I AMsterdam

I AMsterdam

Alright, alright, here we go. The epic story of Amsterdam. I'll try to keep it brief (but I use the words "try" and "brief" loosely, and considering my past blogs, don't be surprised if I ramble on and on...)

Before I get into events, let's establish the KEY CHARACTERS in the epic story:
Tina = heroine
(what? are you surprised that I would be the heroine of my own story?)
Nikki = trusty female sidekick
(language assistant, former roommate from SPU, Dr.-needer, coffee-lover, and all-around travel-and-map-savvy-wizardress)
Adam = sort-of-trusty male sidekick
(Toulon language assistant from the UK, Portland-(and-Seattle)-lover, Dr. Pepper addict, and loser-of-things including tickets and maps, hence the "sort-of-trusty" labeling)
The Dream Team:

And, let's not forget the CAMEO CHARACTERS, that is, to say, those who have just-as-important, yet perhaps not as prominent, roles in the epic story (in order of appearance):
Laura = life-saver, former teaching assistant, Paris au-pair extraordinaire, mood-booster, and live-in Paris guide
Vampire Family = seen lurking near Musee D'Orsay on a cloudy day, everybody knows they can't romp about in the sunlight!
Holland McDonalds workers = speakers-of-Dutch-and-English, lucky for us (who don't speak a word of Dutch)
Prostitutes = doll-like-real-humans who stand in windows
Bicycles, and Dutch Bicycle Riders = everywhere, everywhere, NOTE: "ring!ring!" is their secret code for: "get-out-of-my-way!-silly-tourist-what-are-you-doing-standing-in-the-bike-lane?!"
Mary Jane = she's also everywhere in Holland, only makes a brief camio appearance in our trip, but her scent is ALWAYS lurking in the streets
Laura = back again! cameo role #2, and still in Paris, and an even bigger mood-booster this time
My ginger roommates = aka Dani and Austin with dyed hair, Halloween pranksters of the century

And now, the various SETTINGS where the EPIC events took place (in chronological order):

The Train, getting us from Point A (Toulon) to Point C (Paris), with Point B (Marseille) in between, but nobody cares
Paris, the city of love, the city of lights, and the city from which our bus to Amsterdam departed
The Louvre, it's this museum with some paintings and sculptures, ya know.
Musee D'Orsay, another museum. Art? Who cares, right? That stuff is old. What matters is the vampires who lurk outside!!
Starbucks, a taste of home! except milk in France is gross, but that's beside the point!
The Eight Hour Bus, a whole day on a bus, aka a cheaper way to get to Holland. Featuring pit stops every couple hours, and scenic views of Belgium and Dutch windmills from the highway. That's right, folks! Real Dutch windmills!
Holland McDonalds, where people speak English!
Amsterdam, featuring Fall Leaves, Beautiful Buildings, and Bicycles Galore!
The Dr's Office, that which brought Nikki joy in the form of an antibiotic prescription. Also, where Adam left our map. After having lost his train ticket. Not-so-trusty-sidekick, eh?
Bob's Youth Hostel, soon followed by Cheap Hotel, this is traveling on a budget, people. Crappy places to stay, but PLACES none the less!
Amsterdam Coffeshops, featuring exotic delights including flavored lattes! fresh squeezed juices! bagels! and muffins! (all of which do not exist in Hyeres)
The Van Gogh Museum, that's right, YOU yourself can go too! for the cost of one arm and one leg, please.
The Canal Boat, a picturesque ride/prime photo-opportunity along the many connected canals throughout the city. And, importantly, from which I saw a plastic swan head floating in the water. Don't worry, I took a photo!
Bike Rental Place, and more adventure on The Streets Of Amsterdam, one of the best (and cheapest) activities-- a must when visiting Holland - do as the Dutch do! Ride bikes! But try not to run into any parked bikes on the side of the path, because this results in a giant and painful bruise on your thigh (as Adam discovered the hard way)
The Dutch Movie Theater, where 500 Days of Summer is still playing, in English (with Dutch subtitles, in case you need them). A great, non-rainy place to relax and kill 2hrs before...
The Night Bus, featuring stiff necks, lack of sleep, a 6am arrival in freezing Paris, and the great hope that our hotel will let us check in ridiculously early
Another Cheap Hotel, praise the Lord! that Hotel Notre Dame (2 stars and the price of a hostel, when divided by 3 sleepy travelers) lets guests check in at 6:30am for that night at no additional cost!
Laura's Apartment, delightful blue-and-white au-pair quarters, feels like a real home. Featuring delicious coffee and treats for breakfast
The Train, Part II, time to read and rest, and get back to Toulon a day earlier than originally planned, since The Dream Team was broke and tired (a bit of an understatement, more like "in debt and exhausted/grumpy")
Nikki's Apartment in Toulon, a familiar, relaxing setting, involving Nutella, spoons, a big bed, and a laptop with DVD-playing-capabilities. Happy Halloween!
My Upside-Down Room, back at "home" at last! Only to discover my prankster roommates crawled through a tiny window above my dresser in order to get into my locked room, where they then proceeded to turn everything (posters, bed, bed-side-table, and everything else), literally, upside-down.

And NOW...the EPIC STORY, In Three Parts
(Key Characters, Camio Characters, and Settings in italics, for your ease and referencing purposes)

Part One of the Epic Story: Paris and the journey into Holland

Once upon a time, three friends named Tina, Nikki, and Adam rode the train to Paris, where they met up with their friend Laura. While in Paris, they made a quick trip to the Louvre on the "Free Friday Night" to see The Mona Lisa, among other Italian paintings and sculptures. Here is just one example for your pleasure:

The next day was cold and rainy and Nikki felt quite miserable. The friends went to the Musee D'Orsay to get out of the rain and see the beautiful works of art. Here they are in the Museum:

Outside, while waiting in line to get in, the friends noticed a Vampire Family, who had funny never-seen-the-sun-before skin which looked quite creepy in the bleak weather. So Tina secretly tried to take some photos of "Adam", which were really not of Adam, but were trying to capture the Vampire Family on digital film. Adam blinked in the photo.

But let's zoom in on the real subject for a closer look:

Vampire man!

Also while in Paris, the friends walked near the Seine, visited the Pantheon (seen here),

and went to the market on Rue Moufftard. They enjoyed a trip to Starbucks, which is a little cliché, they realized, but was necessary, and a better deal when considering the euro-to-liquid-ounces-ratio.

The three friends left their hostel early (actually, a whole hour early due to daylight savings, which transpires one week in advance in Europe, compared to Seattle), and, after hanging out in McDonalds (the only thing open at 7:30am), they caught The Eight Hour Bus to Amsterdam. Along the way, the bus stopped every few hours at various gas stations and shopping centers for the comfort of the passengers aboard. After entering the country of Holland, the bus stopped near a Holland McDonalds, where Tina and Nikki got some coffee. That's where Tina, Nikki, and Adam first, and somewhat awkwardly, discovered from the Holland McDonalds workers that Dutch people know how to speak English very well. Throughout the remainder of the trip, The Dream Team discussed just how easy it would be to live in Amsterdam for the rest of their lives without knowing a single word of Dutch. It would be very easy, indeed. The friends also decided the Dutch people who work in the Dutch education system probably hire trained, professional English teachers instead of random "assistants" who happen to speak English as their first language. It's no wonder, then, by Tina, Nikki and Adam's theory, that the Dutch speak English well and the French (comparatively, and generally) do not.

Part Two of the Epic Story: I AMsterdam

The friends arrived in Amsterdam! And what a beautiful city to have several days to explore! Amsterdam is a city with a giant web (very much like a spiderweb, actually, when you look at a map) of canals weaving throughout. See what I mean?

There, the friends did a lot of walking, and enjoyed the following lovely things:
---the architecture (tall, dark buildings squished together),

---the bicycles that are chained up (and being ridden) everywhere,

and
---autumn leaves on the trees (unlike in Hyeres, where palm trees and all the other trees, for that matter, are still green).

They checked into Bob's Youth Hostel, where the lobby walls are covered with drawings created by former travelers (depicting highly creative marijuana leaves, pipes, and slogans such as "Get High at Bob's"). Bob's Youth Hostel, as it turns out, is on the same street as part of the "Red Light District", where prostitution has been legalized. As the friends walked to and from Bob's, day or night, they could see the Prostitutes who stand in the windows of the buildings, literally, with the red lights.

This was an interesting aspect of the city, and Tina would love to discuss this more due to her background in Sociology (theory of functionalism, that 20-page paper she wrote for capstone on the sex trade, courses including Soc of Deviance, Soc of Gender, Soc of Family, Urban Sociology...), but that will be left for a different story time.

Nikki was feeling lousy due to a nasty cold virus, so the friends journeyed to The Dr.'s Office for ex-pats and tourists, and things were looking up once Nikki got her hands on her (prescription) drugs. Once Nikki was feeling better, Tina, Nikki, and Adam did lots of fun things together while in Amsterdam.

They enjoyed the Amsterdam Coffeeshops, like Bagels&Beans.

They journeyed to The Van Gogh Museum and learned all about how his artwork and style developed throughout his life. Mr. Van Gogh was gracious enough to pose for the following photograph:

After the Van Gogh Museum, they dined on the gastronomical wonder (aka cheap travel food) known as peanut butter and bread sandwiches, open-faced style.

They took The Canal Boat, and journeyed on the waters that weave around the city.

They rented Bicycles, one of the best activities ever when traveling, especially when in the most bicycle-friendly city ever, and experienced The Streets of Amsterdam from a whole new perspective flying by on wheels!
Wheeeeeee!
They even saw a movie at The Dutch Movie Theater. Tina, Nikki, and Adam had a nice time in Amsterdam.

It was interesting to be in a city where prostitution and marijuana are legal, and although these two aspects bring many tourists to Amsterdam each year, the friends discovered there is much else to the city besides these things. They also discovered that Mary Jane is not, in fact, a friend and she will most likely not be invited to any activities that Nikki, Tina, and Adam are participating in. Especially Tina, the paranoid psychopath. Ever again.

Part Three of the Epic Story: Getting Home

Tina, Nikki, and Adam's vacation had to come to a close eventually, according to their tired bodies and dwindling bank accounts. So they hopped on The Night Bus for an uncomfortable 8-hour ride back down to Paris. They arrived at 6am. It was cold and dark. Lucky for the weary travelers, their cheap hotel let them come in and sleep the morning away. Also lucky for them, they later met up with Laura for mood-boosting encouragement, nutella crepes (seen here)

and all-around good-times in general.
Adam was forced (more or less) to leave early in the morning to catch The Train, so Nikki and Tina hiked up the 7 flights of stairs and enjoyed some more all-around good-times at Laura's Apartment (the view from which does indeed include the Eiffel Tower).

After a jaunt through the autumnal Luxumbourg Gardens and more crepe-fun with Laura,

Tina and Nikki caught The Train, Part II back to Nikki's Apartment in Toulon, where Tina and Nikki relaxed Halloween evening away. The next morning, Tina returned to Hyeres, only to find that her ginger roommates (crazy boys who dyed their hair blond for Halloween, which really came out orange-ish colored) had snuck into her locked bedroom through the window and pranked her by turning everything in her bedroom upside-down. The End.
Thanks for reading! ina.