Amsterdam

If someone asked me to describe Amsterdam in five words starting with the same letter I would have to say…Bikes, boobs, boats, beers and Beatrix.
The travel crew numbered 13 that hailed mainly from Wellington and Levin. Our host for the trip was Hamish McCarroll, who has lived in Amsterdam for the last couple of years. On Thursday the 9th of June I flew to Schipol Airport AMS. From there I caught the train to Amsterdam Central, where under instructions from Hamish I walked to Dam Square. Dam Square is the heart of Amsterdam and is actually the site of a former Dam of the river Amstel, hence the name. On my way to Dam square, I picked up a few first impressions; the enormous number of bikes locked up on the side of roads, the trams zipping round the city and the general laid back feeling of the whole place. Managed to track down the crew and our first stop was a very cosy ‘coffee shop’, where we drunk beer out mini yardys held in wooden frames and shared a ‘legitimate’ joint with the others whilst catching up on lost time. First night Gazza and I stayed in Hamish’s "Dungeon".

Next morning we borrowed a couple of Hamish’s bikes (the old back brakes were very dodgy!) and headed back to Dam square to meet the team, the weather was atrocious, so because I didn’t bring a jacket (doh) I had to stop and buy a poncho. Had a really nice pizza square from a food side stall for Brekkie. The weather dictated that today was going to be an inside day, so we trammed to the Van Gogh Museum. Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), largely a self taught painter, who had a highly distinctive style, with expressive brush strokes and vivid colours. After Van Gogh’s death there was a great deal of interest in the artist’s work, and almost as much fascination for his dramatic life story with its unhappy romances, apparent lack of recognition, illness and suicide. We picked up a couple of postcard souvenirs then Gaz and I walked to meet up with his local friend Heleina, at a photo exhibition museum. On the way we stopped for lunch ‘Dutch fish and Chips’ and wandered past the Heineken Brewery. At the photo museum, the theme of the exhibition was a troubled African country and sunbathing Italians, quite random! Then we had a relaxing cup of coffee, and back to Dam square top pick up our bikes. Back to McCarroll’s where we waited for him to finish work and formulated our game plan for the evening. Pretty simple game plan really, Beers, Pizza, then out to the clubs. Great night, which ended in Hamish showing us around the red light district, which was an eye opener, as ladys of all shapes and sizes showed off their whares. Gaz and I crashed that night in an apartment around the corner from McCarrolls.
Fortunately the next day the weather was mint so we hired boat for the afternoon and cruised round the city’s network of canals. Such an awesome way to see the city cruising round on a boat whilst enjoying a couple of beers in the sun with mates. We saw the city drift by, with its many bridges, churches and leaning buildings. Saturday night we had a BBQ at Hamish’s place then out into town, another dark to dawn bender, with some members of the party experiencing the red-light district to the fullest. Sunday the effects of two nights had taken its toll on everybody and everything was painful and slow. The weather deteriorated again, but I still managed to venture out to do a bit of shopping. Whilst some people had earlier flights mine wasn’t until later so Hamish and I went to the recently refurbished Royal Palace.
The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is situated on Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam. It was originally built as the city hall for the magistrates of Amsterdam. In the 17th century it was the largest secular building of Europe. The Royal Palace is famous for it’s rich and imposing decorations. Renowned sculptors were brought to Amsterdam and famous painters such as Rembrandt and Ferdinand Bol contributed to the interior. The central theme, featuring in much of the decoration, was the power of Amsterdam in particular and the Dutch Republic in general. Hamish and I were blown away by the ornate marble work and the sheer opulence of the rooms.
Here’s a little speil on Amsterdam straight out of wikipedia…Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. The city is the financial and cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world's top 500 companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world is located in the city centre. Amsterdam's main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, its red-light district and its many cannabis coffee shops, draw 4.2 million tourists annually.
Caught my flight back into Heathrow, no dramas. Great weekend, I could easily live in Amsterdam.