My breath was immediately taken away by how beautiful Amsterdam is. After Nina and I arrived on Sunday evening, we crashed at the hostel sheepishly going up to the counter and choosing terrible films from those available to rent, and hogging the tv room.
The next day I awoke ready to explore. Amsterdam to me is the sort of city you can wonder in for hours without even having to walk into any shops or cafes. It's the little glimpses of life and style that make it so special. It was an amazing contrast to Berlin both in the feel and visually. To me it felt like more of a 'city', with a main shopping drag and an obvious buzz of people. The buildings, especially the department stores and malls, are beautiful old stone buildings, it's easy to confuse which one was the Palace and which was Zara.
After Lizzy and Rani arrived we made the trip to Anne Frank's house which has been very cleverly preserved and had built around it, a contemporary museum. It was one of the most moving experiences for me, I found myself tearing up in every second room with the constant thought of "she was one, of more than i can imagine" swirling through my head. After an emotionally draining morning, we decided to embrace the flat terrain and go for a walk. Even though we were all exhausted and sick, there was a notable spring in our steps. Walking along the canals we breathed the fresh, cool air, admired the beautiful trees and boats that line the edge of the water. We peeked again into the windows of terraces that look on to the canals, each seemed to be home to some contemporary business (I'm sure only graphic designers, architects and those in the fashion industry work in Amsterdam) or a stylish home (so stylish I kept wishing they were shops not houses!)
We stopped for soul warming soup and the best coffee we'd had in Europe - it was like sweet sweet nectar - then continued wandering about the beautiful city, through the flower markets and towards the dreaded red light district. It was definitely not what we expected, as we hurried past a few x-rated stores we found ourselves in a chocolateria, an amazing small gallery and other dinky little shops one would not expect to find in such an area!
Our night life consisted of me finally getting the hot toddy I'd been dreaming of since I got to the cold, thanks to a very generous and cooperative barman at our hostel (an Aussie - of course!) and one last serve of friet en mayo and stroll through the city before Nina and I said goodbye to the city and to our beautiful traveling companions.
In the morning I had to give the briefest of goodbyes to Lizzy and Rani, who are staying on in Amsterdam and then continuing their travels abroad for the next month, so that I could hold myself together. These girls have been so fantastic to travel with. They make me laugh, they cuddle me when it's cold and they have given me the best experience of Europe to date. Finally at the train station I had to say goodbye to my little bean neen. Anyone who knows us knows that Nina and I are like siblings. I'm convinced that we were separated at birth and that "joke" my parents keep on telling me about being adopted, may actually be true. We both confessed afterwards that on our journeys home (Nina to Perth) we couldn't stop the tears, in mourning of our adventure and each other. So I farewelled my last connection to the life I know and headed off to my new one in Groningen. . .
Lizzy in the art space
hard core drugs I got into
culture on the street
"walk" along the canals
Oh Lizzie sounds like you're having such a wonderful time - loving that I can read your posts to keep up with your activities! (But don't have too much fun - we'd like you back within a year, please!) xx
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