I know what you all are thinking, Soham's life must suck right now. Well, the past few weeks were pretty bad - a lot of work and very little time to go out and enjoy London. This past week was quite the contrary. After handing in my two papers I started getting mentally prepared for my weekend trip to Amsterdam. The following is an account of my journey:
My friends and I had been planning the trip for about a month and we imagined it to be a weekend of fun with zero responsibility or care. I recalled a trip my fraternity brothers went on to NYC (New Amsterdam) and imagined Amsterdam to be just like it. They dressed up in suits and spent the weekend in the city, staying awake, drinking heavily, and doing many things on an impulse. I did expect there to be a bit of predictability on this trip, however, simply for the reason that it was a foreign land that none of us had ever been to. Nevertheless, we did espouse the idea of wearing suits and not sleeping for 24 hours (this was the last day of the trip).
With our suits on and our "swagger" in check, we headed to Amsterdam on a 6PM flight Thursday night. The idea was to "roll-up" as if we were something special, not the sleazy types that typically travel to Amsterdam.
I was with three other people (Ravi, Kunj, and Ryan - in order) and we ended up looking more like the cast of "The Jersey Shore" rather than "Entourage." Despite this setback, we persevered and landed around 8 PM. After getting to the city center and checking into our hostel (Christian Shelter City), we asked what places would have the best food, drinks, etc. The receptionist promptly informed us that we were staying in a Christian hostel and at no times were drugs or alcohol allowed in the building (opps!) I was the one responsible for picking the hostel and it seemed pretty central to me, and cheap, that's why I chose it. I failed to notice that it was a Christian Hostel and that strict rules applied. Nonetheless, we made no plans of taking any drugs in general or drinking in the building so it wasn't too much of a big deal. After roaming around the Red Light District for a few hours, I learned a lot about Amsterdam's liberal-nature and saw many things that my mother sheltered me from when I was younger. The Red Light District is, of course, known for women displaying themselves in windows. More of than not they are scantly dressed in lingerie and waiting for hopeless males to come up to them. I quickly learned that even looking in their direction forces them to tap on the glass and call you over, something my friends and I refrained from doing. I have no moral problems with prostitution, if a woman does it on her own willingness and a man chooses to pay for sex then that's OK with me, it's not my right to stop people from enjoying themselves. Taking part in the activity, however, is something I will never do. Not only is it a good way to catch a disease but it seems a bit desperate to me. Unfortunately you are forbidden from taking pictures in the Red Light District, so I cannot show any here, but I did capture the "essence" during the day:
The rest of the night was not too eventful. We walked around the city, despite frigid temperatures, ate dinner and then rested for the next day. Waking up Friday was easy, but the hostel was not too comfortable. I thought it would be a great experience sharing a room with 12 other people but this decision ended up being a huge blunder. Not only was I woken up repeatedly during the night by some random guys foot touching mine, but I'm pretty sure the sheets were not clean. Regardless, we had to sleep somewhere, and the hostel seemed affordable and central. The entire day was spent doing "toruisty' things. First as the Ann Frank House - a museum of sorts and also the location of where Ann Frank stayed in the years before her death, hiding from the Nazi's. I enjoyed this more than my friends b/c of my visit to Dachau (see Munich post). We were able to walk in the rooms where the Frank family stayed (the Annex) and we were able to see the original Diary that she kept. It was a moving experience and one that I will never forget.
Next was the Van Gogh museum and the I Amsterdam sign. Van Gogh was a complete waste of 14 Euros as I did not enjoy it in the least. I have tried the Opera and I have tried an Art Museum, and I have come to the conclusion that I am not that type of person. History, Air & Space, Spy, are all museums that entertain me; some guy painting lilies or a vase, not fun! It makes me angry writing about it - so I shall move on.
After Van Gogh was the Heineken Museum - great time. We had the opportunity to see the company's history and how beer was made. The tour was expensive - 15 Euros - but we got three free beers out of it and a great experience in terms of entertainment. Definitely a place I recommend checking out. After that, we went on an evening boat ride which was dark and cold, but it was fun to see the city through its canals. We resolved to stay up 24 hours, which was a bad decision looking back, but we found enough places that were open until 5 AM - Rembrandt Plaza, bars, coffee shops, etc. All in all the trip was very fun.
See more pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/sohamg11
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