Amsterdam Adventure

Description

I took a summer trip to Dubai in the UAE, in part to celebrate my college graduation, in part to help some friends who live there to move homes. On the way, I explored the city of Amsterdam during a 6-hour layover. Here’s what happened on that adventure.

Credits

Once again, almost all music is from the Bakemonogatari OST by MONACA and by the genius Satoru Kosaki. It just fits so well, since it is literally music composed with the intent that it would be over-dubbed with narrative speech. I’ll probably use it for every story time. Music used in this recording, in order of appearance:

• “In Motion+”, by FELT
• “Sanpo”
• “Hourousha”
• “Ouma Ga Toki”
• “Hoyoku”
• “Iiwake”
• “Classmate”

Text Notes

Story time! Let’s talk about my adventures of Day 0 of my post-graduation trip to Dubai.

They say beginnings are always exciting. I’d have to agree. This beginning started at 5pm on Tuesday May 15, when my plane took off from Atlanta bound for Amsterdam. Amsterdam is six hours ahead and an eight hour flight, so I landed in Amsterdam at the local time of 8am. I’m starting to get used to longer flights, so the length wasn’t a problem. But, if you do the math, such a setup basically skips the main part of the night. The time we were in flight, my body thinks it’s 5pm, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, midnight. Just early enough so that I had a hard time catching any kind of sleep. And then, right when my body thinks it’s time to go to bed, bam, we land at 8am in the Netherlands.

I had a six hour layover here before continuing onto Dubai, so I decided to head into the city and explore, an opportunity I had missed the last time I visited while transferring to and from Copenhagen.

After my Copenhagen experience, which I’ve recorded for your listening pleasure on my website, I was determined to do better at navigating my airport exit. And I did! Launched out of the terminal, got my visa stamped at a familiar booth, and went upstairs to the train platforms. I knew what a ticket kiosk was this time and how it worked. I knew how to press the English button to give me English buttons. I knew where I was going, Amsterdam Centraal. I knew I needed a return-trip single-trip ticket. I knew how to interpret the signs above the train platforms. I knew how to hop on the proper blue-and-yellow train.

I even knew how to get off at the right stop, even though there were no signs on the train! …never mind that there were no stops between the airport and Amsterdam Centraal. I got off the train at 8:10am. I had until 11:40, when I needed to head back. 3 and a half hours. Let the adventuring begin!

Amsterdam Centraal is aptly named, for it lies in the very center of the city, within walking distance of most things. For that reason, if you’re planning a day trip, I’d recommend nothing more than a single train ticket to get to Centraal and a pair of legs. You can easily get to the canal tours, the red light district, the scenic Dam square, and the giant library, all of which we’ll talk about.

My first view of the city

As for me, I shot out of the Amsterdam Centraal station, ready to take in the city for the first time. And three things immediately struck me, one negative, one positive, and one neutral. Negatively, everyone looked and smelled like they had been baking a little too long, if you know what I mean. They looked like they’d been cutting the grass, if you know what I’m saying. They smelled like they — look, one of Amsterdam’s “features” is the legalization of that sweet Mary Jane. And as far as my nose was concerned, everyone was participating. By their faces, most people looked like they had been smoked today, smoked before, or really wanted to try. Even if it wasn’t marijuana, there were cigarettes everywhere, more than in Copenhagen.

And that’s the second, positive thing. I experienced a wash of sensations I hadn’t experience since I left Copenhagen. Bikes, everywhere. The smell of quality cigarette smoke. The smell of a European ocean breeze… which you honestly just have to smell yourself and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Hole in the wall stores lining modern and traditional buildings. Preserved nature saved in small chunks around the city: canals, tree groves, pigeons, all slotted between the architecture. Teenagers and college age students just standing around laughing like they aren’t worried about anything in life. And fun fact: they aren’t. Felt good to “be back”.

I love cities that run on bikes

And lastly, the neutral thing. I had to pee. I looked around the busy square with criss-crossing traffic: cars, bikes, pedestrians, and street cars all in surprising disarray. Not many traffic signals or well-painted indicators. Even though it looked like Copehnagen, it honestly felt more like Santo Domingo. Anyway, there were not toilets to be seen, so I retreated back into the train station and found the restrooms. Except, they were blocked! With turnstiles! That only accepted change, in euros! One dollar to use the bathroom! That wasn’t gonna happen, and I didn’t have coins either. Meh, I guess I didn’t have to go that bad. So I decided to hold it and begin my wandering, but I’d keep my eyes peeled for a bathroom. Good plan! HEH HEH

There are water canals running all around the city. I really wanted to do a 1-hour canal tour to see the city, and those were really close to me. However, at 9am on a Wednesday, there were no tourists lined up. In fact, there was no one but the tour guides there, and I was told they wouldn’t shove off till they had seats filled. So I eventually gave up on that idea. Besides, the boats certainly didn’t have toilets and sitting near the water wasn’t helping.

The other thing on my Amsterdam bucket list was to visit the OBA, the self-proclaimed biggest library in central Europe. But they didn’t open till 10am, so I did what I do best. Picked a spot on the GPS, found which direction to walk, turned off the GPS, and started walking. And this time, I shamelessly decided to check out the red light district.

It’s so popular and everyone talks about it. Amsterdam’s red light district. Oooh, so interesting. Having walked it now, I gotta admit. It wasn’t thaaat interesting. At least not at 9:10am. Just a single long strip of street, buildings on both sides separated by a canal and bridges spanning the wet median. Only a few people walking through, one guy walking his dog. Though I’m sure it becomes much more populated in the later hours.

In case you’re not familiar, red light district just means it’s the place for edgy, border-line illegal stuff. Which in this case meant shops of a sexual nature and shops of a green, hazy, druggy nature. I won’t go into any more detail than that, honestly. If you value your holiness, and you should, then obey what that kids song says and be careful little legs where you walk and little eyes what you see. I just don’t think there’s any reason to go. It looks the same as all the other streets; it’s just that the content of what’s being sold is evil. If you want my recommendation, take a pass on Amsterdam’s red light district. There are nicer things to see in this city.

…there was a place called the Bake Shop, selling bake in baked goods, which I thought was pretty funny.

There, you’ve seen the Red Light District. What’s next?

The Bake Shop

Next stop was Dam Square, which is just an open plaza surrounded by pretty buildings. Namely, the Royal Palace, the New Church, and the Bijenkorf department store. It was pretty, I guess. None of them were open for me to step inside. Too early in the morning still. There weren’t even that many people around. Maybe I’m biased or making bad comparisons, but I couldn’t help but think that the historic square in Copenhagen was much nicer. Dam Square did feature a number of plump pigeons that didn’t take anything from nobody. Seriously, I’ve never seen more bold pigeons before. There was also a Starbucks nearby. And my brain running on 3 hours of restless airplane sleep and feeling like it’s 1am, realized that if I go to Starbucks, I can get… a bathroom visit! So I went in there! And confidently walked right past the baristas to the bathroom! And the bathrooms… were locked! Nooooo! Each had a security pad, the password which was given to you on your Starbucks receipt. Well, I wasn’t going to pay for overpriced coffee I didn’t want to drink (I didn’t feel like it, my body said it was 1am, remember). So, I walked right back out, ignoring the confused looks of the baristas. I pretended to fiddle with my phone as I walked past, to make it look like I knew what I was doing. Whatever. I’ll just keep holding it. I was starting to get a little antsy at this point though.

Ok, from here, the library was just over a half mile away and would open in 10 minutes. Perfect. So, I strolled over, passing more totally fashionable and chill, happy students, college-age by the looks of them. I seriously believe that we American college students could learn something from the Scandinavian/Amsterdam-ian attitude… I’ll make a recording about that one day. Anyway, I got there about 4 minutes early, but there was another Starbucks outside. So I went in, and they had the same bathroom situation. I was at the point where I was okay if I was walking, but seriously in danger of doing something I’d regret if I was standing still.

I made a guess that the library would have bathrooms that wouldn’t cost money. But if that turned out to be wrong, I was gonna have to go out and buy something from that Starbucks outside. Just great. There was a small crowd, 15 or so folks, standing at the front entrance of the very tall library. I wanted to stand with them for the four minutes before it opened, but I literally couldn’t stand still, too much pressure. So I walked around the building. Straight up, just walked all the way around. Which, silly as it was, actually allowed me to see some things and think about things, maybe the most important things. I’ll come back to this at the end.

Anyway, the doors were just opening when I got back to the front entrance. And lo and behold, there were the bathrooms just to the left of the entrance. And there weren’t even any doors blocking my path to the urinals. At the time, it seemed like the bathrooms were just beckoning me to enter, but looking back, it was pretty strange that the bathrooms didn’t have doors. You could just stand in the hallway and look in to either bathroom and see the men’s urinals and the women’s sinks.

Anyway, two missions accomplished. Found the library and found a bathroom. I was relieved.

This was a tall library. Not very wide, but seven stories tall. Six of them had books and the seventh was a cafe. Most of the books were in Dutch, so I didn’t have much of a chance (or a reason) to look through them. It was a nice environment though. There was lots of open desk space, and most of the bookshelves were illuminated with lights running vertically along the shelves. It was like an IKEA that you were supposed to stay at and study or read in.

Truly a tall library

I still had over an hour before I needed to return to the train station and the airport, and I didn’t have anything else I particularly wanted to see (or smell) in Amsterdam. So, I grabbed a desk at the sixth floor and typed this script. You can see a meta picture of me writing it on my website. It’s now 11:03am, so I’ll maybe find a place to grab a quick bite to eat and then head back to the airport.

Here is me, breaking meta to tell you in second person to look at this meta picture as referenced in a meta-sense in the audio.

That was my Amsterdam adventure! Who would have known that trying to find a bathroom would be the most exciting part of adventuring through this city. Having explored Berlin in a similar fashion with my buddy Nikolaj from Copenhagen, I must say that I am strongly convinced that traveling with someone else is infinitely superior to traveling alone. Dull moments become more interesting, and you both have insights about the things you see that will help the other to enjoy their time more. Definitely grab a friend when you travel if you can.

And, about the thinking I did while desperately circling the library. While walking, I got to peek into an alley window to see a small office like that of a start-up. There was one fellow inside, well into his 20s, slouching in his chair nibbling on some brunch and browsing his smart phone. And it washed over me in that moment, as it so often does, that even though I was adventuring here, other people live here, and work here, and do daily life here, and all probably without knowing the God that I so desperately want to see glorified and delighted in. These people grow up here and have jobs here. They pack their lunch and go back to their families. They have hobbies. They know where the free bathrooms are. Honestly, I love when I have opportunities to step back and be reminded Seeing people candidly, like the guy in the office or the two men talking about sailboats outside one of the Starbucks, or the students sitting around me in this library, studying for final exams. I love it because it reignites my heart to reach out to others. I felt it in Copenhagen too. A bunch of people that I got to know and came to love. Strangers that spoke an unfamiliar language in a familiar sounding way. Growing up in a place radically different from my own, with lives filled with blessings and never accurately knowing or acknowledging the Giver of those blessings. In my desire to see God glorified and cherished in my own life and the lives of others, these are the moments that make me stop and question whether this is what it’s like when people say they feel “called” to the missions field. At the very least, it makes me stop and pray for the people of this city, that Jesus’s light and life would be brought to them and would catch fire and ignite a passion for worship.

Strange to end so abruptly, but I’m glad it’s on what mattered to me at the time. On my website, you can see photos of some of the things I’ve talked about here. I won’t be making one of these for Dubai itself — too much happened and it would take far too long. Come talk to me sometime though, I’d be happy to tell all my stories. Until then, thanks for listening.