But definately gezellig.
Its a dutch term that generally means cosy, chilled out, the tolerant do-whatever-you-like-as-long-as-you-dont-bother-anyone-its-ok attitude.
Its pretty hard to define, just like the whole trip.
I love Amsterdam. It's clean, pretty and they still allow smoking indoors. Cyclist rule the streets (but look elegant doing it). People are friendly and they speak English. Its fairly inexpensive and did i mention- real pretty?
I had a terrible run in with ganja- i had underestimated the strength of the marijuana and taken too many deep drags off our shared joint (as no one else was keen to smoke it). Almost instantly i slumped forward, focusing all my strength to not fall off my bar stool. I close my eyes as i feel a tingle move up my legs and spread around my body. A bit later, my stomach spasmed and i ran to the toilet to throw up the entire content of my stomach. I kneeled in front of the toilet bowl and my stomach kept on spasming- i felt every contraction like a sickening wave moving from abdomen to throat. It hurt, i imagined i was going to die. Any movement i made cause my stomach to contract, and i would lose more of my dinner. Between thoughts of the cost of going to hospital in amsterdam and dying in a most awkward manner (in the toilet of an amsterdam coffeeshop) i was fascinated by my regurgigated dinner. Stoned and sick- i was properly fucked. I didnt realize it, but i was in there for more than an hour. My friends dragged me out as the place closed and i managed to walk half way to the hostel on my own before i started swaying. Another friend was freaking out as well, but i was sufficiently out of it to not give a fucking damn. We got back and i crashed in bed, awake but very very stoned. One of our girls got freaked out and started crying uncontrollably and had to be comforted for a while. I was cold, and one of the guys (who still had his wits about him) gave me his blankie to keep me warm.
I woke up feeling great, just smelling a little like piss and vomit. I was already in the shower when the guy from the hostel reception announced that they had a burst pipe and there wasnt gonna be any hot water. I couldnt care- i just wanted to be clean. After my refreshing shower and a hearty hostel breakkie i was ready to face sight-seeing and the stress that comes with travelling with 6 other people.
In the end the group split up- four of us going for a "free" tour which was 3 hours but worth it as it gave us a feel for the city, and all for a decent tip for our guide. Later we went to visit the Anne Frank Haus which wasn't as depressing as i expected it to be.
We had dinner and then toured the red light district. The girls stood in little rooms with 'display windows'- they stand, dance or just sit there, waiting for some guy to open the door, ask for a quote and go in. When that happens a red curtain gets pulled across the window and stuff gets done inside. The girls come in all shapes and colors- some are pretty attractive, some just plain scary. I wonder why they arent any boys around in display windows.......But the streets and alleys were full of men all checking out the women....A little creepy....
Later that evening we ended up on a pile of cushion at a corner of the bar, four of us cuddled together as we talked and laughed loudly about everything. We were under the influence of an entirely different substance (no, not alcohol) and we were tripping happily. Later I slept well, with some vivid imagery when i closed my eyes before falling asleep.
We overslept the next day. We rented bikes later and cycled about- through the park and round town. I had to carry a friend on the back of my bike- he wasnt too heavy, but still, it was tough to get moving cos the bike was a wee bit too high for me but once i got the hang of it I was speeding through the city like the demon cyclist I am. It was a little wierd in the beginning, carrying a guy on the back of the bike, but i'd rather cycle (i did try sitting on the back- we looked even wierder- little guy cycling like mad to carry a fat girl on the back). We visited the Van Gogh museum- they had the potato eaters and a version of the sunflowers.....It was a gallery that told some history as well, so it was nice to know a bit more about Vincent.
That last evening started off badly- we lost our corner in the bar to some other stoners. The rest of our group who missed out the day before joined us on our trip, but somehow it just wasn't right. We pissed off a poor lady who was trying to sleep in our dorm with our constant laughter. We left her to sleep in peace and headed out to the bar. Much later, we regained our little corner when some people left to sleep. We stayed there till 6 am- the guys had brought blankies and the bar staff put on some chill out music and dimmed the lights. The all just laid there- blissed out and loving the company. We only went to bed cos they needed to clean the area but managed to sleep only a few hours.
We woke up in time for breakfast, and cycled up into town to have the best chips in amsterdam. And by golly, were they good! The chips were cooked fresh, crispy and light......served with any sauce you'd like. They even had some of their own imaginative, yummy mixed sauces.....damn it's good. Later we returned the bikes and rented a canal bike- its one of those boats that you paddle along with your feet. It was a real thigh work-out: good thing we took turns, it was exhausting. After that we had pancakes.....and that caused us to be a little late and we had to rush to the train station to catch our train to the airport.
We had a friend buy tickets and ran to get on a train. That's when fate decide us fuck us over. Our train was delayed by 40 minutes. We missed one train on the opposite platform that left about 20 minutes after our train decided not to move because there was no annoucement, in Dutch or otherwise. We were left not knowing anything for 30 minutes and found out that the train we were on wasnt going anywhere. We had to run to another platform and jumped on another train. We were severely late and the moment we reached the airport we sent one of our guys with all our pasports to sprint to the check-in desk. He got there just in time. We ran after him, and the guy at the desk was going through all the motions. Just as he tries to print our boarding passes, the computer beeps and he says shit. He made a phone call that made me cry, curse a woman with a most painful death, and wished that a plane crashed. The bitch on the other line wouldnt let us on the plane. Even though we took so long to check in cos the guy at the desk was taking his time writing our details down. My friend ran and was there in time. I was blind with anger, frustration. I cried because we tried so hard and almost got it. Almost don't count though, does it?
In the end we managed to get another flight for a small fee. It wasnt a ridiculous amount, about the cost of a night out. I calmed down after awhile, everyone was cool about it. My therapy was to buy a ridiculous amount of Droste Chocolate and Siroop waffles. In retrospect though, the trip was worth the drama in the end. We still cant stop talking about the autobahn and apples.....and the phrase "you know the story, or not?" can still make us laugh hysterically.
Gezelling, most definately gezelling.
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