European Travels: Amsterdam

It was late December of 2009 and I was excited and nervous as most are when traveling so I arrived at O'Hare International Airport early.  I was already out of sorts because I normally flew out of Midway when traveling from Chicago and O'Hare just feels bigger and badder.

I was on my way to Amsterdam for a few days with my work buddies Warren and Eric.  We didn't really have much of a plan which made me slightly uneasy and I knew next to nothing about The Netherlands or Holland, or really what country I was even going to.

I found my traveling mates in the terminal and we discussed that it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up a few bottles of duty-free alcohol to have some stock ready when we arrived in Amsterdam. We boarded our flight, which was scheduled for close to 8 hours.  I had never been on such a long flight but was prepared for a night of movies, airline food, and restful airplane sleeping.  After realizing that my TV screen wasn't working I talked with the flight attendant hoping that the only available seat was in first class yet found out that there weren't any empty seats and all they could do was give me a voucher.  I ate my food and after a glass of wine fell asleep.  I woke hours later feeling relatively refreshed and unfazed by the lack of movie watching, plus I found out that the voucher was a $100 gift card which made everything a little better.

We got off the plane, cleared customs, grabbed a few tulips that the attractive blonds were handing out (could The Netherlands be any more cliche?), and found ourselves standing in the middle of Schipol Airport, only one of the biggest in the world.  We had no idea what time it was, where we were staying that night, how to get anywhere, really we were clueless.  We also had ginormous suitcases because we were going to be in Europe for 3 months.  After some standing around, turning in circles, we found the train to the City Centre.  I forgot to mention that Schipol Airport also seemed to have a bustling train station attached to it.

We somehow found our hotel which was disappointingly a few miles from downtown in a business district but we were staying for free using rewards points on arguably the most expensive hotel weekend of the year, New Years Eve.  We had no plans other than to have a good time and explore a new city, country, continent. 

We hopped back on the train and found our way towards the city centre where we stopped off at bar to enjoy our first beer.  It was a small place and we got to talking with the bartender about places to go.  We found our way from bar to bar having a bite to eat along the way.  After awhile we came to realize that we should clean up and get ready to really hit the town for New Years Eve so we went back to the hotel.  Here we were glad we stocked up on duty free because the free drinks in our rooms were key to the night. 



First Stop: the bar

 On our 150% full train ride back to the city for the New Years festivities our train actually hit a car that tried to cut the train off.  No one knew what to do so the train driver took the license plate number down and just kept on going.  The night really was starting off with a bang.

Fireworks Over the Canals

After drinking and wandering around the canals with what seemed like millions of other people all having a grand time singing, dancing, drinking.  We were glad that we were all wearing our warm clothes and beer jackets because it was cold.  I can't say for certain all the things we did, but I remember watching the fireworks over the canals, buying large Heinken beers from a tiny shop near the Red Light District, making friends from Australia, Germany, England, Serbia, San Francisco and just about every place in between.  We then found our way to a bar that was still open and made some friends with a large group that loved the Champagne shower and cheers-ing in a different language.  We also lost Warren at this point but didn't know it for another hour or so. 

Our New Years Eve Friends

After this bar closed, Eric and I found a bus that was taking us towards our hotel which was all we needed to hear.  However, we decided to jump off at the sight of the swarma restaurant still serving at God knows what hour.  We sat down to a heaping plate of meat and french fries.  Thinking that we had a bottle of ketchup on the table we both skirted a large portion on our plates soon to figure out that it was in fact hot sauce.  The guys working there seemed to enjoy it as we ate right through the heat and kept ordering more cokes to wash away the pain. 

The Scene of the Late Night Hot Sauce Fiasco

I remember finally arriving back at the hotel at 6 a.m. and finally falling asleep around 7.  My internal clock hated me.  We all slept essentially the entire day waking up when the sun was setting.  We felt we need to do something as it was still only our second day in this new country but man we were not feeling great.

The timeline for the rest of the Amsterdam is somewhat muddled with hangovers, odd sleep patterns, and jet-lag.  This is my excuse for not continuing in story fashion and using more of a stream of consciousness to explain details.

Heineken Brouwery or Brewery

I remember wandering through the Tulip Market which included obviously a lot of flowers and also food, vegetables, trinkets, toys, and souvenirs.  We bought some t-shirts and gifts but didn't see a huge need for a bouquet of colorful tulips.  We also went on a tour of the Heineken brewery which was fun and it also let me know that I am not a huge fan of Heineken beer no matter how fresh it is.  We enjoyed our time at the brewery as we were with what seemed like an endless stream of young Europeans celebrating the holidays with their friends.  We also had a Full English breakfast for the first time at this little place near the main train station; our plates were full with eggs, sausage, black pudding, baked beans, hash browns and Lord Byron Nelson knows what else.



Near the City Centre


I remember we popped in to a pub late one night to see the end of some of the College Football bowl games.  There was also many-a stroll along the canals which were quite enjoyable and a very cool aspect of the city.  We also did a Canal Tour of the city on a boat.  This was a great way to experience the city and something I would 110% recommend to anyone visiting Amsterdam be it for 3 hours or 3 weeks.  I also remember having some fries from one of the many store fronts serving fries with mayonnaise.  I guess all the bike riding keeps the people from getting fat.

Canal Boat Tour

We also visited the Russian museum, I believe it is called the Hermitage which was enlightening as I came to find out I know very little about Russia.  Another amazing stop we had was at the Van Gogh Museum.  I was unsure about it as I felt I would quickly become board of looking at all the same artist's works but au contraire mon frere.  There were pieces from different time periods in Van Gogh's life and pieces in different stages of being completed, there was a story involved with every piece of work that let you understand the troubled artist a little bit better.  We also wandered into a market selling a bunch of antiques, clothing, and food; which felt like a flea market.

We skipped the Rijksmuseum because the line was ridiculously long and also the Anne Frank house because we heard that there wasn't a whole lot to it.  However, we didn't skip the haunted history museum or whatever it was called.  We were completely and utterly disappointed in getting swindled into attending something that was so childish and meaningless.

We can not have those 80 minutes back.

We decided to take a taxi to the airport because our flight was early on the Sunday morning and the trains weren't running yet.  We all barely slept because we were flying Easy Jet and they have very strict restrictions on luggage and carry-on items and charge an arm and a leg when you are over the limit.  We all had way too much stuff and we had some major juggling to do.  At the airport, I ended up stuffing my computer bag and winter jacket into my hanging bag and carrying that on as one bag as I was wearing my other jacket.  My checked luggage came in just under the allowed weight so I was able to make it without paying any extra.

Warren was not so lucky.  He was throwing away clothes and shoes, trying to wear more shirts through security, and still had to pay because he couldn't carry on two bags or check two bags.  On the flight to Geneva he sat very uncomfortably with his jacket on and his bag in his lap as Eric and I had a good laugh at how uncomfortable and how angry he was.

I Amsterdam