Recap

Events are outpacing my ability to keep up in this forum, so this will hopefully be a fully encompassing recap of the weekend. (More stories involving the Prototype forthcoming over the weekend and Real World returns Tuesday.)

The trip to Amsterdam was long and painful. We took the Tube to Liverpool Street Station, caught a train to Harwich, a boat to Hook of Holland, a train to Amsterdam, and finally, our feet to the hotel. Along the way, we discovered why the ferry is dirt cheap. It's not about the fare, it's about how much money you spend while you're on the boat. They have bars, a casino, movies, countless eateries, and even a ship's store. Everything is overpriced yet people spend with reckless abandon. It was packed on the way, but we were able to secure a window table for the last 30 minutes or so. For some reason, I don't think I took any pictures.

It only took about 10 minutes of walking before we were offered "coca", "cocaine", and "ecstasy". Lovely town. My first impression was that Amsterdam was one hell of a seedy place. And, in the touristy area, it is. People are swaying from excess intoxication at all hours of the day, the streets are dirty, and there are drugs and sex everywhere. This should have been no surprise, but it did cause a few raised eyebrows. In some ways, I felt like a young Skywalker entering the bar for the first time on Tatooine. People constantly leer in your face, offering you drugs in languages that you can't possibly understand.

That being said, the city does have some character. The less touristy areas are quite nice and the canals are pretty cool. I'm sure it's gorgeous in the Spring. And there are tons of totally awesome sweet shops. Their cream puffs were so incredibly delicious. In fact, I'd have to say they went as far to be both tasty, delicious, and shockingly, succulent.

Red Light District

You can't go to Amsterdam without walking through the Red Light District. That doesn't mean you have to plop down some cash for some chincy ho - there's value in just seeing the environment. My first observation was that the name is directly derived from the red neon lights that illuminate the windows from which these ladies of the night (and day) display their wares. (Lingerie, not nude.) The other, more disturbing observation was that there were lines of men waiting to take a turn with the same ho. Think about that. Anyone who goes to a prostitute knows that she has probably just had sex with another "client", but it's totally different in my mind to actually become familiar with the other client prior to getting your dirty deed on. Simply foul.

Of course, prostitution in itself is foul exploitation and demeaning to both parties. I did, however, feel bad for the fat girls that were desperately trying to make some money and had no takers. I mean, on New Year's, there were literally no more than five prostitutes unoccupied (that we saw) and I think three of them were obese. Every other window had the blinds drawn (meaning they were servicing a client).

New Year's Eve

Amsterdam is truly unique place to spend a New Year's simply because of the danger factor, if not for other reasons. Danger, I say. Yes, in a city of pleasure, they have little need for state sponsored fireworks. The reason is that everyone has boxes and boxes of fireworks that they start firing up mid-afternoon on New Year's Eve. We saw inscrutable fellows lighting firecrackers and tossing them into crowds, one drunk guy light a firecracker and tried to give it to Vic, a bottle rocket was shot at just above ankle level and nailed Eric in the back of his leg (I witnessed the whole thing and it felt like slow motion - simply unbelievable). Not only that, people had the big ones that you shoot into the air and make brilliant displays of light.

The most impressive use of explosives, however, was the block long lines of firecrackers that people would set off. Now, I'm not talking about the little slim jobs that Americans are familiar with. I'm talking about the truly massive (red in color) firecrackers. What they do is, they take a box or two, tie the fuses together, set it up in the middle of the street for about a city block, and then light one end. On the far end is the box with the remaining explosives and it goes off with a bang. Essentially, you start hearing that type of thing about 3 pm on New Year's Eve and it doesn't stop until the next day. We witnessed one of these first hand at about 1 am. Of course, there's no warning. You're walking down the street at one moment, the next your getting the hell out of the way. The whole thing takes about 5-10 minutes to go off, so it's not like you're dodging bullets or anything - although, it does sound a bit like a submachine gun going off.

Eric and Lisa, being wiser than Vic and I, decided to not put life and limb at further risk, so they called it early and went back to the hotel. Vic and I were not deterred, however. Watchful, yes, but Amsterdam at New Year's only happens so often, so we walked the streets and people watched (as well as having a few drinks along the way) until about 3 am. Good times.

Post New Year's

The unfortunate thing about New Year's is that a lot of touristy things are either closed or undergoing renovation (meaning the exhibits are smaller than normal). We did go into some church that looked totally impressive on the outside, but wasn't worth the 9 euros. The Rijks museum was equally cool, except that only half of it was open. The Heineken museum was closed, which would have been nice to know before we traipsed all the way down there. The Hemp museum was essentially just a marketing tour and didn't do much for me. We skipped the Van Gogh museum because I was the only one who hadn't been there and I wanted to stick with the group. We also walked a good bit of the city and saw most things from the outside.

Random Observations

We saw a woman engaged in a smuggling operation on Sunday. Totally bizarre. I couldn't figure out what she was doing, but after watching, Vic pieced it together. She had purchased a box of hollow cigarettes - filters, paper, nothing in the middle. Then, she had a collection of joints (marijuana) and she put one joint into each cigarette. There was some kind of "top" that she put into the cigarette after that to completely enclose the joint. She probably did 50 or so (a whole box). Totally bizarre.

The food was incredibly expensive. Shockingly so, especially since I live in London. It was routine to find hamburgers and fries for 15 euros. More difficult was to find anything cheaper. We essentially ate a lot of kababs and tried to keep each meal under 10 euros. The whole city was expensive though. No free exhibits, expensive food, even tourist gear was pricey (memorabilia).

The Trip Home

My trip to the boat was uneventful. The ferry, however, was mostly empty. On the way, it was packed, but I suppose a 7:20 departure on a Tuesday morning doesn't bring the crowds. I went to get some coffee from the casino area (comfortable seats and good people watching) and the woman in front of me, a traditional middle aged British woman, ordered a small coffee and a pint of beer. I'm all in favor of partying and all, but do you really need to keep it going after you've left Amsterdam?

Instead of reconstructing, the following is what I wrote at the time:

"I'm sitting in the casino section of the ferry right now. It's around 8 am, although I'm assuming we're still on CEU time and I cannot confirm or deny such a shaky premise. I have to get any sleep - last night involved me and Vic staying up and partying all night with Eric passed out on the bed for most of it. I sat here in the gambling section for two reasons. The chairs looked comfy and it's a great place to people watch. Three blokes are currently losing money at blackjack. It was five people earlier, but two obviously lost enough.

"As I sit here and attempt to gather my thoughts about the weekend, a dubious task for someone just shy of sober, I have to conclude that this trip was like going to Vegas. You have tons of fun, party a little too much, see too few sights, but never regret it because it was a thoroughly enjoyable time. Amsterdam at New Year's was definitely a different experience from any other I've seen, that's for sure.

"Down to two at the blackjack table - except the game is now roulette.

"At any rate, just getting to and fro is quite an event. It took us 9 exhausting hours to get from London to Amsterdam and I'm not so excited about having no sleep on the way back.

"Enough money has been lost to grant the dealer a smoke break. No, I was wrong. One guy left with a handful of chips...That took longer than expected."

At this point, I basically passed out. No coffee anywhere was strong enough to keep me awake. Next thing I knew, we were pulling into Harwich. The rest of the trip home was mostly uneventful (except for the part where I took the wrong train in London and ended up having to go back the other direction to transfer to Earl's Court - true evidence of my fatigue level).

In the end, it was a lot of fun, I got to see some people I really wanted to see, and I spent more money than I wanted to spent. Aside from the fact that it was cold as...well, just cold, I can't think of a better way to bring in 05. Barcelona next year guys?