IAMsterdam part 1
Using another mode of transportation, the train, we headed off to Amsterdam from Maastricht. We stayed there for a night, and explored the small town known for its sandstone ‘grottos’. The night before we left we stayed in a very hip hotel right across from the train station. Something that was necessary with our track record for being late and missing appointments. Our train was at 10 am the next day, about a 2 hr ride to the central station in Amsterdam. It was a very exciting day because my uncle, Juan, and my 9 year old cousin, Laura, were meeting us at the station. The last time I saw either of them was about 5 years ago in Curacao, so the reunion was well overdue. When we arrived, we saw them through the window and immediately rushed out to say hello. After some hugs and kisses, we headed off to our hotel, The Corner House, to check in (which we didn't know at the time, was very near the Red Light District). In Europe, it is much easier to get a room with 4 people and not 5 so for every hotel we booked one person had to hide, a funny story will come later. But we did have to sneak in every time. whoops.
Canals run through all of Amsterdam
Then we took the train, similar to the subways in larger US cities, to the Vondelpark, where we would meet my other uncle, Frank, my aunt Simone, cousins Daan and Noor. What we didn't know was that my Oma and Opa had ,ridden to Amsterdam with Simone, my aunt. It was a crazy ‘Ontmooting’ or meeting, I even shed some tears I was so happy. So anyways our first day in Amsterdam was mainly going to be for family. We did walk past a couple of major sights, but we didn't pause enough to really take in everything, I mean there is honestly so much to see. The plan was that we would spend one night and then make our way to Paris, but I managed to convince my family that we needed another day in the city.
Together again
After we found Frank in the Vondelpark, we all found a spot to have a nice lunch. The day was very uneventful in terms of seeing the city. We ordered one of the classic dutch snacks ‘bitterballen’ to munch on. Bitterballen are a "Dutch meat-based snack, typically containing a mixture of beef or veal, beef broth, butter, flour for thickening, parsley, salt and pepper, resulting in a thick roux" (sounds interesting, tastes delicious), and of course ‘freit’ or fries with ‘mayonaise’ or mayonnaise. Though recently I have decided to become pescetarian, so I only eat fish, but I know that the bitterballen are very yummy. After sitting and talking for most of the day we made our way to Leidseplein for dinner. In the square they had some street performers who displayed their musical and acrobatic talents. All soo interesting right? Okay I'm going to move onto more amusing events.
So later after we said our goodbyes, we went back to our small corner hotel and got settled in. Our room ended up being on the 4th floor, with no elevator, so that was fun. We decided that we would hit the town, Tatiana would stay of course, but Sascha and Mama and Papa joined me. We all got changed and left to see what the night would bring. We walked down the little streets and allies, and were greeted by the many whiffs of the recreational ‘Mary Jane’ that came from the ‘Coffee shops’ which were about every other shop. And then we were surrounded by a red light….haha, thats when we figured out that we had stumbled into the red light district of Amsterdam. It was actually a very frightening experience, also interesting in a way, to see that people actually do that, and prostitution is actually happening. Very eye opening. We rushed to get out of the allies, and then just about ran to the closest cafe on the river. By that time everyone (except me) was exaughsted so we decided it was time to head back. We snuck into the room so we wouldn't disturb Tati, and passed out.
continued…
