I just flew in from Amsterdam and boy are my arms tired… No? Nothing? After eight days in what might be my favorite city in the world, I feel refreshed, rejuvenated and relaxed. I’ve been there a few times before, but this trip definitely tops the list. We got an apartment this time, which proved to be an enormous improvement over a hotel/hostel in terms of comfort level. It was right across from Centraal Station in a prime location and cheaper too. I don’t know why we didn’t consider it before; it takes a little more work to book, but it’s clearly worth it.
This trip was a chance to unwind from the six weeks of editing FBTR: Episode Two. For me, that mostly means relaxing and playing cards over a good drink in a nice bar. Amsterdam seems to be a city invented for just that — I mean it also has like, historical value and stuff. Every day we’d trek out into the city to find a new place to rest our feet and fill our stomachs while admiring the scenery along the way. Some of my favorites were The Cow, Gollem, DeZotte and Barney’s Uptown. We also made the occasional stop at these establishments labeled “coffeeshop”, only what they were selling didn’t smell like coffee. I don’t drink coffee anyway, so I didn’t really mind. For what it’s worth, after a pretty decent sample size, my favorite is still Amnesia. We visited your standard, but impressive nonetheless, tourist destinations like the Rembrandt exhibit at the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, the Anne Frank House and the Amsterdam Historic Museum. We also visited a few not so standard ones like the Church in the Attic and Marken, an old fishing village about forty minutes outside of the city.
New Years Eve was wild. Around 10:30pm or so we hit the streets which were absolutely packed with people, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy, and the whole atmosphere felt very laid back. We mostly hung out around the Nieuwmarkt, where they performed one of the most intense fireworks displays I’ve ever seen. It was so intense because they were launching them right there in the square. I don’t even know if it was an organization or what, as there were many “amateur fireworks artists” performing amazing feats of explosive brilliance all throughout the city that night. None were impressive as this though. It was like a 45 minute climax.
And that’s it. All and all, a great vacation. I’m ready to return to Episode Two with a fresh set of eyes.