Sunday, May 3, 2009

Amsterdam - ROCK ON!!!!


So a group of us decided to rent a pimpin' 9-passenger van and take a roadtrip up to Amsterdam (hereby referred to Amdam). Patrick offered to let a group stay in his house so there were 13 of us that got to chill out for a weekend!




Mat - driver extrodinaire :)



Fred and Andrea



Ready to go!



Look - Belgium! It was so pretty... And border control was a joke... Empty buildings and no traffic lanes...



First siting of Dutch!



So we had one (yes ONE) CD... That we listened to over... and over... and over... Fred especially loved "All I Ever Wanted" by Basshunter (check it out on Youtube - it's amazing)



Windmills everywhere!



As in EVERYWHERE...



Chillin out in Patrick's backyard



More chillin



"We want to go to Amdam!"



YESSSSSSSSSSSS - we made it!



It was sooooooooo crowded



Patrick's house



More windmills



NEMO - in Amdam! :)



Central station - buses and trams all meet here



This guy was hilarious... And sold us bright orange leis made in China for a euro a piece



Back again the next day



Woo-hoo!!! Rock on!!!



They have really cool-looking buildings in Amdam



ORANGE EVERYWHERE.... You couldn't escape the neon orange...



The park where some major chillin out went down :)



Ahhhhhhhh!



Ice cream..... AMAZING ice cream..... It's so special it comes in its own little box



Oops, ate it before remembering to take a picture



Mmmm Magnum....



They have large elephant stone statues on the side of the road... I don't know why but owls and elephants are really popular in Amdam.



Mathieu got a gig DJing at H&M! Sick beats + sweet shopping = rockin good time :-D



The Bulldog... A cafe... In Amsterdam... *ahem*



There were bikes EVERYWHERE. I'll try to look for my picture of the double-decker bike garage and post it...



Just a pretty view



Grafitti, Amdam style :)



Some of the buildings are crooked in Amdam



Can you see the crookedness?



House boats were quite common too



Just a cool shot



Look at the roofs - how cool is that???



Yet another house boat



And more crooked buildings lol



Hey Mom, guess what I found...



I bought tulips in Holland!



You know I can't post without at least one color accent photo



Waiting in line to get into Anne Frank's house



Courtesy of my friend Blake who knows how to photoshop...



The Anne Frank Museum/house. No pictures are allowed inside. I couldn't believe I was actually walking where she had walked. There were quotes from her diary on all the walls, memorabilia, pictures, and other information. I think the most moving thing was the video her father taped that was shown at the end of the tour.



Tulip Museum? Really???



Another pretty view - I don't know why but I didn't expect Amsterdam to be picturesque but it was...



Wysteria! Growing everywhere!



Outside a pretty restaurant



Yup... We're still in Amdam



They even have orange cars!



Ok, the bathroom situation is ridiculous here. They have these convenient stalls for guys...



They even have these minimal (yet functional) things for them to use... But what the heck are girls supposed to do???? (Answer: pay 30 cents to 1 euro to use a pub restroom.... Life just isn't fair sometimes)



I saw wooden shoes! No one actually wore them though... Go figure...



I can't remember what this was but it's pretty



Europe is full of ridiculously tiny cars - believe it or not this one had seats for 2 people



The group chilling out in Vondel Park again



This is Mr. It-Doesn't-Matter-Man Man. He was really drunk and really funny.



Mathieu made me food art!



And he stuffed a whole piece of pizza in his mouth


*CENSOR* NOTE - the next few pictures contain some sensitive material so those of faint heart (or under the age of 18) might want to skip over them



Yes, a Condomerie. A store for condoms. *shakes head*



I was astounded and flabbergasted - I never knew stuff like this existed



Yes, that would be an Eiffel Tower, a Pooh Bear, and Gas Mask Man... in condom form...



And still more... You know you've seen it all when you've seen an elephant condom



Red Light District!



Yup, I was here



Ok, so apparently red lights mean regular hookers, red and blue means transvestites, and red and black means S&M... It definitely was an experience, but not something I'd care to see again...



And another shot of the street - pictures of the hookers weren't allowed



An old-school windmill!



You wouldn't believe the flavors of Lay's potato chips they have here... These were amazing.

And so ends the Amsterdam experience. Up next - Italy! :)

3 comments:

  1. Well, all I have to say is I suppose they're better off for having free toilets for men, if you know what I mean, as opposed to the alternative. It still just isn't fair!

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  2. Actually, that wasn't ALL I had to say... I'm completely and totally fine with the fact that you "didn't know stuff like this existed"....haha, Love,
    Mom

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  3. And FURTHERMORE, would have been happier if you STILL didn't know the other stuff existed, but after all I am a few thousand miles away and there's not much I can do about that!

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