An eventful weekend in Amsterdam

Friday

Curtis, Amanda, Jesse, Rivers, Kevin, Mike and I took a trip to Amsterdam this past weekend.  We were up quite early on Friday morning and caught a train at 06:20 to Luxembourg, then on to Brussels and then to Amsterdam Centraal.  Once we got to Amsterdam at about 2:30, we were starving and had lunch at a small Italian place.  After we walked to the hostel and got settled, we were dead set on seeing some of Amsterdam's plentiful museums, which are usually open late on Friday nights.

We initially tried the Rijksmuseum which the hostel desk attendant told us was open until 10pm, apparently was closing early, so we headed to the Van Gogh Museum right around the corner.  The special exhibit was about Realism in the early 20th century and their focus on the average man.  I found the permanent exhibit of Van Gogh's work and inspirations much more entertaining.  The evolution of his style was interesting and really showed how prolific and forward thinking of an artist he was, until, as he said, his artistic vision failed him and he committed suicide.

Dinner was next, and at about 8:30, we headed over to Wok to Walk, a chain that specializes in make your own wok meals.  Afterwards, we tried to find the Red Light District and ended finding what seemed a little offshoot of it.  Kinda disappointed in what we thought to be the actual Red Light District, we headed back home to the hostel.

Saturday

Breakfast at the hostel was pretty good, but not quite up to the "Best Hostel Breakfast EVER" that Katrina awarded it.  Nonetheless, by 9:30, we had already rented bikes (bright orange so the locals can avoid us) and were following Curtis' direction to the Rembrandt House.  Bikes are everywhere in Amsterdam, and is probably the most frequent mode of transportation for the locals.  Every single open railing has a bike locked to it, and there are specific bike lanes all over the city.  Cyclists even get right of way!  I wish we could import that to some places in the US, but the problem is when the tourists try to do it.  I got the distinct feeling that the rules for biking were really really respected and we had probably annoyed a bunch of people throughout the day.  

The Rembrandt House was interesting mainly through a perspective of the lifestyle of people and especially artists.  If you're ever there, make sure you grab the audio tour, because it's free and offers a lot of insights.  Unfortunately, the museum didn't have very many paintings, but it was filled with etchings, which could be produced cheaply and quickly.  After the Rembrandt House, we checked out the flea market right next to it, but then retired to a little cafe since there wasn't much worth braving the rain for.  After coffees and hot chocolate, we went back to the Rijksmuseum again, and had to stand in line for about 20 minutes before we got in, but it was definitely worth it.  The museum was filled with the Dutch Masters' works, of which the crowning piece is Rembrandt's The Night Watch.  

Once we left the museum, Amanda met up with one of her friends from Duke, Michelle, who joined us for the rest of the afternoon.  We had a late lunch/snack.  I got one of the renowned Dutch pancakes, which totally live up to the hype, especially with some delicious thick slices of bacon on top.  The Heineken Experience was next on our list of things to do.  Honestly, I felt like I paid 15 euros to drink 2 beers and look at a lot of Heineken commercials.  The first half, that wasn't about the advertising, had some pretty interesting parts about the brewing process.  It was enjoyable, but missing it wouldn't have killed the trip either.  

Dinner was at a small place closer downtown and I had some lamb cutlets, though the more memorable part was the fries with mayo.  Actually, I'm not sure if it was mayo.  It looked exactly like it, and I've heard that the Europeans prefer mayo on their fries instead of ketchup, but this stuff tasted better than any mayo I've had in the States.  The jury is still out on whether or not that'll be my de facto way to eat fries now.  

Finally the rain stopped, so we headed down to the actual Red Light District this time to walk through it.  It was definitely eye-opening to see how the sex industry had been built up around the area.  That and a bouncer, as we're all walking by, looked down at us and said "You should come in, little ones, especially this one here," looking right at me.  I'm pretty sure that there was steam blowing out my ears, but everyone else was grinning at the line. 

Suddenly, then the sky opened up on us, so we ducked into a pub for a beer and to stay out of the rain.  Our table has also discovered the magic of hot chocolate and Bailey's.  If you're ever looking to go to sleep, I'd recommend one of those.  That was our nightcap, and once we saw Michelle to the train station (she was staying in the suburbs with relatives), we rode our bikes back to the garage and passed out at the hostel.  

Sunday

Sunday was even earlier than Saturday, but all we did was hoof it over to the train station to get a train to The Hague.  The only thing on our list here was the M.C. Escher Museum, which I found really interesting.  His themes with infinity and continuity were really apparent, but very interesting to see the development of his perspective of showing it.  The trip back was by far the most interesting bit of Sunday, as when we were on our way from Amsterdam to Brussels, Curtis' bags got stolen.  There were a number of tip offs to it, and it was really obvious that something was strange apparently (I was asleep).  A sharply dressed man sat in Curtis and Jesse's booth while the train car was mostly empty, and this guy's accomplice sat behind Curtis.  When the train came to a stop, the first guy pulled out a ticket and made an obvious distraction for his friend to reach up and grab Curtis' bag.  Unfortunately, the duo made a clean get away before we could get a conductor to hold the train for us.  

Once we got to Luxembourg, we were looking at the departures board, and while we were watching, the boards flipped over and we watched our train get cancelled.  Stupid French strikes.  So we went out to wait for a bus that was arranged to take us back to Metz, and the last leg of the trip that usually takes only 45 minutes took a good two hours and a taxi ride from the station home.  Overall though, I really enjoyed Amsterdam.  It was a little cloudy for us, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone.  There's tons of stuff to do there, and everyone can find something that'll excite them there.

And here's a link for the photos from this weekend.