After my half marathon race, Jeni and I decided to check out one of Munich's famous beer halls: Hofbrauhaus. There, we tried wheat beer with lemonade and I had a great post-race meal of goulash! Amazing. We then boarded the night train from Munich to Amsterdam, which took about 9 hours but we sleeped in a couchette throughout the night.
Amsterdam was not nearly as cold as Munich, but certainly soggy. Soggy and mushy. But not cold. We stayed at the Van Gough Hostel which had amazing breakfast for 5 Euro. I loved the Nutella and Cafe Macchiattos! Jeni fell in love with croissants, which apparently she found much more delightful than back home.
Amsterdam is truly a funky, special and fun city...and not for the reasons most people think. Yes, there are plenty of pot-selling coffee shops and a thriving sex industry, but Amsterdam has a vibe that is not like any other place I have been to. The locals are relaxed and helpful and the historical Dutch buildings are spectacular. The city core is made up of very tall, narrow and crooked buildings. Back in the day, buildings were taxed on how wide they were, so people built their homes very tall and narrow. Also, EVERYONE in Amsterdam rides bicycles...bikes have the right-of-way...not cars, not trams, not buses. Bikes. They will run you over. Locals will ding their bells furiously at you until you either move or get creamed! Another kool thing about Amsterdam is that, every year, the city pulls out roughly 20 000 bicycles from all the canals (people love tossing other people's bikes in the canals...favourite pass time of the drunken), and refurbishes them and sells them back to public. Kool, hey?
So, because it seems like all the koool kats were out peddling around, J-Sak and I decided to check out Mike's Bike Shop and joined a country side tour. We toured Amsterdam's bike trails, went to and old windmill (of course) and a cheese farm (of course) mmmMmMmm cheeeeese. Funny story: we had a witty and laid back tour guide, Pete, who is originally from Ottawa but moved to Amsterdam 21 years ago. Many of you know that I have a dark, frecklish/mole spot in the middle of my bottom lip...Pete thought it was a burn mark from smoking a lot of pot. Haha! That one, I have never heard. Pen mark and scab are among the common things people say...but not burn mark. Only in Amsterdam!
After our bike tour, Jeni and I rented bikes for a few hours.
We were told, very sternly, by the bike shop that we were to return our bikes by 6pm. Not 6:01 because they would be closed. The few hours we had the bikes, it poured buckets and we were soaked...but it was fun! Of course, being the way we are, we got lost 20 minutes before our bikes had to be returned. J-Sak and I were racing back to the bike shop as fast as we could go...dodging other cyclists and people...so that we would make it by 5:59. 2 blocks from the bike shop, in an area of Amsterdam equivalent to NY's Times Square, my back tire slid on the cobble stones and I completely bailed. I did a complete 180.The trams and busses and allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the other local pedstrians and cyclists came to halt and watched as the Canadian foreigner sloshed around on the street. I was ok...though my ego was badly damaged. To top things off...a delightful lady yelled at us in Dutch, then in English, about how were WERE NOT supposed to be cycling down this street. Though tons of others were riding down it...we were just like cattle. Following. See, then do.
YEAH, thanks for the update and the smile on my face. You are a great story teller ms. C!
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