No, we haven't smoked too many spliffs in Amsterdam... Fuddly thought we needed to make the blog more exciting, so that one's for you buddy.
Now for the rest of the boring bits (you can go back to bed now Fudd)
Thursday July 2
We flew into Amsterdam and there had been a fire at the train station so we had to get a bus from the airport. We drove past the Amsterdam Arena where Sensation was to be held the following night. It looked much the same as the MCG on the outside. We got to the end of the bus line and got a train the rest of the way into Amsterdam Centraal. From there we paid a whopping 2.80 Euro ($5.60 Au) for a metro train ticket to go one stop. As we only had directions to our hostel on the train and we had no tourist map we had to cough up for it even though we probably could have walked. Not only was it expensive but Steve had to line up for ages to get it. We got off the train and started looking for a hostel. We stopped to look for the hostel and looked at the piece of paper the directions were written on and a stranger asked us if we needed help. We told him where we were going and he showed us. So far, Dutch people were nice it seemed.
We checked into the hostel. It was in an amazing location. Amsterdam central is full of canals and one way streets on each side of the canals. It is very bicycle friendly, not so car friendly and so there were bikes everywhere. The buildings are very pretty too, so I instantly warmed to Amsterdam. Unlike Berlin which took me a few days, Amsterdam made an immediate impact. I knew I was going to love this place.
Our hostel was the first Hostel International hostels we have used (we bought membership before we left Australia) and just this 3 day stay saved us enough that the membership was paid for. At 27 Euros a night this was the most expensive hostel we stayed in. It was the only hostel we actually booked well in advance, as Sensation was on we knew hostels would be in short supply. Shelley, Rosie and Luke booked late and couldn’t find anything less than 45 Euros each. (If you haven’t worked it out yet, double the amount to get Aussie Dollars). The hostel was a big generic hostel much like any we’ve stayed in in Western Europe. Eastern European hostels are so much better.
We had told Shelley to meet us at our hostel at 8pm (allowing 2 hours to get there from the airport) but due to the fire we were there around 9 and they had left us a note with their phone number. We called them and met up with them. Carol & Amber were in tow, some Melbourne girls living in Canberra who we had met at gig in Canberra last year (or the year before? I really can’t remember) so it was nice to see them again. We said our hellos and then parted ways with Carol & Amber to head off for a feed.
We were expecting Amsterdam to be expensive because the hostels were so expensive and boy were we right. Dinner and drinks was uber expensive and we knew we’d really struggle to keep under a hundred Euros a day for our stay. We headed to the local coffee shop for some cake. I only had a third of a piece due to the wheat content, Shelley and Rosie shared a piece and Luke had a piece to himself. We wandered around Amsterdam and looked at girls in the red light district, smelled copious amounts of weed being smoked and took in the busy Amsterdam street life. There were basically shop fronts with hookers in the windows, the most attractive ones were in the main strip and the side streets all had every size shape and colour imaginable. There were lots of places with sex shows, we all wanted to go to one but we didn't spend long enough there so we missed out. The atmosphere was positively electric. I decided yes, I really like Amsterdam.
We didn’t really go anything except wander around and take it all in, and we had Sensation on the following night (well it was tonight by the time we parted ways @ 2am) so we headed back to our hostels and crashed.
Friday July 3
Luke and Steve headed out curiously to check out the smart shops and Shelley, Rosie and I hired bikes and cruised around the city for the afternoon. It only cost us 9.50 Euros to hire a bike for 24 hours – cheaper than anywhere even in Eastern Europe. This would turn out to be the only cheap thing in Holland. We went to see Anne Frank’s house but upon arrival we saw a huge line and an 8.50 Euro cover charge, so we bailed on that idea. There was a huge line for the wax museum too – the only time in our travels that I have seen a line for a tourist attraction. No wonder Amsterdam’s expensive – because it can be! We decided to do a spot of shopping and OMG I could spend so much money there. In fact by the time we all met up again, Steve and I had blown 150 Euros on shopping and lunch for the day! Ouch. Steve had bought a bottle of Agwa for our pre-Sensation drinks, which is one of our favourite drinks back home. We pay $60 Au-ish for it at home, and it was a massive 48 Euros here (yes double that for Aussie). AND it’s made in Amsterdam. How the fuck does that work????
We headed back to our hostels to get ready for Sensation. After we got dressed Steve and I started our night of party with 5 shots of Agwa in 5 minutes while chatting to people in our hostel room and waiting for Shelley and Rosie to get ready. 10 minutes later we had another shot for good measure and left to get the girls and Luke. Sensation ended up starting earlier than we thought so we missed the open which was a bummer cos Sensation is all about production. We weren’t really there for the music, since Sensation has shifted away from being a trance party in recent years, but the sound and lighting would be something special and it was. The theme was Wicked Wonderland and had an Alice in Wonderland styled theme but with an over riding good vs evil theme, or more naughty and nice and so there were girls wearing kinky stuff vs girls wearing ‘nice’ stuff. Not worth describing really, but pictures tell a thousand words.... Unfortunately Shelley’s camera tells less words that Steve's, but u still get the gist. Steve wasn’t allowed to take his in because it looks like a professional camera.
We left early as Luke felt sick and went on a mission through the streets on Amsterdam at 5 in the morning as we told the cab driver to stop as we’d reached and breached our cash limit for the night. We handed over the last of our cash and after about 1.5 hours found our hostel again.
Saturday July 4
After a nice sleep in we got up and headed out again. I returned the bike and Shelley and Rosie decided to stay and keep cruising around on the bikes as Rosie was leaving to head to the US on Sunday morning. Luke, Steve and I got a train out to the beach to attend a beach party that a friend of mine was playing at. He had arranged 2 free tickets and we were going to split the cost of the last ticket as entry was 30 Euros. We arrived and it was in a beach club venue on a perfect day, not too hot, not too cold just perfect. It was an all trance event with some big names and in particular Luke and I were looking forward to seeing DJ Shah. We saw my friend Misja Helsloot play when we arrived, and after that someone we didn’t know, and then off to see Shah in the second arena. He was on at the same time as Mark Sherry, but we’d all seen him before so we gave him a miss. There were a few other people playing after who we wanted to see but the last train back to Amsterdam was at 11.15 and the event finished at 12 so we had to leave early. DJ Shah’s set was amazing. He played the sunset set and it was perfect. The perfect finish to our one weekend of partying in Amsterdam. He even played my favourite mix of Who Will Find Me, when I usually hear his other remix being played by other people. Even though we had to leave early we felt like it couldn’t have ended more perferctly.
We headed back to Amsterdam and crashed out.
Sunday July 5
We collectively decided that Amsterdam was way too expensive to stay. Steve and I had blown 700 Euros or a whole weeks budget in 3 days. So Shelley tracked down a cabin in the middle of nowhere and we headed out there in a taxi to spend some time out of a major city for once, and enjoy Holland for a fraction on the cost of Amsterdam.
The taxi was 50 Euros, but the buses out there were going to be a massive stuff around, so we just wore it. When we arrived it wasn’t what we were expecting. We thought it had wifi, a shared kitchen etc. But they were just cabins with a gas stove and kettle – nothing else. No kitchen, no net (well they did but it was broken). So we just had the Dutch countryside to enjoy. We didn’t get up to much the first night, the whole camp was full of young German guys in our section and a Newfoundland club in the other section. I had always wondered what those dogs were as I’ve seen one in Melbourne (and I want one!) but never knew what they were. My dad told me a story about a Newfoundland capsizing his friends boat when we were kids so the name has always stuck in my head.
Monday July 6
All we did was relax, attempt to play cards and enjoy smart shop supplies, beer, vodka, metaxa and Bacardi all day and night until 2am. We went out for a walk and checked out these beautiful Dutch cottages and talked to some cows. It started to get dark and with no street lights we were worried about getting lost so we headed back to the cabin.
Steve picks up in Amsterdam
We couldn’t get details of our flight to Budapest due to Malev Airlines being the worst airline in the world so we were waiting for Brian and Julie to call the Australian number at 9am their time. We thought they might be Tuesday they might be Wednesday, as we were going back for EXIT Festival which started on Thursday in Novi Sad, Serbia. Malev did not send us an itinerary, and to call them cost something ridiculous. They sent an invoice with no details, and about 6 different document numbers. We had 20 Euros credit on the phone, and we called and before we could find out we ran out of credit. Fuck me. Like seriously WTF? So we bought a 10 Euro card and ran that out too. So for $60 Au we found out NOTHING. Brian and Julie messaged us to say our flight was at 12, and later we found out the company in Australia is ceasing to deal with the airline too as they are so bad. So anyone travelling to Hungary, avoid Malev Airlines at all costs. Brian and Julie got a lovely large phone bill talking to us also, so we added a fair bit to the cost of our 300 Euro flights.We packed everything we could and crashed out as soon as we found out we only had 10 hours left in Holland.
Tuesday July 7
We got a taxi to the airport for 75 Euros only to find out our flight wasn’t on the board, and when we tried to use the auto check in booth it said it couldn’t find the booking. Steve scanned his passport and nothing. The attendant told us to proceed to the check in counter and hope for the best. We lined up for ages and eventually got served and they had the booking under my first name not my last name, and obviously their booking reference number was a load of shit. The flight was not at 12, but luckily we hadn’t missed it as it was at 12.25. Talk about stressing. We were both glad when that was over! And then we left Amsterdam...
Ruth
PS if there are lots of typos, too bad, I CBF (B&J this is can't be fucked) re-reading my own essays anymore...
No comments:
Post a Comment