When in Rome!

Once in Amsterdam I got very little help from the Tourist Office, but I did buy a map which later turned out to be very useful. I just wondered the streets trying to find a cheap room. The part of the city I was in felt like trips I had made to New Orleans when I was younger. There was trash everywhere! Very dirty! Many "coffee shops" and several very dirty looking hotels and hostels. The girl on the train said that the hostels in Amsterdam were ranked among the dirtiest in the world. However, the hotels were a little out of my price range even at 50 Euro. I told myself, you never sacrifice cleanness and safety even when you are on a budget. Later I would find out that I was trying to find a room in the Red Light District. So, after much searching around I found this place called, "Tourist Inn". I thought, not my preference, but let's check it out. I had already walked out of at least 6-8 hotels/hostels. I walked in and this place and is was very nice. It's interesting around Europe that you will find sliding glass doors (like at supermarkets) along many street to enter in hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. It's just different out here. Anyway, they had a shared room for 18 Euro so that was in my price-range. This room was very clean and included: linen, pillow, towel, a shower & bath down the hall, free wifi, a morning breakfast, shampoo, a hairdryer, and more. I was amazed at all this for just 18 Euro. I got lucky and had only one bunk-mate. She was from Sydney Australia and was quiet, clean, and very nice. I was expecting a room full of people who were all stoners and loud and obnoxious. I got lucky!

I decided to grab lunch at a Brown Cafe. In Amsterdam, a Brown Cafe is a cafe that kind of like a pub. They have wooden chairs, tables, walls, and the bar is made of wood. Hence the name! I found a nice one too! I sat right next to the heater and ordered a large Amstel Bier.

Oh! Side notes:

1. When you order a Beer in Europe. I've found that the bartenders ensure that you glass the logo of the beer you are drinking on it. Also, they make sure that you have the right beer coaster too! So awesome! That is the way to do it!

2. Amsterdam is the bike capital of the world. There are more bike here than there are people. Something like 2 bikes per person. Crazy!

Bike Capital of the World

3. In Amsterdam there is a local joke when tourists ask for directions. They say, "Oh, go down the street, turn left, and it at the end of the canal." See, the joke is that there s no end to the Janel, they are all interconnected, Well, I think it's funny!

So, I ordered from a menu which was mostly in Dutch. It said, "HUTSPOT: Hollsands stamppot met wortel, uien, jus en een gehaktbal. The waitress said that it was a Dutch meal were carrots and onions are all mushed up and it comes with a side of gravy and a meatball on top. When the plate came it didn't look too bad. Kind of like mashed potatoes, gravy and a meatball. Let me tell you something......it was delicious!!!

Canal

I walked down the canals and I realized that I wasn't too far from the Anne Frank Secret Annex. I thought I'd go walk by and see what a tour would be like. It was about 8 Euro so I thought I'd go in and have a look. Let me tell you, it was very fascinating. To be honest the annex was a little bigger than I expected (still very small), but the detail they go into to explain the house is immense. They had these phones that you could pick up in some of the rooms where you could hear the audio from the informational televisions. These phones were hooked up to a button where you would select the language you wanted to hear it in. I'm talking like 8-10 different languages!!! So cool! At the end of the tour they had the room where you could view the original diary she started with. Very touching. The last room I saw was so cool! It was a room where the visitors could take opinion polls of very controversial issues. You would watch a 1-2 minute overview of an issue covering the major arguments (like should Nazi regalia be banned to wear or should you be free to wear what you want? OR Should the crucifix be hung in public schools?) There were some deep topics! Well, you had this button in front of you where you could answer "yes" or "no". Your answer would then be put into the over all percentage of the people in the room. All you would see is that "45 percent Agree and 55 percent Disagree. Iintriguing to say the least.

After the Anne Frank House I hit up the Tulip Museum, but it was like 5 Euro to walk through so I just looked around the shop and went back to the hotel to do some travel planning before dinner.

The following day I did some research on my next destination since I should start making my way to Austria. Then, I stopped at the market and grabbed a picnic lunch, and some drinks. The day was spent mostly walking and walking and walking which I totally dig. I walked down this long street and ran into a flower market and looked around. After more walking I had struck gold! There she was: tall, pretty, and intoxicating. A tear rolled down my face......I had just stumbled upon the Heineken Brewery!

Heineken Brewery

The tour was a little drab at first, but then the fun began! I got to try Wort, see the Heineken horses, they showed me how to drink a beer, the had a techno room, a James Bond room, a neon seating room to watch old commercials, a giant foosball table, a Heineken simulator where thy turn you into a beer, a room to record video messages, and then the ever popular tasting room for more beer. It was a blast! Oh did you know that the "e"s in Heineken all are smiling?

Giant Foosball Table

The Bar

Needless to say the rest of my walking around for the day was quiet fun! I was full of beer! It was even fun when I walked by the Cairo demonstration/protest in a giant square surrounded by screaming people and many police. I decided to head toward the tourist areas to see if I could find the windows that make Amsterdam so popular. I had been contemplating something since I headed for Amsterdam and I couldn't decide if it was something I really wanted to do. I continued to walk (the thought both intriguing me and disgusting me at times) and I finally made my decision. "When in Rome" I said to myself! I turned a corner and there she was........and I did it!