Euro Spring Breaking Part 2: Amsterdam...Solo?

Well, before I get into what actually happened, let me tell you how the Amsterdam trip was supposed to happen. I was to arrive in that fair city from Madrid at 9:50 am on Thursday morning, having booked a cheaper flight earlier in the day than everyone else. I had to book a hostel by myself for Thursday night, as the sweet boat hostel we found only allowed bookings in multiples of 2 and there were 3 of us for Thursday night. I didn't see this as too much of a problem, as I figured that it was only one night and that because we'd all go do whatever it is kids do in Amsterdam these days, and then I'd be able to fall asleep no problem in my cheapass hostel bed in a room with 11 strangers. Ryan and his friend were supposed to arrive in Amsterdam from Madrid late Thursday afternoon, and then when our 4th arrived on Friday, we'd all be in the same hostel for Friday and Saturday night. The way it was supposed to work out, I had a few hours Thursday to kill by myself. So once I arrived Thursday morning, after grabbing some food, wandering around for a while (stumbled upon the I Amsterdam sign and a schnazzy little market), and eventually finding my shitty hostel, I decided to take a nap, as I had only gotten a couple hours of sleep on a bench at the airport the night before. When I awoke, I saw I had a couple missed calls from Ryan, and the astute amongst you may have guessed what those calls were in regards to. Yep, everyone else's flights had been canceled because of the goddamn Icelandic volcano, and thus, I would be solo in Amsterdam until at least Saturday morning.

The first day/night were by far the worst, as during the day, myself and my would-be companions tried to figure out what was going on and whether they'd be able to get on another flight. Ryan found out that he could get a flight Saturday morning at the earliest (though that too was eventually canceled), while the other two gave up hope. That night, I went to bed sober and though I was exhausted, I barely got any sleep because shit-faced Europeans kept coming back and being loud at all hours of the night/morning and also because the dude on the bunk below me looked like the French version of Charles Manson. After that restless night, I checked out of that miserable place and headed to the place that everybody was supposed to stay at for Friday and Saturday, but which in reality I was the only one who would get to enjoy it. After convincing the wonderful manager that I should only pay for myself, even though we had booked 3 nights for 2 people and 2 nights for 4 people, I decided I might as well go out and enjoy Amsterdam. I judged it best to forego the coffeeshops for now, as partaking in their goods and then wandering around by myself might have ended with me waking up naked in a field in Belgium or something, so instead I did some nice, wholesome touristy things; went on a free, 3 hour walking tour of the city, which was actually pretty cool and then headed over to the Anne Frank House. Even though it was really crowded, it was actually pretty intense/interesting.

That night, I sat around and drank with some of the other guests in the hostel, which wasn't too bad. Now, mind you, these are the kind of people who stay in on a Friday night in Amsterdam rather than go out, so not the wildest bunch, but it was still rather enjoyable. I also arranged to meet up with a few of em at a coffeshop the next day, which was exciting. So Saturday, after sleeping in nice and late in my comfy single bed (I at least ended up with a single room, which was nice), I hit up the Rijksmuseum, which has some neat Vermeer's and Rembrandts' (Nightwatch ftw) before heading over to the Heinken brewery for the tour/tasting. Although you do get 2 and a half beers out of the deal, the tour ("The Heinken Experience", as they call it) really was kinda stupid and not really worth the 15 euro. Anyway, next, after over 48 hours in Amsterdam, I finally got to enjoy some of the city's famous "coffee" with the group of Americans I had met the night before (thank you, david, mark, heather and sarah, wherever you may be, for taking pity on me). So that was nice. After that, I just went back to the hostel and crashed, ready to get back to London after 10 absurd days on the continent. Now that may seem like the most boring weekend anyone has ever had in Amsterdam, but all in all, I had a pretty good time just chilling and enjoying the actual city, rather than just its lax drug laws (though by saying that, I may permanently forfeit my already meager f-r-a-t-s-t-r credentials).

So Sunday, rather than have to worry about finding some way home because of the stupid volcano, all I had to do was worry about getting on the ferry, as I was able to outsmart the volcano by booking my Stena line ticket almost two months before the trip. This was no easy task however as, door-to-door, it took me 14 exhausting hours to get back to London. After waking up at like 10:15 (9:15 London time) and walking to the Amsterdam Central Train Station, I caught an 11:10 train to the ferry port at Hoek van Holland, where I arrived at 12:45 and waited around for my 2:30 ferry. After laughing at all the stranded Brits waiting on stand-by as I got on, I hunkered down for the 6 and a half hour ride to Harwich, on the east coast of England. It's really not a bad way to go if you got the time, though probably more enjoyable with a group... So upon arriving in Harwich at 8 pm (London time), I had to take an hour and a half bus ride to central london. Then after a quick jaunt on the ole Tube, I was able to get back to my room at like 11:30 pm and sleep for like 12 hours after the ten day trip that can only be described as "absurd". It was definitely a success, the 6 days in Spain were just insanely fun, and despite the retarded-ness that the volcano wrought, even touristing solo in Amsterdam was enjoyable enough.

So, though I'm happy to be back in the relative calm of London, I'll still be busy in the coming weeks. Got some big time school work and job applications to work on (a little late?) and then next Monday, sister Jen and I head off to Ireland for a few days before meeting Big Dan back in London for the weekend; should be a spectacular time and I'm looking forward to seeing the partial fam. After that, I've got a week or so to relax before I've got to start prepping for exams, which start on May 13. Then only a couple short weeks, later I head home (May 26, barring any volcanoes or other natural disasters).

It's absolutely absurd how quickly the time has flown by these past few months, and the fact that I'll be home in just over a month is just mind-blowing. It seems like I just got here, and even though I still have a ton of exciting stuff going on before then, I'm already beginning to think about what I'm gonna do once I get home (eat everything even remotely resembling food in my house) and also about all the things I'm going to miss about London. Expect more on those thoughts, in future posts, but for now.... thats all folks.