Navigating our way through Glasgow International was no problem at all. With zero bags to check between the four of us, we could just brush past the lines and plop down in front of the gate. We had a quick stop for magazines then waited for the announcement declaring our ability to board. On the flight Blake, Tori and I were located pretty close to one another on the back of the airplane while Kyle was separated and placed toward the front. No problem, a one hour flight will be over before it starts. Again, I've since regretted my trust in air travel.
We ended up being on the plane from 10:30am when we boarded in Glasgow until about 7:30pm getting off in Amsterdam. Between the times we spent about six hours in the armpit of the EU, Brussels. I apologize to any and all Belgians (though for the life of me I don't know why you'd be reading this blog) but I will forever have a negative opinion of Brussels because of this flight. Next to musician/actor John Trudell, Tori and I sat. Waiting. I must say I was impressed with everyone on board because only a couple of people actually got really upset about the delay to the point of giving the flight attendants verbal lashings. We all complained, obviously, but mainly to ourselves or one another. It wasn't the fault of the airline that an unexpected snowstorm hit. Yes, it was snowstorm by the way, I probably should have mentioned that a little further up. But we survived and finally made it into Amsterdam and that's about all the time I wish to spend thinking about that torturous flight.
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| Tori kept her spirits up. The man with his hand covering his face is John Trudell. |
Amsterdam was a winter wonderland by the time our flight touched down. Having had no food other than a few excruciatingly tiny bags of chips, we check into our hotel, dropped off the luggage and shot into the city for a stiff drink and something to eat. We settled on a little Italian place up the road from our lodging. After each of us had our own pizza - mine was salami - we sauntered our way along until we found Mellow Yellow, a local coffee shop.
I know many people who have made their pilgrimage to Amsterdam for the Smart Shops and coffee shops and every person makes the place seem more glorious than the last. So, without hesitation, I needed to see these places for myself. Let me just say this place is brilliant and welcoming to any and all. Obviously I look and sound like a tourist - I do my best not to but let's face it, it's just unavoidable. In the coffee shops you're pretty much advertising your out-of-town-ness. Sure there are a few locas here but they conduct themselves differently, more relaxed. For them this is a coffee shop for the tourists this is as close to a church or holy ground as they will ever come.
As Saturday morning broke we arose between 8-9am and had our complementary breakfast. I had a bowl of granola, a ham, salami and cheese sandwich, a hard-boiled egg, two cups of coffee, OJ and a space cake. I was still very hungry from the previous day, as you can plainly read. The goal of the day was to visit at least two museums and avoid paying for taxi if at all possible. Everything was within walking distance, the only thing that would have made us consider a cab was how bitter cold it was. I didn't realize this until I got back to Glasgow but it turned out that it was cold enough that some folks in Amsterdam were skating up and down the canals.
Fortunately we found a more direct route to our first museum but not before stopping again at Mellow Yellow for coffee. Ah, delicious. After we made out way over to the foam which is a photography museum. The photos were stunning, ranging from landscape to portrait, historical to present it was marvelous. My favorite part of the exhibit was a collection of historical locations that had been photographed. These included the Stonewall club, the grocer where Emmit Till hollered at a white woman, a house where a foreign exchange student was shot and killed and so much more. The great thing about these photos was the accompanying information next to each photo; sure some of the places were obvious while others were a complete mystery.
Following the foam we headed to our next location though not before stopping for another pick me up at Mellow Yellow. I suppose I should mention that Mellow Yellow is one of the oldest coffee shops in Amsterdam and is still privately owned. At times it can be a bit loud with people playing Foosball but it's worth checking out. Anyway, after the coffee we headed west to the museum district of the city. Once there we wandered through this beautiful park (pictured below - sort of) outside of the Van Gogh Museum. You'll have to picture it covered in snow and adults and children frolicking, sledding and having all around merriment.
Inside the museum is a wonderful collection of artwork. Yes many are Van Gogh's pieces but what some people - like myself - might not know is it also contains various works that were simply collected by Van Gogh. An artist and an art collector, I suppose I should have been aware of this but that would have taken away from the enjoyment I had learning this information.
I would never consider myself one who knows a lot about art. Hell at times I found it difficult to explain why I appreciated one piece over another. But the nice thing about visiting museums with a group is that often times someone else will know a little bit more about a subject. In my case I had two art students who could explain things to me when I was at a loss. Plus I had Tori who seems, at times, just as befuddled as me.
The final place we attended was the National Museum in Amsterdam, which for me was the least interesting. Not for lack of variety but because by that time I was cold from walking outside all day as well as tired because, well, I had been walking outside all day. The four of us probably could have spent a little more time at this museum but it was getting close to dinner and we were beginning to plan out our evening.
For dinner we went to a Thai restaurant. The adventurer that I am had some chicken and fried rice. Wild and crazy, I know. After dinner we headed out for another reboot at a different coffee shop. We hung out there for about an hour or so then decided it was just too cold to make our way to a bar and start drinking so we grabbed coffee to go and made our way back to the hotel. I believe the plan was to pick up something to drink along the way back but all of us had our head down and were power-walking our way to The Bridge. We ended up just staying in a watching a couple different television series on a laptop. For me this was a perfectly acceptable way to end the evening.
Sunday rolled around and we woke up around 9am again for the breakfast. I had much of the same as before except this time I decided against choking down two cups of their instant coffee. I just held off until we got to a coffee shop nearer to the rail line we would be taking to the airport. Along the way we also picked up some BCEs (Best Croissants Ever) at a place Blake informed us we could not miss. They were delicious even though they cooled almost immediately after picking them up and heading outside. Wonderfully doughy.
The flight back went much more smoothly than the way out. We arrived back in Glasgow by 3:30pm or so, plenty of time to relax before school on Monday. Since I don't have class on Monday's I decided to meet up with a friend of mine from class in Edinburgh to watch the Super Bowl. We watched the game at a sports pub near the Edinburgh rail station and had some drinks. Let me just say, the guys I was hanging out with sure can drink. I ended up crashing at my buddy's place just outside of Edinburgh in a town called Portobello along the coast line.
All in all it was a weekend full of great fun. I was a bit zombie-like that Monday but was recovered by the time I had my class on Tuesday. This may be my longest post so if you made it through, congratulations! If not I don't hold it against you.Now I've got to get back to working on my other reviews. Cheers.
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