I moved to a new hostel for my last two nights here in Amsterdam because, up until now, I hadn't stayed in the city center itself. For two nights, I was in the far southern part of the city; the last two nights, I was in the far western part. Now, for these last two nights, I am in the heart of the city itself... It's a nice view, looking out of my window.
^_^ I've also discovered how to add pictures to my blog!
This hostel has me up on the 5th floor. And there is no elevator, only a set of winding stairs that get narrower and narrower.
I love how, right at the corner where they wind up, there's maybe an inch width of a step left. My foot wouldn't fit! It seems like a nice enough place. I think this place was originally a normal hotel. Then the owners realized that by stuffing more mattresses into the same area, throwing in a few bunk beds as well, they could make loads more money off the hoards of tourists who come here. The room I'm sleeping in has two bunk beds and two normal beds, probably because the slant of the ceiling wouldn't allow for any more bunk beds. I think originally it was designed to fit only a simple full-sized or maybe a queen mattress in here, so all these beds now are literally pushed up against each other. Luckily I don't have to sleep on the bunk beds, though where my feet end is where another person is supposed to put their head. Hopefully my feet don't smell too bad!
Today, the city's transportation department went on a weird 14-hour strike. There were no public trams or buses running, which was a little surprise to me, since my last hotel was a good hour walk from town. It was all right, though, and I enjoyed the non-rain weather on my way back to the city center. Right about 1pm, though, when I'd sat down to enjoy a healthy lunch of coffee and an slice of Dutch apple pie, all the trams and buses of the city -- loaded with all their drivers and various auxiliary operators -- paraded down the street in front of me, laying on their horns, riders waving like madmen from inside. On the display where normally a destination station is displayed, the words now read "Sorry Not Working" (in Dutch, but I had someone translate for me).
A short while later, I'd just finished my apple pie -- and felt very sorry about that, as it had been delicious -- when yet another parade came down the very same block, except this time on the sidewalk instead of the streets. After the parade of trams and buses, it was a parade of clowns! I really had no idea what to make of it, and no one nearby me had any idea either. They marched proudly, juggling their bowling pins and walking on their tall stilts, shouting out phrases in Dutch that I couldn't understand. They marched down the street and turned the corner to disappear, only to reappear about 30 minutes later marching back the way they'd come. Some carried huge pictures of dignified-looking men with their noses replaced by clown noses. I asked my friendly stranger/translator who those men were, and he could only come up with a vague "implant men from other countries." I get the feeling they might even have been other counties presidents, but really I have no idea.
My friendly stranger/translator and I then had a very pleasant conversation about where we were both from. It turns out that he had no idea where Colorado is and that he is from Greece. I described my plans for the country to him (I'm going to be in Greece in 10 days! I can hardly believe it!) and he nodded wisely, assuring me that I would have a good time. When I asked him why he'd left to come to Amsterdam, he told me, "Greece is not for living. Greece is a different place, it is for sun and for partying. Here, there is a good environment for taking care of yourself, for running, for riding your bike. Greece is only about the fun." He also seemed pretty surprised that I knew about Meteora and had plans to visit.
The biggest bummer about today is that I think my camera has died on me. When I try to turn it on, it zooms dreamily out of focus and displays some system error code. I'm heartbroken about it! I still have my iPhone which, admittedly, takes what I think are stunning pictures but the camera was much faster at turning on and being ready to go, and it's battery life lasted for much longer. I'm going to spend some time tomorrow to see if I can discover what this system error is and if maybe I can give it a jump start back to life. I don't want to flash my iPhone around everywhere I go, but it might not be as dangerous as I previously thought because it seems like everyone and their mother has an iPhone out here. Still, the phone's battery doesn't last forever (probably because I still use it for other things, like quickly checking my email when I discover I'm in a wifi spot) and I don't know that I'll always have the luxury of charging it every night.
I was able to add up the cost of my accommodations for the rest of my trip and, surprisingly, I come up under the budget I'd initially estimated. I'm still a little steamed at myself for falling off track with Brussels, but I've been able to find some amazing deals in places that I had assumed would be much more expensive -- ie, Greece. I didn't realize that Greece was still in the "low-season" for tourist all the way through the end of July. The most expensive leg of my trip will be in France, a country that doesn't even seem to support hostels at all! The best deals I could find where still hotels, budget ones though they might be. I haven't been there, I haven't met any real French people yet, and already I've been jaded to the culture on the sheer power of their hostel costs.
Tomorrow, I plan on taking a day trip to Delft to see their lavender-lined canals. I have seen some windmills, and I've wandered through the city's morning flower markets, but I think I'll have a better picture of the Holland scene there in Delft.
Oh, I almost forget, even after it was the first word I typed! Nutella! I'm addicted to Nutella! I didn't realize it, the addiction has sneaked up on me, and I believe it's a devious plan by the Dutch (is Nutella from the Netherlands? I don't even know!) but they put Nutella on everything and I love it so much now! I don't even like straight up chocolate that much, too much makes me sick, but it's almost as if Nutella is a different being altogether. I had to face my addiction this morning when, at the breakfast buffet offered by the hostel, I noticed that I'd stuffed six or seven of their Nutella packets into my pockets, almost without even realizing it. Ok, so it was a Nutella knock-off, but the principle taste is the same. I didn't know what to do with these packets later on, except to buy some bread from the supermarket and eat them like a crazy woman!
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