Tag Archives: Amsterdam

BeNeLux

Our trip to The Netherlands via Luxembourg… part 10

So today is my birthday… We started off with breakfast at the hotel and being stared down by some grumpy looking guy.  I declared him an asshole. Then we walked through an antique market and came back to the hotel, where I changed shoes and put on sandals and socks because we decided to go to Amsterdam and I knew my feet would kill me in my warmer clogs.

We walked to the main square in Haarlem and wandered around.  I was able to take some nice photos before we went into the cathedral.  It was five euros for both of us to go in, but it was well worth the cost because a choir was rehearsing.  Their singing was beautiful and the acoustics were amazing.  I got all teary as I heard it… I wanted to join in, but I also really just wanted to listen.  It was very moving.

Yes, this is an ad for an opera about the Costa Concordia…  

And there are sex shops in Haarlem too.

And cool old bikes.

Then we walked to the train station.  Haarlem is just two stops from Amsterdam.  It takes maybe fifteen minutes to get there.  Once you do, wow… Amsterdam is huge, busy, and obnoxious with people!  There were literally throngs of people pouring out of the train station.

Bill and I found our way deeper into the city and were soon confronted by lots of sex shops, coffeeshops, and prostitutes.  Amsterdam is definitely a city where a person can sin freely.  We soon ran into a group of men, one of whom was wearing a pacifier around his neck.  He was obviously drunk and waiting for his companion to finish peeing at one of the pissoirs in the city.  After we passed them, we ran across a sex shop with a replica of a woman’s butt made out of rubber.  Next to it were huge fake boobs and a couple of male versions of fake genitals.  There were plenty of didos, harness gags, and leather outfits offered, too.  I saw many bored looking hos.

We walked around for awhile and when we got hungry, stopped by a little hole in the wall restaurant.  The guy cooking and waiting tables was wearing a chef’s outfit and appeared to know what he was doing.  Bill had piri piri chicken and I had another cheeseburger.  The Dutch seem to season their meat differently than we do.  The burger tasted a little like sausage.  It wasn’t bad, but I kind of missed American burgers.

I thought about having some cheesecake, but decided I just wanted to move on…  Parts of Amsterdam are truly pretty, but it was just too busy and noisy for my liking.  We got back on the train to Haarlem and I discovered that there is free WiFi offered, which is really awesome.

On the way back to the hotel, Bill and I stopped into the coffeeshop and picked up a space cake.  I ate it about an hour ago.  It’s my first experience with marijuana ever.  I’m still waiting for it to kick in…  Maybe I will blog once it does.

Yeah… Blogging is essential.

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anecdotes

Too bad I’m camera shy…

Props to my casual Facebook acquaintance, Nathan, who introduced me to the video below…

Watch this woman try to drink Belgian beer…

I don’t actually know Nathan personally, but having interacted with him on Facebook, I realize he’s snarky…  kind of like me.  He posted this video to make a point about how some people use Internet search engines and fail.  While I got Nathan’s point, I saw something else in the video.  You see, I love beer very much.  I am especially fond of Belgian beers.  When I see someone who clearly knows nothing about Belgian beer trying to drink it when they don’t even know how to use a bottle opener, I get frustrated.  Initially, intense frustration is what I was feeling when I watched this.  But then the woman tasted the beer and made some rather hilarious facial expressions that made me laugh.  It made me want to know more about her.

I went to the woman’s YouTube channel to see if she had other videos.  Indeed, she does!  The user’s name is heyannalise, aka Annalise Hill.

Here she is talking about Brussels, one of my favorite cities…  I love Belgium! 

 

What strikes me most about this YouTuber is that she seems very comfortable on camera.  I, on the other hand, hate being on camera.  I get very nervous and flustered when I’m on film, start to stammer, and then when I watch the film, I get all embarrassed.  That’s why when I make YouTube videos, I just use pictures of pretty places or videos of the weather or my dogs…

Any city with this as its mascot is alright with me…

 

And look!  Potty parity with Jeanneke Pis, a female version…  She’s located right outside the Delirium Cafe, which is probably why she’s behind bars.  Imagine what might happen as drunken revelers pass her as she’s pissing…

Here’s a picture of Bill enjoying Belgian beer properly…  I included him in this post because it apparently makes Nathan happy.

 

Annalise’s next video is about her day trip to Amsterdam… I haven’t actually been to the city of Amsterdam yet, but it’s currently an entry in my champagne bucket.

I feel like Annalise is sitting here chatting with me.  Her male friend seems pretty game, too.

 

I kind of like these travel blog videos.  I like Annalise’s jaunty background music, which sounds like it came from a CD full of generic music used for commercials.  I like the way a lot of her statements have the cadence of a question.  She’s goofy and quirky and makes me laugh.  She has a unique fashion sense, too.  Check out her cute little thrift store frocks.

On the other hand, I notice that Annalise’s videos get a lot of thumbs down.  I know the first one I watch might have merited some down votes simply due to the fact that she can’t freakin’ open a bottle of beer by herself.  And never mind that she can’t open beer… she’s trying a Belgian beer.  And she has chosen one that is definitely not for beginners.  Of course, every beer lover has to open a bottle of beer for the first time.  There’s a first time for everything!  Maybe her tastebuds will evolve.  Or maybe she won’t ever like beer and there will be more left for me.  Anyway, I thought her struggles with the bottle openers were kind of endearing, though others may disagree.

I’d be afraid to try video blogging myself because I think I have a face and body for radio.  Kudos to Annalise for putting herself out there and not being afraid to be goofy and human.  Maybe someday I’ll work up the nerve to do a video actually showing myself on camera.  But I have a feeling I would be more inclined to visit a textile free sauna before I tried that…  For now, I have subscribed to Annalise’s YouTube channel.  We’ll see what other cute videos she posts.  I hope she makes some money to fund her next trip.

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