Amsterdam: Heaven and Hell

Wednesday, July 28--
I named this blog entry as “Heaven and Hell” because it truly was the experience Adam and I had while visiting Amsterdam, a counter-culture city in the heart of Holland. 

We arrived in Amsterdam, exited the train station and headed to look for Bob’s Youth Hostel, a place Adam stayed on his previous Europe trip almost 20 years ago. Located a few blocks from the train station, Ad reminisced about his time at Bob’s, his trips to the “coffee shops” and some of liberties this unique city offeres; however, Bob's was completely booked, so we moved on to find other accomodations.

As we walked through busy streets filled with tourists, 20-somethings, street vendors and musicians, we stopped at Hotel Ben to check the rate and availability. With space available and only $40 Euros night, we were excited to have found a place to stay with a reasonable nightly rate. Smelling of smoke, dirty pillow cases and a bathroom almost too small to for the toilet we decide to find a more suitable hotel for our sleepy heads.

Next we found a place called Hostelrunners, a local service providing the availability and rates of hotels and hostels. Conveniently located down the narrow, congested cobblestone street next to the Gay Cinema, we were helped by an Asian man with a Dutch accent and a few front teeth who sold us on a “great and quiet” apartment above the local laundromat called Happy Hotel. His next request, we pay in cash; this was a little sketchy, but we paid and ventured off to find our 'Happy' place.

We walked down more sketchy alleys to find our home for the next 2 nights and were greeted by 6 police officers on huge horses, in combat gear and patrolling the streets. Once they moved on, we found our apartment and a very steep staircase leading up to our room. The stairs were so steep that you had to climb them like a ladder (there should have been a sign saying, “Do not attempt if (when) impaired”).

The room was decent and pretty clean considering outside the hotel (and everything around us) was a dirt hole (we didn’t realize until later that we were in the heart of the Red Light District). Once we dropped off our packs (and locked them to the furnace in our room) we headed out to check out the ‘shops’.

We went to a shop called, ‘Homegrown;’ I (Adam) was there 17 years ago. Within a couple of minutes (and $5 Euro later) we were sitting outside ‘enjoying’ some people watching. We decided to venture around the town, but as darkness began to fall the freaks came out. I really felt like I was going to be jacked at any moment (I’m sure being slightly impaired and being in the Red Light District had something to do with this, but not much). We decided to cut down an alley and came upon a couple performing; the guy was playing the didgeridoo (techno style) while his girlfriend put on a puppet show accompanying his sweet riffs which sounded like the same song over and over and over again.

Next on the freak show tour was the cross-eyed accordion player shelling out a few sweet Coldplay songs. He was good yet I was still a little 'weirded' out by the previous woman performing her puppet show.  For our final tour performance, a man in a long white-hooded robe, wearing a white mask and standing on a stool, raising his right hand and constantly nodding at people as they walked by him; WEIRDO! But, if you are into this type of creepy performance you could always drop a tip into his box located right in front of him.

After the sketchy freak show tour we decided the Red Light District was not the place for us. As we made our way through the maze of streets we found Hostelrunners and asked for our money back. Thankfully, the Asian Dutchman agreed without a problem.

With our backpacks on we headed to the train station to get out of Dodge. We were hoping to catch an overnight train to Munich, Germany yet were informed that there were no more international trains leaving until the next morning. What!? Another night in this sketchy dirt hole!? Nooooo!

We decided to venture out to the other side of town and see if we were actually experiencing all of Amsterdam. As we walked through the streets, several blocks from the Red Light District, we found more of what I would call “Heaven”. The streets were lined with beautiful Dutch townhomes polished, pretty and filled with people’s worldly possessions. Houseboats were on the canals and filled with couples enjoying a glass of wine, picnic or a casual party on the slow cruising boat.  Locals were out riding their vintage Dutch bikes on dedicated bike paths that outnumber the cars. Cozy cafes and bars were filled with beautiful, fashion-forward and tan people sitting enjoying a glass of wine or sipping on a cold beer.

As we walked, we finally stumbled onto a cute little inn called the Times Hotel. We inquired about a room and the hip Norwegian reception guy offered us a reasonable rate on his last (and a Deluxe) hotel room. Thanks to him we enjoyed a more luxurious and safe night’s sleep in a more trendy part of town (coffee shop 'Amnesia' was right next door too, so that was nice).

And now, onto Berlin, Germany!

Thursday, July 29 – Berlin, Germany: Gay (not that there's anything wrong with that...)

We arrived by a 6-hour train from Amsterdam yesterday to Berlin, Germany. Berlin was not on our planned itinerary yet just for fun, we decided jump on a train and head to the former Communist country and home to the infamous Berlin Wall located in northeast Germany.

Arriving at the train station, we headed to the Tourist Information office to book a room for a few nights. The nice, impatient, older German found us a reasonable rate of $50 Euros per night at a 3 star hotel located between the new and old parts of downtown Berlin. We jumped on a few trains and found our hotel for the next two nights.

After dropping our bags we head out for dinner. Walking down the street, we came up on a few bars filled with only men – our first thought, “not again, this happened to us in Amsterdam!” We continued walking for a few more blocks only to find shops, bars, and restaurants filled with men until we found Triologie Taverna, a delicious restaurant offering Greek style food.

After dinner, we walked back to room and noticed a few of the local businesses in our area. Our first; Caligula followed by Big Sexyland and then Deluxxe with a sign explaining “shop, rent, cruise”. Getting closer to our hotel, we passed a bar full of men singing Tina Turner’s 'What’s Love Got to do with It' and finally, a shop located kitty corner to us, 'Man’s Pleasurechest'. This business had the convenience of offering their customers a drive by window – order what you want ahead of time and then slip inside when ready!