We just arrived in Den Haag after a crazy couple of days in Amsterdam. I think I’m in love with Amsterdam. There is so much life and bustle, but it is also a lot calmer than other cities I’ve been to. The overall feel is cozy, and the city itself is small and rather compact. If you know where to go, there are some really chill locals who can give you the DL on the haps around town.
I’m going to try to summarize everything that happened. Although it was only three days, it felt like a good full week. I don’t know if/when my feet will recover, but I’m hoping to sleep bank tonight.
The public transportation in Amsterdam is incredible. There are very few cars and very little traffic congestion, but this is partially because the trams rule the road. They are incredibly convenient and easy to ride. As long as you know what number to take and which stop to get off (which all the locals know, so you can ask anyone), you are golden. But we were also in the center of everything, so we’d only ever have to take the tram a few stops to get anywhere, if at all. Leidseplein is where we were and that is where the life of Amsterdam is, although it is quite touristy.
On the first full day, we explored the Jewish section of Amsterdam. We went to the Jewish Historical Museum, the Portugese Synagogue, Hollandse Schouwburg (Nazi deportation center), the Auschwitz Memorial, and the Dutch Resistance Museum. The Portugese Synagogue was very cool, partially because it is so incredibly old and still in use. It is the richer of the two synagogues in the area, and also a more conservative synagogue. Flavio, my professor, and his partner Bryan, both had to wear yarmulkes upon entering.
Other highlights from the day included the outdoor flea market, the awesome woman at Bagels & Beans who told us exactly where to go in town, Bluebird, this fab coffeeshop, and, of course, the Pub Crawl. Kathy, Eje, Esther, Noor, and I went. For 18 Euros, we got a free shot and a free drink at all 6 pubs that we went to. The dancing was good, the company was good, and a fab time was had all around.
Yesterday, we went to the Anne Frank museum. It was a really incredible experience, but not really what I expected. There was a lot of information, and poignant quotes from Anne’s diary were posted about the walls in the house next door, which was turned into a sort of museum. Once you entered the Secret Annexe through a bookcase in the wall, it was just empty rooms with a bit of information on some of the walls. It was eerie, walking around the empty rooms and knowing what happened inside of those walls. Anne’s room was furnished with pictures from old magazines, which had been smuggled into the Secret Annexe to help the girls stay sane during their two years of hiding.
Anne Frank is a huge reason why I do what I do. Having read her diary in the fifth grade, I felt a connection with her and her everyday struggles. It was soon after reading her diary that Harwich started a STAND chapter and I decided to join. It was her I chose when Theatre Lila ran a women’s workshop and we had to choose a woman who we related to to work with over the course of the workshop. For all intents and purposes, I was Anne. It was… incredibly humbling to walk through the rooms that this young, intelligent, and amazingly insightful young woman lived in.
I went to the Van Gogh Museum, which was incredible. His paintings are honestly beyond words. The paint strokes and emotion they portray, and the way they relate to the canvas are unbelievable. Some strokes are short, and others tower over the former. Esther and I had some incredible conversations about the paintings. It’s so different seeing them in person than seeing copies of them. The three-dimensionality is the best part. You can see the way the strokes were formed, and therefore see into the artist’s mind as they were painting. And how artists see things in ways others don’t. How when you and I both look out to the ocean holding hands we see it differently based on our personality, preferences, and mood.
Then, Kathy and I went out to meet Nina’s friend Grace at this place called Beer Temple. She is the vice-chair of Democrats Abroad. The members were having a social hour at this place, which was a really cool place. It’s a bit of a melting pot for those who have immigrated to the Netherlands. A place to gather and explore their interests with one another, as people who can all speak English in some way, but are living in Amsterdam.
We made friends with the bartender, and got excellent tips for bars, clubs, and coffeeshops that we just had to visit. There were two men we met—I think they were dating, but we weren’t sure—who gave us a thousand places to go, and told us to call them when we were back in town at the end of the night, because they wanted to chill with us. So when Erin and I are back in town, we’ll shoot them a line and see what there is to see!
Claire also offered us her pull out bed, which is hugely nice. So I’m going to email her and see if we can stay with her the weekend of the 21st. It’d be so nice not to have to pay 22 euro per night to stay at the hostel. Not only would we not be sharing a room with four strangers, but we’d be staying with someone local, learning more about the culture of the country, and be in an actual neighborhood, rather than the hub of the city.
So that was excellent! And then Kathy and I headed out late, but missed dinner and had to pick other people’s scraps. From there, we headed to this coffeeshop that they lady from Bagels & Beans recommended, called The Dolphin and had an excellent time. It was really chill, although the woman serving had to ask us to be quiet a couple of times. It’s odd that in coffeeshops, the music is similar to that at clubs, considering their different audiences. Although here, it doesn’t seem as if there’s much difference between and coffeeshop and a bar person, although perhaps that’s because drinking has a different aim in Europe than it does in the US.
We wandered to another coffeeshop after that, and then people seemed to want to go to a club. Sam and I didn’t really want to go to a club, so we hung out at a bar with Noor and her friend who lives in Amsterdam. The guys who were with Noor kept buying us rounds of shots, but I didn’t want to join in, so a few of us left and went back to the hostel, while others went clubbing. I was glad to get some sleep, especially as my feet and legs had been literally killing me all day.
After the fact,
Mac
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