go ahead and say it...we're pretty fucking stupid in America. Who's really in charge anyways. Also, did you know that the US jails more people per year than any other country in the world!? Again...I don't even need to say it..you already know what I'm thinking... Overall it was a pretty educational museum and I got to see some serious weed plants which was pretty cool. The Hemp gallery was equally as cool and did you know that they make hair and body products?? Hemp is supposed to restore dry and damaged hair and since I burnt some of my hair last week on my stupid roommates straightener that she melted, I decided that I was going to try it. So, after the museum we headed over to this shop that the lady at the museum recommended for Hemp products and I bought some conditioner to try it out! After that we stopped and had breakfast/lunch. I had a pancake which was really a crepe with bananas and chocolate! It was really good. After all this we decided that we were going to take a canal cruise since this is one of the "must do's" in Amsterdam. It was educational. I learned about all the different types of houses and the history of the canals. It was very picturesque. After the canal cruise we grabbed a quick bite to eat. A traditional dutch snack, French Fries with some type of sauce that is similar to mayonnaise. They were really good and then after this we split up again to do our own thing, I went to do some more shopping and he went to some more coffee shops. lol Afterwards we met up at the hostel. I got back around 8 and decided that I was going to go ahead and pass out because I had such an early flight this morning.

I got up around 4:30, checked out, and booked it to the train. I was trying to wait for Kevin but he was taking forever so I told the guy at the front desk just to let him know that I couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't afford to miss the train because then I'd be cutting it a little too close for my flight! I'm glad I left when I did because the airport was busy when I got there, Amsterdam has a great airport as mentioned earlier. I find myself spending a lot of time there too. This is my 5th trip there in 2 months! lol Soo....I pretty much know my way around. They also have a casino which I plan on checking out on my way back through. Both of my flights were with KLM, which always exceeds my expectations usually, they always give out great sandwiches and little dutch cookies!!. The flight back was a little bumpy when we got to Barcelona. I've noticed that coming into Barcelona there is always so much turbulence, I'm going to attribute this to the wind coming off of the mountains and also the wind coming off of the sea. After landing I made my way to the train station, and eventually I was home around 10:30!! So, it was quite the morning of traveling! I unpacked, got ready for school, and then when we arrived to school today we found out that class had been cancelled! It was great!! So I had an entirely free day. I spent most of it just lounging around, cleaning up my room, getting ready for the week too come. I also had to go to Western Union today to get the money that Bank of Freaking America sent me. That was awfully nice of them and then, my debit card also came today!! They said it wasn't going to be here until friday but it arrived today! I activated it but I haven't used it yet, honestly I'm a little scared to put it into the machine!! lol I'm going to give it a few days! Tonight we had some friends over for dinner and stephanie made halibut and pasta and of course we had some wine! It was a great time and we also got into some great conversation about Jewish people, Catholic vs. Christian, USA values vs. European values, politics, more politics, and even more religion! It was a very heated conversation at points but it made for a good night!!

So, I have much more to tell you but I'm going to end it there because I'm exhausted. This week I really need to work on posting pictures of my trip to Rome and Amsterdam. This weekend I'm taking a break from traveling unless it ends up being somewhere in Spain and then next weekend it's off to Dublin!! :D

Hasta Luego Amigos!