Well, it's 7 am in Amsterdam and I am awake, showered, dressed, and sitting in the lobby on my computer, sipping some water and waiting for the rest of the hostel to rise. You may be concerned about me reading this. You may think: "Eliza, has Europe changed you this much in 24 hours? Are you not the girl who boasts about waking up at 11 am every day? Are you not the person who has been a lifelong and diehard advocate of napping at least once daily?" Do not fret, reader. Unfortunately, I think my daily naps have been my undoing. The night before last, Alex and I had our eight and a half hour flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, and I slept maybe 30 minutes. My conscientious travel partner encouraged me to stay awake all day yesterday so we could adjust to the jet lag---she force-fed me espresso when my eyes started to droop, kept me on my feet wandering around the city all day, and even relented when at 10 pm, I started to whine about being tired. Yes, everyone, Alex Julian agreed to go to bed at 10 pm in Amsterdam. (Shocked? She was too.) So by 11, we were snuggled into our top-bunk queen bed, eyemasks on, praying that the loud, drunk 18-year-old Australians would leave the room and head to the bar. (They eventually did, but not after a lot of eye-rolling and heavy sighs on our part.) I fell asleep quickly, so happy to be in a bed, asleep in the dark. I woke feeling perky and refreshed...at 1:30 am. "This is not right!" I thought. I managed to trick my body into falling back to sleep, only to jolt awake again at 3 am. By this point, I figured out what was going on: my body, my poor confused, jet lagged body, was convinced I was taking a nap. (FALSE IDEA, BODY.) After I woke at 3, I tossed and turned for a long while, but I think I got about another 45 minutes of sleep. By 5:30, I accepted the fact that I would not be falling back to sleep. Also, by this point, my large hostel dorm room filled with sleeping people and the temperature in the (non-air-conditioned) room was a bit unbearable. Sweaty, uncomfortable, and crabby about my sleep situation, I decided to get up and shower at 6, which brings me here, writing this blog in the empty lobby/bar.
I've just asked the guy manning reception what the weather was going to be like today. "A bit rainy, for a change," he said not a tad sarcastically. (Does it rain a lot in Amsterdam? This is not something of which I was aware.) That's too bad to hear, because yesterday was beautiful...sunny and in the mid/high-60s. We did quite a lot of walking yesterday and had a great plan for today: rent bikes, go to a few museums, eat a picnic in the big park. Sounds like we may have to adjust our plans.
Alright so I will get to Amsterdam in a minute, but first I want to discuss a few things I have learned in the past 24ish hours.
1) Vegetarian food on United. So, if you know me (and I am assuming you do, if you have any interest in reading this rambling blog), you probably know I've been a vegetarian since I was 16. But since I've been a vegetarian, I've never taken a flight with an American airline that was long enough to warrant a meal. Now, we all know that airline food is nothing to write home about and is usually edible at its best. But I've spent the past couple weeks getting myself really overly excited about the FREE MEAL! that I would receive on my flight to Amsterdam. (Unfortunately, I think I've thought more about that meal than I did about some of the logistics of traveling, which I will get to in my next point.) United offers three meal choices for vegetarians that you can call in a special request for: lacto-ovo vegetarian, Asian vegetarian, and vegan. I called and ordered the lacto-ovo vegetarian, and spent the past few days gloating to Alex about how my meal would be tasty and hers would be mystery meat. So we get on the plane, take off, and mealtime arrives. Mine comes first, because I am *special*. (This makes me feel even better about my choice.) The steward places my meal down in front of me like I am the royal princess of airlines. I look down. I squint. What the hell is this?! My meal, my precious, over-hyped meal, appears to be some sort of mashy baby-food-like rice concoction, with some sad and withered vegetables thrown in. The bread is a cardboard-substance "wheat" bread and my salad is, I shit you not, just a head of iceberg lettuce. I wasn't expecting much, but I wasn't expecting this. The only potentially edible part of the meal, a couple pathetic pieces of canned fruit, have been heated up along with the rice and are at a scalding and un-fruity temperature. After poking at my meal morosely, I come to the conclusion that United has combined the lacto-ovo, vegan, and Asian vegetarian meals into one in an upsetting cost saving measure. Even more upsetting to me is what Alex is given to eat: a meat-free pasta dish with a green (GREEN!!) salad and yummy cookies. WHAT?! Why wasn't THAT my vegetarian meal?! Anyway, I'm soooooo over it, but I will not be ordering the vegetarian meal on my eventual flight home, that is for sure.
2) When we got to our hostel and I used the (dirty, stinky, small) lady's room, I had the horrifying realization that I would not get to use a nice toilet (with soft toilet paper) or shower (with strong water pressure) for the next two months. aside from the week I will be with my mother in real hotels. This should have been something I realized long ago, like say...when I first decided to backpack through Europe for two months, but no. I knew I would be uncomfortable often and unshowered most of the time, but I didn't really *think* about what not having a nice place to rest my bum would be like. It made me feel very weary and ready to return home, but that was mostly because I had not been fed yet and I was running on the aforementioned 30 minutes of sleep. Anyway, now that I've actually had a shower today and I'm not wearing the same leggings that I've been wearing for an international plane flight, I'm feeling much more confident about everything. I just may have to go buy a roll of halfway decent toilet paper, though.
Okay, so, Amsterdam. My immediate impression was that I hated it and wanted to get out as soon as I could. We're staying a few blocks from the central train station, in the heart of the backpacking district, and the overwhelming tourism vibe really did not make me feel great. But that was Before Food (B.F., in shorthand), when my blood sugar was low and I was already feeling a little sobby. It certainly didn't hurt that the weather was lovely yesterday, but this city has really grown on me. It's quite unlike any place I've ever seen. It feels a little like Disneyworld for adults. So we had a very productive day yesterday, overall. We went to the Sex Museum, mostly because it only cost 4 euro and it's just over a block from our hostel. It was an interesting place, worth the 4 euro, but not worth going into detail here. Pretty much what you would expect from a Sex Museum...lots of dirty pictures from throughout the ages. After that, we walked across the street to a canal boat tour place, where a tour was just about to leave, and we got on board (a reasonable 13 euro). It was a slow paced, hour-long tour, and it was very beautiful. Unfortunately, by the end, I was about ready to fall asleep, but I did enjoy it. We saw a lot of lovely bridges and so many interesting houseboats! (Not to mention all the incredible architecture in Amsterdam). Afterwards, we returned to our hostel, drank some coffee, and played a round of pool with a few other travelers. In the later afternoon, Alex and I went on a long walk just to wander. We went all over the districts around our neighborhood and stopped into two bars for a beer. I'll post some pictures within the next day or so, but the architecture here is astounding pretty. Lots of old churches and open plazas, not to mention the canals. After another stop off at our hostel, we went on a walk through the Red Light District to see what that mess was all about. I think it's kind of a bummer that such beautiful old buildings (the main drag is really pretty) are being used for such sleaze, but hey. It works for Amsterdam, so whatever. Not my city, so I'm not going to criticize it. A man outside one of the porno theaters tried to coerce us to come in by telling us that it was "the most quality filth you'll ever see." Um, no thanks.
As I said, we ended up going to bed shockingly early. We didn't even eat dinner last night because we were so exhausted, so the free breakfast at the hostel is sounding pretty good right about now. I think I'm going to go wake up Alex and drag her down there with me. Cross your fingers that today's weather will be manageable!
Love and (overpacked) luggage, Eliza
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