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"Some people say that the best vacation to Amsterdam is the one you can’t remember." - taken from the Let's Go Europe Travel Guide at www.letsgo.com My arrival in Amsterdam concluded a five-day, four-country 1500+ km hitch-hiking adventure which had originated in Stockholm. I was there to celebrate Queen's Day, the Netherlands' annual celebration of the Dutch royal family, and to meet up with Neil and Mark, two friends from Waterloo. Mike, a mutual friend of Neil and Mark, and Gaurav, Neil's cousin, were also there to join us in the festivities. I was dropped off right downtown, by the train station. I quickly found the hotel where the others were staying, but they had not yet checked in. Since I didn't actually have a bed in the same hotel, I thought it would be wise to find myself some accomodation. I was lucky to arrive on Wednesday; receptionists at many hotels and hostels were telling me there were either already full or that they only had rooms available at incredibly inflated rates. Apparantly Queen's Day (to my knowledge April 30th) is the biggest celebration in the Netherlands, and finding a room on the Friday or Saturday of that particular weekend was, according to many, "impossible". I had a few days before the weekend, and was determined to find something inexpensive before it was too late. One hotel owner told me to try Bob's, a cheap dirty hostel which was conveniently located. 
Bob's turned out to be (and remains) my most unique European hostel experience. Bob's is not a Hostelling International hostel, in fact there is no place quite as independent as Bob's. The entrance is found by some old concrete stairs leading below the sidewalk. Upon entering Bob's, the visitor is engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Keep in mind this is Amsterdam, and that this is not tobacco smoke. This comes as no surprise, as one can usually find a few of Bob's guests sharing a joint outside on the steps. At the desk I found a small suspicious brown man, who, to the best of my knowledge, is the real Bob. My first question for him was whether guests could smoke in the rooms, as I did not want to have my brain fried in my sleep. Bob promised me a smoke free room and a locker, and as I really had no other options in my price range, I took a bed in a large 20 bed dormitory. Bob's was very cheap, just 30 Fl (Dutch Florins or Guilders, = approx. $20 Cdn) a night, including breakfast. Breakfast, mind you, consisted of cold scrambled eggs (shells included), two pieces of wonderbread with artificial jelly, and all the lukewarm watered-down tea I could ever hope for. Was I satisfied with Bob's?? Certainly. Did I ever have any real reason to complain? No. I had fun there, and met a lot of interesting people there from all kinds of places. I even found someone in my bed one night, although that problem was quickly resolved. I found another guy who had actually made Bob's his home. I met up with Neil, Mark and crew later that first day, which was a nice relief and a long-awaited reunion. We spent the next four days (mostly) together, doing a bit less of the touristy stuff and instead just absorbing and experiencing the live, pulsating atmosphere the city of Amsterdam has to offer. Here is a casual outdoor cafe scene. 
Most of our time was spent downtown, on the famous Damrak (a long street full of tourist shops and attractions, complete with Queen's Day ferris wheel), along Amsterdam's many Grachten (canals), or in the famous red-light district. Here is the "Dam" on the Damrak. 
One of Amsterdams many canals. 
This building is a modern restaurant. 
Despite what many might think, the red-light district is a very safe and non-threatening part of the city. It's exciting, and definitely a first-time sight for most of Amsterdam's visitors. The women who "work" there stay behind windows; no soliciting can be seen taking place on the street. Photography is forbidden. The common tourist is subjected to a number of drug offers, which are easily avoided by simply walking away or shaking one's head. There are many "coffee" shops and a variety of "novelty" stores, which offer a wide array of toys and videos. And, of course, there are the "live" shows and many sex museums. (Note: as I look back on this paragraph, I find I have used a lot of "quotes". Read into this what you will.) Here is the famous Bulldog coffee shop in the red-light district. 
Amsterdam offers a lot more than just sex and drugs and rubber fists (which start at about 110 Fl, by the way). Neil and I found an exhibition of prize-winning photographs of the last 30 or 40 years. These included many of the most famous political, scientific, and sports photos ever taken. It was not hard to spend a few hours appreciating them in the church where they were on display. On another day, Mike, Gaurav, and I relived Heineken's glory days by taking a tour in the original brewery. Here is an old vat in the former brewery. 
Today Heineken is brewed in a larger, newer facility outside the city. The tour did of course end with many free samples. Before the sampling we took in this view of the city from the top of the brewery. 
The Dutch are known for their flowers. Large tulips can be found in many parts of the city. 
This house has been painted with a dragon. Notice that the tail extends beyond the edge of the house. 
It may be because they make them so well, or because they simply enjoy them so much (this is my guess), but the Dutch are also considered to have some mighty fine fries. Neil and I put them to the test. They were good, but in the end, they were just fries. The Dutch and the Belgians will always offer you about 20 different sauces to go with your fries. 
We also made many friends in Amsterdam. Living on the same floor as Neil and the others were about 20 Danes on a business school trip. We spent an evening with them and a few cases of Heineken. I also met Jocelyn and Sabrina, two girls from Vancouver Island. I helped them find Bob's. We would meet again in the following weeks in Karlsruhe and even in Prague. All this talk about Amsterdam and I haven't even described the main event - Queen's Day. The big celebration was on Saturday April 29th. The streets of Amsterdam were absolutely filled with people, millions in fact. We often had trouble passing through the dense crowds. The crowd was so large that even the canals were full of boats of Queen's Day party goers. 
Everyone was dressed in orange, the traditional colour of the Dutch royal family. The source of this tradition either lies in the fact that the original Dutch royal family was named Oranje, or because they came from the French city of Orange. One of those reasons is true. We had also managed to pick up some cheap orange clothing at a flea market. Heineken was everywhere on this day, which meant that many millions of drinkers were using the canals and the streets as their lavatory. Amsterdam has a number of little booths (round walls really), which offer the male pedestrian the chance to urinate semi-privately into a small hole in the ground leading to a canal. Queen's Day was really a wild time. The Dutch are nice people who also know how to party. On Sunday, April 30th, after four days of crazy Amsterdam-style adventures, Gaurav left for Norway, the others left for London, and I was left to find my way home after two weeks on the road. I walked out of the downtown area and started to thumb my way back to Karlsruhe. At about 8 PM, I arrived in Karlsruhe. I had hitch-hiked a total of over 3000 km over those two weeks. Back to the Main Page - Zurück zur Hauptseite |