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| One of the canals at night. |
People are free to live, and everyone seems to be invested in doing
so in a happy, healthy and peaceful way, thus creating a beautiful
euphoric environment and living experience. The city is nearly 750
years old and is more beautiful, clean and pristine than any other city I
have ever seen. Due to the extremely integrated biking culture, there
is hardly any traffic and even the busiest part of the city is
refreshingly quiet. The air is clean, the water in the canals is
replaced every three days, the street sweepers happily hum along, and
there is just a general atmosphere of happiness and relaxation. There
are less than a million people in Amsterdam, yet they have 180 different
ethnicities. NYC only has 130 in a population of 8.5 million by
comparison.
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| Approaching the carnival that just happened to be in town. |
While every city has its history and challenges, I have never been
anywhere that felt so much as though everyone involved was on the same
page - the government and its people working together to spend money
where it matters, to create equality and to truly invest in an
environment and the quality of life. In visiting the various museums
and researching, it is clear that much of this is the result of the
legalization of soft drugs. (You mean making marijuana a mainstream
commodity just like caffeine? Yes. That is exactly what it means.) The
economy is booming because of it, everyone is relaxed and happy, and the
crime rate next to nothing. What a concept! (If you can't sense my
sarcasm here, it is dripping from these words.)
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| Carnival at night! |
Every moment of this trip was blissful. It truly is indescribable
how amazing it was. It was like the stars were perfectly aligned for
every single second of the day. We expressed the need for an ATM, there
it was! Coffee? The most beautifully designed Starbucks on earth
happens to be just up ahead! My feet were like exploding sausages
stuffed in my boots after walking so hard for 4 days... there are a pair
of slippers that look like Ugg knockoffs for 13 Euro?... perfect! I
only realized on the last day that I truly was marching around Amsterdam
in slippers, but it was totally worth feeling like I was walking on
little clouds for those last couple of days. There was not a cloud in
the sky, even though it was frigidly cold, it didn't matter. Layers!
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| The slippers at the end of the journey. |
On the second night, I went to bed with my hair wet on a shitty
cotton pillowcase and woke up looking like Bonnie Raitt. Don't judge. Hooray
for hats.
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| Bonnie Raitt. Not me. |
Nearly every man we saw was beautiful, and not one obese person did
we see. Crossing the bike lanes was scarier than running across a
freeway at times. Bike riders don't have much affection for tourists,
and we witnessed them getting whacked on a few occasions. They are
seriously professionals, cruising around at high speeds chatting on the
phone, doing their hair, texting, among other things, making dime turns
into alleys that are barely visible to the naked eye. It was impressive
to say the least.
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| Yes, this is a BIKE parking garage. |
While the tulip fields weren't in bloom yet due to the ridiculously
cold spring, the Keukenhof Gardens were absolutely mind-blowing, and
brought Ashley and I both to tears at various times for various
reasons. So beautiful. The experience solidified my desire to get a
delicious gardeny half-sleeve as tribute to my grandparents. 
There were fountains, hedge mazes, swings, little benches, theme-designed gardens, marshmallow chairs, and of course a windmill, and a beautiful white thatched roof hut of love and amazingness nearly identical to the one that I sit in with my Papa when I talk to him in my dreams. It was magic.
We also managed to gain an Amster-ass during the trip, due to the
massive amounts of incredible food that can be found around every
corner. The pancakes, the caramel waffles, the cheese, the pasta, the
salmon... even the sandwich I had at the airport was epic. We took a
canal tour at night, which was of course incredibley beautiful. It was
so fun to see all the houseboats, and the way that people design the
interiors of homes that are stacked sometimes 5 stories high and so
narrow. I am absolutely positive that I want to come back and rent a
house boat for at least 3 weeks some summer. Ashley nailed it when she
said, "I would get punched in the face every day if that's what it took
to wake up here." I concur.
So we spend nearly a week skippity-bop-deet-deetely-
Amsterdam = happy place. Already planning my return.
While it got slightly overshadowed by the epicness of Amsterdam, we
also spent two days in Dublin beforehand. It was as wonderful as I
remember; we drank some Guinness and Jameson, ate some tasty food, drank
some delicious brews, saw a lot of mullets, and got inappropriately
stared down by a creeper at a pub while he simultaneously swirled his
finger around in his belly button. Entertainment left and right. I
also got approached by a rowdy woman in the pub bathroom who had heard
me blowing my nose and assumed that I was doing lines off the back of
the toilet or something so proceeded to ask me if I had any coke. No,
creepy eavesdropper lady, I do not. But good luck with that.
Next trip on the docket is a possible camping trip in Wales in
July, the Dream Norwegian Fjord cruise in July/August, and then
Fleetwood Mac with Kristin in Scotland in October! And then another trip
to Amsterdam... yes.
With endless love and gratitude,
Emily
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