Holla Holland

I’m thrilled to be here, even though the weather doesn’t seem to enjoy my presence as much. Windy, rainy, thunderstorm-brewing, hurricane-worthy winds have taken over the town. But besides that; Amsterdam is dead set gorgeous. I love the city layout, the fact that it’s set on water, the canals, the high houses, the biking culture, the buildings. There are people all around, and bikes, mopeds, cars, trams and people crowd the streets, people puffing away on cigarettes, wearing colourful coats and trendy trainers. There are no fences or anything to mark the edge of the street into the canal, and so you see bikes hanging off the edge, and if you were someone like me, I would probably literally bike straight into the water. Kirsten told me that apparently apparently, one car goes into a canal every week in Amsterdam, because they have parking spots right up to the river’s edge, with NO BARRIERS. For someone like me, this combination of water-and-no-barriers could only end badly. I would not only ride my bike into the canal, but I would also drive too far forward into the parking spot, and with no safety net, the wheels (followed by the rest of Lance) would go into the canal. Hell, given my track record (for those of you who know…) of falling into water, I’m afraid I might just dead set WALK into the canal if I’m not careful.

Serena braving the weather

The bikes though, oh my. They make for such a pretty sight. I read a stat that there are 700,000 Amsterdammers and 1,000,000 bikes in the city. The numbers have probably changed, but you get the idea. BIKES EVERYWHERE. Almost got taken out by a moped, but it’s Amsterdam, and I’m absolutely in love with this place so I wouldn’t care too much if I did.

Obvi, I walked to the train station in the rain, after a hazy night in my 12 dorm room, full of (yet again) smelly men. Everyone is really friendly though (and 90% high all the time), and there’s a lot of people around, it’s a really social atmosphere and always someone who wants to chat. The marijuana seems to knock ‘em out pretty quick though, so no snorers as of yet. After two minutes in the rain – I realised that there was no way that I could avoid getting wet (thanks to the hurricane winds and devastating raindrops). So, soaked through, I closed the umbrella and accepted the fact that I was wet, looking like a drowned rat, mascara running down my face….but I was in Amsterdam, and I couldn’t have been happier.

I walked through the station, to meet Serena at 10am, - she spotted me, amongst the crowd, and greeted me holding two steaming cups of morning beverages (and she remembered how I take my hot chocolate with cream on top), and an enormous smile. I could have cried. It was fantastic to see her again – although we haven’t known each other for terribly long, we only spent a few days together in LA before I moved to Boston, but we’ve always stayed in contact and she’s one of the most friendly, generous, and welcoming people I’ve ever met. She’s just someone I clicked with, and seeing her again was as if no time had passed at all.

She had skipped school to come out to the city (she lives in a small town around and hour and a half away) and our day was spent wandering around the shops, the streets, and enjoying each other’s company. I really do enjoy spending time with the girls, and any trace of home sickness that I felt in Ansbach had thankfully disappeared once my days and nights were full with Amsterdam adventures. She took me out for lunch, we chatted about news, and I took in as many sights and smells that I could. Unfortunately due to the weather, I was feeling a little flu-ey, so had to head to bed after a warm soup. The weather was in a don’t-go-outside-unless-you-want-to-die state, and the combination of the wind, the rain and the freezing temperature didn’t make it pleasant at all. It was the sort of wind that made you stagger back if you walked into it. We tried to do the best we could, but Serena had to head to school that evening anyway, so after a couple of painkillers and a long nap, we met again at around 1.00am – perfect Amsterdam night-life time. The days so far had been full on, that’s the sort of place Amsterdam is. It’s go go go, and if you’re not go go going, then you’re wasting your time. A couple of drinks and some company later, we headed back to our hostel, where Serena slept in a spare bed and we drifted into a peaceful slumber.

Something important.

I apologize for the lack of photos or interesting stories thus far, but the first couple of days have really been about wandering around, having delayed cups of tea on café canals with friends, trying on expensive clothes for the hell of it, and exchanging linguistics on many a topic, of which I can’t simply relay on here, because let’s face it, who cares.

But here’s a story actually; in the Red Light District you’re not allowed to take photos, of the girls in the window and the sort. If they see anyone even going near their camera, phone or electronic-device, they’ll get their bottles ready to open the doors and throw water in your face, or throw something else at you, or even chase you. True story.

But I leave you with this; just think about one of the best days you’ve had with someone…a friend, a partner, a family member…where no matter what you did, the day would have been perfect, because they were there, and  you were there together. That’s what today was. Perfect in every sense. And I had my beautiful friend to thank for that.