AmsterDAM

I stopped off at a few more cheese shops for some samples on my way to a canal tour. It’s an amazing perspective on the city. From the water it’s very easy to romanticize the city, especially when you’re listening to nice soundtracks as the boat steers through the canals. The thin houses towered up on either side as the automated voice pointed out the points of interest- the thinnest house, the houseboat canal and the various warehouses that lined certain waterways. Apparently, one winter, a decade or so ago, was so cold (minus 15 can you believe it!) that the canals froze. So people would ice skate to work, set up restaurants and hold races along the straights. I bought a large packet of stroopwaffles and meandered my way down to the Rijksmuseum, where I was meeting Roxana. 

There were people crawling all over the I AMSTERDAM, which even though I’m not a grammar nazi just looks wrong to me, so we decided to skip that photo and just go inside. The museum was insane, every time we figured that we were done and could just dash through the rest, we’d find a new amazing room and spend time looking at everything. They had a special exhibit on historical fashion and also the lengths they go to to preserve the various delicate outfits. There was a gorgeous art library with sun beams shining through the large bay window, whimsical impressionist art work that makes me want to try painting again, and such intricate nautical ship models it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to picture them on the sea. 

After we’d exhausted ourselves at the museum, Roxanna and I headed to the nearest restaurant that served Dutch pea soup, which Tanya had recommended to us, and caught up on the last four years. We had never really talked extensively at Bode but it’s the kind of community that you can forge bonds just by proximity and association, and I felt really lucky to actually get to talk to her and know her a bit better. 

We parted ways and I walked back to the hostel which took me through the Red Light District again. Normally walking through a vibrant street at night time is fun and energizing but here it’s a more uncomfortable and sullen feeling. I tried to do some research before coming out and what most articles seemed to say was that while the girls working in the windows are autonomous and don’t want to be seen as victims, the overwhelming majority of them are either immigrant, uneducated or come from a history of abuse. However, the tour guide later informed us that it is a historical Dutch tradition to tolerate vice, so long as it makes money. It almost feels like a Halloween house when you're walking past a window and someone moves out of the corner of your eye- gives you a bit of a start. 

Back at the hostel I sat in the cafe area and chatted to an Australian guy named Maurice for quite a while. They had a lovely cafe area with booths, a piano and a tease of a cat who decided that he didn't like me and I managed to get a bit of my school reading done.  

The next morning I went on a walking tour where Roxana and I were planning to meet but we just missed each other so she caught a different tour and we met up afterwards. I had an Irish guide, a very common situation as Ireland's biggest export is its young people so I keep running into them. For the first half we mostly walked around areas Id seen but it was nice to get a bit more information. After a coffee and warm up break, we went around the Jordaan, more gorgeous canals, houses, Coffeeshouses ;) and cheese shops. I met Roxana outside the Anne Frank museum and after walking around more we went to have coffee in a cafe attached to the old church in the Red Light District. It's a really neat restaurant business allied with Not For Sale, that helps sex-workers learn new skills to get out of that lifestyle. We had a lovely chat and people watched for most of the afternoon. 

Amsterdam's a beautiful city to relax in, it's not like Rome or some cities where you have a long checklist of tours and things to see but it is lovely. I'm very thankful that Tanya and Roxana were around to share it with me and I am now fully stocked up on photos of bikes and canals. It was a nice trip but it’s always nice when you can turn your brain off and your feet know their way home.

ps. There will be many more Amsterdam photos in the travel section of my website... soon... probably after essays are due... I am still in school.