February 1st, 2007

 After one of the shorter flights we’ve had to endure so far we finally have arrived in Amsterdamage… I mean Amsterdam

After we checked into our hostel Tash asked me to go and get some bottled water and snacks. I walked down the little cobble stoned street and all of a sudden I hear someone tapping on a window trying to get my attention. As I looked up there was a fairly large lady dressed in ligerie… I knew our hostel was around the red light district… but I didn’t realise it was THAT close… shocked at what I saw I gave her a nervous smile and continued walking… For those of you who don’t know, the red light district has plenty of of windows similar to a shop front and above them there is a red fluorescent light and the girls stand in the window and try to get your attention to invite you in… It sure brings a new meaning to the term “window shopping”.

The next interesting thing that I noticed while we were in Amsterdam is that wherever we went, there was a distinct smell in the air… It becomes very clear when you see what many of the cafes and shops have on their signs…

I wondered why everyone was so friendly… we had absolute strangers offering to help us… Not being one to do drugs now I know why everyone is so happy there… 😛

…they must’ve been eating these special cookies or brownies on sale at the cafes…

Amsterdam is made up of a series of arched channels that start from the centre of the city and have continuously moved out as the infrastructure needed to grow. The country is actually 1-5 metres BELOW sea level… hence they need to create habitable land in a very unique way. The Dykes (no… not lesbians) or more commonly known as dams stop the water from flooding the land by making a high embankment around an area and then the water is pumped out exposing the ground. 

The next thing that Amsterdam is famous for is windmills. Mainly built in the 1600’s they were used as grinding mills for flour/cereals and pumping water. Now they are mainly just maintained as heritage buildings… Since Amsterdam is so marshy the locals over the years have designed a unique way to get around; they use cloggs which are a wooden shoe that is worn with thick socks. This way they can walk though the marshes and when their shoes get dirty they just hose them down. Tash and I tried on a couple of pairs at a clogg factory, but it seems we may have chosen a pair that were a size or two too big…

  

Cheese, cheese, glorious cheese… we checked out the local cheese factory and got to sample all of the varieties ranging from French onion to chilli and cows to goats milk! One cannot come to Holland and not try the dutch pancakes… they are to die for! Because the Dutch colonized many countries including Indonesia, we were able to have some authentic Indonesian food as well… being in western countries we started to crave for some asian cooking so it was a welcomed change. During our city bus tour we met a great group of people.. Aleksandra, JP, Guntmar and off course Ramsez! Tash and I had a great time hanging out with you guys… hope to see you round soon!

All in all, the 16th Century architecture and cobble stoned lanes were a warm introduction to Europe. The sights and culture were a pleasant experience… I just had to show you guys one of the male toilets that we saw in a hotel… 

From here we are catching a train and are off to gay Paris… Gauw to ziens!