Amster Damn | Day 30

Needless to say I slept in today haha. All of that fun from last night caught up with me and needed some extra rest. I woke up about noon and was hungry. Luckily enough they had left plenty of water in the room so demolished a few bottles off water and attempted to rally. It would have been really easy just to stick it out in bed but I didn’t take many photos yesterday so today was the day to go out and see the actual city. When I did my research on what to see not to much popped up, or at least not to much that was “new.” You can only see so many churches before you get the vibe. Instead of having a clear direction I figured I would just wander the canals and see what I saw. The rally part took a bit longer than it should have but finally got myself together and headed out the door.

I dropped my key off at the front desk and made my way to the main street just around the corner. I was hungry and didn’t want to just wander aimlessly looking for a place to eat when there was probably something right here that was sufficient. I looked at the spot that was jumping yesterday but there weren’t nearly as many people and the menu looking marginal. Across the street I did see that they offered a hot chicken sandwich and that sounded pretty tasty. I sat at one of the outside tables and the waitress came over it ask if I knew what I wanted. Always a rush lol. I said I would do a sparking water and a coke to start and then when you return I will order. She came back rather quickly haha. I said I would have the hot chicken sandwich. Her reply, “hot chicken sandwich? Whats that?” I then showed her on the menu and then she magically got it saying, “oh yes.” Some other folks and come and sat as well filling up the outside dining. The chicken sandwich came and I have to say it was a bit different than I anticipated. It was small cube like shape chunks of chicken with a “spicy” sauce and a mustard of some kind. The bed was like a baguette and it was pretty messy. The bread being a bit on the hard side made the chicken spurt out with every bite. As I ate half of it I finally busted out the fork and just ate the chicken. It certainly wasn’t bad, just was different than I had anticipated. I finished up my lunch, paid, and then set out on foot to see what there was to see.

I wandered the canals for a solid hour and a half and took photos of a ton of bikes. Bikes have been a huge thing so far on this trip and so I am shooting all the different ones to compile in to a small portfolio. In Amsterdam they have just over 2 million bikes. Every year about 6,000 end up in one of the various canals. They say the wind during storms is the leading culprit but I gather it is drunken idiots. Once you leave the downtown type area the population thins and you do get that tranquil atmosphere which is really pleasant. My mom had chimed in with a canal boat tour recommendation and it looked cool so I went ahead and booked myself a slot on it. My head was pounding still from the fun of last night and the boat tour was an all you can eat cheese and alcohol tour. Sometimes all you need to get back to normal is a beer haha. It was about a mile and a half walk from where I was to the dock. Continually along the way there was cool stuff to shoot and so my brisk walk sometimes came to a crawl. The dock for the tour was located next to the train station. I walked across the bridge and found a boat that appeared to be the one in the photo. I walked on board and a older gentleman and a lady were standing there and they looked at me with some question. I inquired if this was the spot for the cheese and beer canal tour. The man said, “nope certainly not. I think you are looking for the boats across the canal.” I then gathered this was his own private boat. I looked across the canal to see a tour group area filled with people and multiple boats. I apologized for the intrusion and disembarked his boat. I swiftly made my way across the canal as the tour started in 5 minutes. The nice young lady checked my ticket, gave me a wristband, and sent me toward the boat. At first I thought there was only myself and one other couple but by the end there was 12 of us. The boat was a long gondola type boat that was electric power. Amsterdam is requiring all boats to be electric by Jan 1, 2025. There was bench seating on either side and in the middle was a long table that had cheese platters on it. Im not a cheese person, but I am a beer person haha. Our guide and captain were on the younger side but incredibly nice. They had Dutch names and I won’t make an attempt and butcher them. The tour lasted an hour or so and we got an overview of the city and saw cool sights along the way. We learned that Amsterdam was a place built on the spice trade, the larger your home was the more you got taxed so homes were built skinny and tall, and all homes had a hook on the top so spices and personal belongings could be hoisted up to the upper levels. The canal system is completely man made and there are a few homes connected together that are the most crooked in the city. Originally they used poles to anchor to the soft ground but they quickly found that will the shifting ground those poles weren’t long enough. The extended them for new construction but those few homes remain from the early length poles. A funny fact we learned is that car insurance companies won’t cover cars that fall in to the canals. However, and someone has done it, wait on your car and someone comes to rescue then it is deemed a rescue attempt and that is covered on your policy. It was nice cruising on the canal and the weather was nice which was even better. Apparently Amsterdam doesn’t get to many sunny days a year and this happened to be one of them. I think everyone wished the cruise was a bit longer but it was worth the money. We returned to the dock and said our goodbyes. There was a decision to be made about what to do next. It was 5:15 and there was still a solid amount of time before it got dark. There was one thing I hadn’t done yet and that was hit a coffee shop. I did some google research and found a place that looked cool.

The cafe was in the direction of the Red Light District and was about a 20 minute walk. When I arrived the place didn’t really vibe with what I had anticipated. Yesterday when I was walking they seemed like a dime a dozen so I decided to keep walking. I hit Google and one of the top rated ones was on the other side of town but decided to make the walk. That was about a 30 minute walk and when I got there I found a much different space than what I anticipated. This was becoming a theme haha. This was a hole in the wall type place with stickers covering the entire entrance and windows. They had about 5 tables inside and all were filled. To clarify, coffee shops are spaces where you can smoke pot. This place seemed like a spot where 15 year olds go after school. I had in mind a nicer place where you could sit on the terrace or inside and catch a game. Seeing as I struck out twice I abandoned looking on the internet. I headed back toward the Red Light District as they had the most amount a pubs and coffee shops. One that kept popping up everywhere was called The Bulldog. They had 3 different spots on the same block. That looked like the best option. I passed the first one and headed in to the 2nd. It was a regular pub with the football matches on. The mystique of these coffee shops is a bit of a fairy tale. The best way to describe it is it is the same as when people were able to smoke cigarettes inside. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer. I asked the bartender do we just buy joints from the machine? He said, “no you have to go to the other Bulldog and they sell everything downstairs.” I thanked him for the 411 and drank my beer. The football match had reached half time and was a good time to go check that out. I paid the tab and walked back to the first Bulldog. That one had me chuckling. There were 20 something year olds sitting on the bench seat table one rolling joints and the others playing online poker. There was another dude on the next table and he just looked at me as I walked by saying nothing. The dispensary part was down these really narrow spiral stairs. When I hit the bottom there was about 10 people either at tables or waiting in line. They had monitors that showed all the different things they offered. They had them broken out in to columns based on type and price. I’m not a smoker so all is pretty foreign to me so I had to do a quick bit of Google research before I looked like an idiot. I decided to go with one called Grapefruit Superstar. I returned to the Bulldog Mack where the barstool I was on was still available. They sold lighters for 2 Euros out of the machine and I ordered a beer. It is kind of funny because stereotypically pot is looked down on. It is becoming more widespread acceptable in the states but not to this level. I think it is really true that if you don’t make something a big deal then it isn’t. This is that to a T. In the states pot has been illegal forever and only recently is it becoming more accepted and legal. Kids particularly want to smoke pot because its taboo and off limits so it takes on a whole big meaning. Over here though it is so common that when you smoke a joint in a bar you don’t feel like anything is out of place. Likewise not sure that experience is going to turn me in to a regular smoker haha. I had another beer and slowly smoked the Grapefruit Superstar and watched the game. I wasn’t invested in the game particularly so was just a casual watcher. When the J, and beer, were gone was time to make a decision. Was still about 2 hours before dark so decided to race back to the hotel and drop my stuff than tour the town again.

Got to my room and took a quick shower, changed, and headed back out. A buddy chimed in asking about the coffee shops naturally. I told him all about it and the kind that I had gotten. He said I had to try the other type which is more relaxing that the one I had had earlier. Another beer sounded alright and The Bulldog was cool and had a good vibe so on the way swung through another one of the shops and chose a smaller J of the other kind. When I got to The Bull dog the crowd was going strong and a new match had started. It was a bit of a bummer because the Netherlands was playing tomorrow night against France but I will have headed to Brussels by then. I enjoyed my beer and other J. I swore I wouldn’t make the same food mistake as last night but here we were haha. It was a bit late and places were closed. The Bulldog didn’t serve food either so dinner was out. I finished my beer and then took a stroll around the town and Red Light District one final time people watching. It is extremely entertaining to see all of the people, their faces, and hear their conversations. A lot of American people were there as well but maybe they were easier to spot so I bumped in to them more often. I had all the fun and walking around I could stand for a day and decided to head back to the hotel. I had an earlier train in the morning so wasn’t going to make it anywhere near as long of a night as last night. The walk home was easy and when I walked in the door I gotta say I was glad to be there. I quickly laid down and fell asleep. Heading off to Brussels tomorrow for a chocolate and beer tour!