Amsterdam: The City of Trash?

My first thought when we stepped out of the train station into Amsterdam was "Wow! This city is disgusting!" There was trash everywhere. Piles and piles just lying on the street and people walking through it like it was normal. I knew the people of Amsterdam were laid back and had a "do what you want" kind of attitude but this was ridiculous. Little did I know that the sanitation employees were on strike and Queen's Day celebrations had happened only a week before. It was kind of like Mardi Gras without a clean up crew. That was pretty bad timing for us. Lori and I waded through the trash in hopes of finding our hostel. We hopped on a tram and prayed we were going in the right direction (Dutch isn't an easy language to understand and the tram driver was more interested in chatting about women than helping two desperate tourist).

Walking from our tram to our hostel was yet another defeating attempt for the directionally challenged backpackers. Lori stopped to ask for directions and we were yet again close enough to spit on our destination. Embarrassing. My initial reaction to the "Flying Pig" hostel was that we were not going to get any sleep. We checked in at the reception desk which is also the bar. Yes there was a bar in our hostel. Welcome to Amsterdam. The lounge was crowded with people from every corner of the world. Most were drunk or high or partaking in substances not exactly legal in the States. Oh no! What have we gotten ourselves into? We headed up to our room which was shared by 12 other people and smelled like sweaty boy. I don't know why guys that travel think it is unnecessary to shower. Hello. You smell like butt. Of course I don't blame them for not wanting to brave the terrifying, one stall, broken shower head provided by our hostel. Anyway, Lori and I had to sleep together in a "queen" sized bunk and it turned out to be the worst nights sleep of my life. Not only was it uncomfortable and freezing, but there was also an Australian girl snoring as loud as a train.

We woke up exhausted and headed into the city anyway. It was no surprise that there were no magic trash fairies who cleaned up the street during the night. It was just as gruesome in the morning. But we trekked on to the Rijks Museum where they practically worship Rembrandt and then meandered through the Van Gogh Museum were we studied the works of an amazingly demented artist. It seems to me that most artists were tortured and insane. Van Gogh cut his own ear off and then shot himself. He didn't become famous until after his death and therefore could not enjoy it. No wonder he committed suicide. Depressing yet brilliant.

We stopped for lunch at a little cafe. Dutch food is a lot like American. Eclectic and from other countries. It was hard to find authentic Dutch cuisine. So we settled for some tasty sandwiches. After lunch, we decided to enjoy a canal tour. We traveled the city by boat and were amazed by the number of bicycles and house boats. Apparently, if you live in the Netherlands and you don't have a bike, you are an oddity. The streets were full of brave people fighting off taxis and trams to make the country more eco-friendly. The house boats were another strange sight. They lined every canal in the city. Some were nice while others were falling apart. They fit into the Amsterdam mentality. Relax and have a good time.

Once we were back on land, Lori and I made our way to the Anne Frank Museum. It's amazing to me that such a young girl could write such a powerful diary. Walking through the rooms in which the Franks hid from the Germans; you feel a sense of fear and despair for the family that was seperated by the illogical hate of a population.

After we left the museum, we headed to the central station where we met our Dutch friends Kirsten and Sten. Lori met Kirsten while she was backpacking through Asia and I met Sten while volunteering at an orphanage in Malawi, Africa. So we met our old friends at the Starbucks (Yes. They are everywhere) and then headed to dinner. Lori and I thought it would be a nice change of pace walking around a foreign country with locals who knew where they were going. But alas! Neither Kirsten nor Sten are from Amsterdam but rather small towns outside the city. So once again we were stopping to ask for directions. At least this time we had people with us who spoke Dutch. We found ourselves at a small Mexican restaurant talking about travel, religion and popular music. Then we headed to a local pub for an after dinner drink. Kirsten and Sten walked us to our hostel and we said goodbye not knowing if we would meet again.

Now I'm sitting on the train to Berlin. We left Amsterdam at 6:57 this morning. It is a long 7 hour ride, but it is almost over. I'm staring at the woman across the aisle; envying her the sandwich she is eating and wondering what Berlin has in store for two American backpackers. The Germans get a bad rap for the whole world war thing. No idea why. Hopefully they have gotten friendlier over the years. For some reason I feel like I am leaving recess (Amsterdam) and headed to the principal's office (Berlin). Who knows what will happen. All I know is that I have a Lady Gaga ticket in my notebook and it is going to be a really fun night!

- Caitlin

P.S. We made it to Berlin! We also may have added Switzerland and the Czech Republic to the itinerary!