Amsterdam

I arrived at Schipol airport yesterday afternoon, and conveniently there was an immigration office before passport control. I cam to them and explained the situation. The lady said “don’t worry, you are Australian” and I was stamped and let in.

The weather was pretty horrible, quite dark at 3pm, raining and cold. Due to these factors I got a taxi to my hostel, the StayOkay on Vondelpark. It is the largest hostel in Europe with over 500 beds. It is clean and warm.

After getting everything secure I read a local paper and found out that Xavier Rudd was playing at the Paradiso, only a few hundred metres from where I am staying. I braved the cold and rain to get there, only to find that it was cancelled. There were other disappointed Aussies there as well. I went off in search of a brown cafe in which to enjoy a beer and some gezelligheid. I pretty soon gave up on this search due to weather and made it back to the hostel.

They have wireless internet at the hostel so I bought 2 hours and setup in the bar with my laptop. I looked for apartments / share rooms and responded to a few ads but my SIM card was broken so I couldn’t call anyone. After my two hours I put the computer back in the safe and went and sat at the bar to talk to people. Chatting to a few guys a group soon formed, we were myself, an American alternative healing enthusiast, a quiet Israeli and another Aussie – a young graduate from Adelaide. We spent the evening drinking beer and swapping stories until the bar closed (what time?). All of us except the Israeli guy decided to go out.

Walking up the street, the rain was briefly interrupted by a hailstorm. The hail was falling thick and fast, lots of tiny little pieces but the air was thick with them. There was enough that they briefly settled and gave a preview of the snow to come.

We went in to Leidseplein and went in search of food. I tried to talk the others into going to FEBO but they were too scared so in the end it was McDonald’s. I followed my tradition of eating a Big Mac in every country. It seemed sweet, but then again I was quite drunk. We kind of dies after this and walked back to the hostel for sleep.

I woke up early in the morning, I could tell because it was only just starting to get light. I decided to go back to sleep. I kept waking up but as it was always dawn I kept going back to sleep. Eventually I got up and checked my watch, expecting 5 or 6 AM. It was noon! It just doesn’t get light during the day, now I know what gloom means. I went out in search of a mobile phone shop to get my SIM fixed. I had to get another SIM, which includes a form for migrating the number. I don’t think that I will bother though as my new number is cooler: 06 3388 9557 (country code 31).

Back to the hostel, I took advantage of the phone to call a few people about rooms, and again hunted for two hours. I have an appointment to look at a room tomorrow, will post with results then. I am going to get something to eat and meet people now. cya.