Amster-Hot-Damn : Day I

Alright Mark, here it is. A recap our our week in Amsterdam.


De Leydtze Poort [the gate to Amsterdam, Netherlands], c1690, by Isaac Commelin, Amsterdam

On August 29th, we set off for Europe - the first time since I left Glasgow four years ago. Flying AirTransat was better than I remembered (oooh, leather seats) and the flight was pretty uneventful. The worst part of the flight was that we were subjected to the absolutely terrible Monster-In-Law, but considering how aircraft seemingly were falling out of the sky at a rather alarming rate in August, I guess that is really nothing to complain about.

It was dark as we descended into Amsterdam and as we got closer to the city we could see large patches of light on the ground all over the place which was very cool. As we got closer we could see that they were greenhouses. We arrived at Schiphol Airport pretty much right on time (6am on the 30th) and after retrieving our luggage we took a train into Cenrtraal Station



From there it was a short walk to our home-away-from home, The Flying Pig Downtown. As far as hostels go, The Flying Pig was pretty good: It was pretty clean, the showers worked and had hot water and decent water pressure, breakfast was included (although you have to time it right to get your egg and croissant), there was free internet access, and it had a bar. It is, however, a hostel, so we had no privacy, were frequently woken up, and had to stumble around in the morning in the dark. But you get what you pay for and the Pig was kinda the cheapest option so it could have been much worse. We were too early to check in, so we stowed our bags in the luggage storage and went off to find something to eat. We wandered around a bit, getting a feel for the city in the wee hours before it woke up and was flooded by tourists. I passed on the McDonald's (where I saw a mouse run from the front counter to the kitchen) and opted instead for a fantastic ham and cheese filled croissant straight out of the oven of a little bakery down an alley a little way from out hostel. We hung out for a bit and soon it was time to check in.

Having essentially no sleep since 9am the previous day (it was about 3amEST) we attempted to get some shut-eye so we could make something of the day. The other people staying in our room and the hostel staff, however, had other ideas and it seemed everyone was exceptionally noisy. We got up about noon and headed out into the city. We went to the Anne Frank House. There isn't too much in the rooms - they are pretty bare and haven't been "recreated" in any way - but there were extracts from the Diary, photographs, archival documents and artifacts, and videos which talked about the Nazi invasion and the subsequent repression of the Jewish in Amsterdam and the experience of the two families who spent two years hiding in a few rooms before being betrayed. It is quite a powerful place and makes you reflect on the strength and courage of some people and the absolute inhumanity of others.

We had some fries with mayonnaise outside the Westerkerk and then headed back towards the hostel to figure out what to do that evening.

A ChattyLibrarian recommended that we check out Boom Chicago, an improv group and dinner theatre, and we figured that this might be something worth looking into. We hopped on a tram to the Leidseplein

(in the summer, obviously not when this photo was taken, there are a ton of tables outside the pubs/bars. Boom Chicago is on the far right)where we got tickets for the Best of Boom show, where they did skits from other shows mixed with improvised songs and skits based on audience suggestions a la Who's Line is it Anyway. Here's a lesson for you - one which we should have kept in mind throughout the rest of the trip: You can always find it cheaper! This goes for tacky souvenirs as well as theatre tickets. We learned this the hard way as, after paying full price for our tickets (we completely forgot to bring the 3Euro off coupon from the flyers in the hostel which also placed right at the entrance to the theatre) we had some time to kill. Just around the corner was the Half-Price ticket office where, you guessed it, we could have got the exact same tickets for half the price. At any rate the dinner was surprisingly good and the show was quite funny. While not everything worked, sometimes due to lame audience suggestions, by and large they were quite good. It was a bit edgy and at times shocking at times (a few "I can't believe they just said that" moments) and I was particularly impressed by the songs. Following the show we headed back to the Flying Pig, ending day one.

Stay tuned for Amsterdam Days 2-4, "I-CHORA and More-a." (yes, I acknowledge the lameness)