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Other entries in Amsterdam

Hot 'Dam!

we got to Amsterdam after a short train ride from Brugges. we had been looking forward to this leg of the trip. not only are the three of us avid socialites, we also enjoy the fruits of the earth that Mother Nature provides us. Since many things we enjoy doing are legal here when they are illegal elsewhere, we planned to take full advantage of our stay here.

Aron had found us lodging in the Heart of Amsterdam, a hostel formed from the accumulation of various rooms in the heart of the Red Light District (the district with no shortage of prostitutes, coffeeshops, and shady happenings). at first they stuck us in a third floor room with 6 beds for the 5 of us (our friends Heath and Jenna were arriving later that night). cool right? yes, we thought so, but not so cool apparently to the hostel owner. after the first night, for no apparent reason, he moved us to a room downstairs that was so new, it still had the painters tape on the walls. it was basically the same size except now we had a tv and also a room right on the street! we could open up the window, stick our heads out, and smell the sweet scent of debauchery going on all around us. we were also moderately worried that any random messed up person could just prop open our window when we were away and steal our stuff. but we fixed that problem, we just closed the curtains (those drunks cant steal what they cant see!).


that first day was surprisingly uneventful. until of course we visited our first coffeeshop, and things obviously started to get more interesting. it was an arbitrary pick; you can literally fall backwards into a coffeeshop in this district. after legally purchasing marijuana, we partook while still trying to grasp the concept of a city where its not only tolerated but embraced to use substances that everyone else in teh world considers harmful enough to prohibit it. Amsterdam is pretty much to a drug addict what Vegas is to a gambling addict. by making smoking weed legal, not to mention the other legal mind altering drugs for sale, youre encouraging the citizens and visitors to fill the streets with altered mindsets. sure alcohol does the same thing in other societies but because its illegal everywhere else, people overdo it when they get here. when you tell a child not to drink soda pop because it makes him hyper, is there anything else in the world that the kid wants more than a fucking Coke? so needless to say, over the course of the week, we saw lots of people acting abnormally, speaking strangely (although that may have been Dutch), and lots and lots of kids giggling madly nearly choking on strawberry milkshakes. this we all observed and took note of; thus, when we felt ourselves acting a fool, we never fretted because we realized, hey, its Amsterdam. youre allowed to do stupid shit here. to quote a friend, "man, im going to run into so many poles this week".

man, these days were long, i may have to break this down into several blogs.

(sorry about that tangent). ok, so we left that first coffeeshop with fresh perspectives on the world around us. we had no real plan except to maybe use internet and perhaps pick up some groceries for later (aron probably would pick up a nectarine or two because he's more of a snacker than a meal guy. this kid will eat 10 snacks a day of just about anything: fruit, croissants, pomme frites, crackers, mini-sandwiches, his belly button lint, etc). when we agreed to commit to the grocery store, we all contributed to an extremely stupid decision. throwing three freshly stoned guys into a massive grocery store is a bad idea, then add to the problem that there is a liquor store next door, and then dont forget that the whole thing is in Dutch. well, the signs were, most everyone spoke English too. it was hard, trust me. after spending 15 mins in teh liquor store arguing the advantages and preferences of making a certain choice, we eventaully agreed to leave and come back, this was clearly too much to handle right now. in the grocery store, it was no easier. Nova disappeared quickly and Aron and i spotted some apples that were radiating with the infallible glow of perfection. we had to have them. we were in the store for no more than 30 seconds and we'd already picked up a 6-pack of apples to put in our non-existent basket. after mulling over purchasing chips, cheese and crackers, nutella, pre-made sandwiches, more fruit, we eventually decided to purchase none of it and instead get a crate of heineken because it was cheaper than water. on the way out, we grabbed soem Jagermeister and some Wodka from next door to add to the rest of the groceries, a 6-pack of apples.

the walk home was tough because it wasnt close and we had an awkwardly constucted crate of Heineken. great for moving from the garage to the fridge, not great for carrying 15 blocks. we traded off and were content once we reached the room. then we realized that we had no fridge, definitely no ice, and blowing cool air on the bottles just wasnt doign the trick. oh well, if we drank them quickly, they couldnt get any warmer. we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, waiting for Heath and Jenna. Aron and I went to use the internet adn the only place we found was upstairs in a sex shop. we pushed past the racks of videos devoted strictly to beastiality and plopped down at the computers. after killing a few half hours and arranging some of our future plans, we headed back to the room to find Nova singing along to some European music channel. apparently, he had seen a video enough times to catch on to some of the lyrics. man, this kid is talented. When our two late arriving friends got in around 2300, we caught up for a bit and then decided to head out for a late night cappacino.

unfortunately, like a whorehouse on a weeknight, all the coffeeshops were closed tight at the stroke of midnight. We felt like a bunch of Cindarellas transforming from our happy-go-lucky, ready-for-anything selves into rejected and disappointed shells of human beings. lucky for us, friendly crack heads roam the streets in these parts. while we fought the idea of giving up on our quest for late night pot, we crossed paths with a short Dutchman. he was smoking something out of a short, glass tube. he later told us it was crack. as we pass, he says hello to us and we mutter some sort of greeting in response. he got visibly upset with us and said to us, "Dont be rude to me, Im friendly". and he was. he told us about the things we should know like what the police will and will not tolerate (you cant even drink in public here!) and other basic customs in this Stoner Mecca. we thanked him for his advice and warmness and continued on our way. now why arent the crack heads in NYC so helpful?

back at the spot, Aron munched on a kebab (and i looked on jealously) while Heath propped open the window with the empty Heineken crate. it was very hot that night. we knew we had to move rooms the next morning so we prepared for that (still dont know why we had to move, though) by going to bed at a reasonable hour after watching some good ole EuroTV.

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