Jamie’s Travels

Tragedy struck on the journey to Amsterdam. Not only was our train delayed (giving me an hour or so to explore Hanover), but I also lost my headphones. For a young Gen Z’er such as myself this hit home especially close. Suffice it to say, I was not the happiest when we arrived 5 hours late to our accommodation at roughly 00:30. Still though, a reunion with Lawrence, Ted and Josie did improve my mood. We caught up for a while and then went to bed.

In the morning I headed out earlier than everyone else so I could go to the Apple Store to replace my headphones but also to repair an issue I was having with my phone. We stayed in a town called Haarlem next to Amsterdam. It sort of reminded me of Watford in that it was commuter town for the capital city and that’s about it.

I arrived in Amsterdam and walked half an hour through the incredible city before I reached the Apple Store. I dealt with a helpful guy who told me exactly what was wrong with my phone but said I had to book an appointment – thankfully there was one a available for the afternoon. I then wondered around the city for a while waiting for my friends to make their way in (seemed to take longer than I had originally anticipated).

A couple hours later my friends finally arrived. The first stop was the Amsterdam Sex Museum. It is exactly the tourist trap you would expect. But an entertaining hour I suppose. I have one or two entertaining photos but they might not be the best for sharing…

Afterwards we embarked on a cruise tour. Slightly more family friendly as activities go. It was quite a nice experience actually. I found the information about how the houses of Amsterdam I build on a slant particularly interesting. They are done so in order to make it easier to raise and lower things from the tops of the buildings.

After the cruise I dashed back to the Apple Store for my appointment. They fixed the phone in about 2 minutes (begging the question – why couldn’t they have done that when I went earlier?). I then dashed back to the station to find the gang. At this point we decided to partake in the Amsterdam Coffeeshop scene.

Loving life slightly more than usual we started walking around the city. Accidentally we seemed to stumble across the Red Light District in the middle of the afternoon. I can confirm that it’s not the nicest of places. We hurried our way through and found a nice spot on the canal to sit. I also discovered the history of Amsterdam’s (very) public urinals. Installed all over the city in the 1880s, they were brought in to reduce the number of deaths from people falling into the canal at night. It seems even to this day it’s not uncommon to die in the colder months if you fall in after having one two many pints. They are not the cleanest things ever. One use was enough to put me off for the whole trip.

That evening we headed back to Haarlem. We sat around for a while before heading for an evening walk around the town. It really is a nice place to be. Overall it was a very good night.

Next day we packed and left Haarlem. Almost as soon as we arrived I had to head off to find my hostel in the centre of the city – I had decided to stay another night without everyone else. After settling in at one of my poorer hostels so far I headed off to find Flora. A nice reunion with a cousin who I’ve not seen for around 12 years. Somewhat a shame that none of our family lives anywhere near each other cause I seem to get on well with mostly everyone. We had a nice coffee in a park a bit away from the city centre before Flora unfortunately had to shoot off to teach.

I rejoined my remaining friends. Niamh and Lawrence had shot off to Brussels and Paris respectively. In my absence though (not cousin) Flora’s phone had given up on life. Tracking her down after she had left to find the Apple Store proved quite difficult but some how she wound up with a phone in a random hotel so all was solved. We eventually got her to the store where we were told to come back in the morning. She did manage to get a space in Ted and Josie’s hostel so all was fine. Just a shame as she was initially meant to go to some dog themed spa with Niamh is Brussels apparently. Whatever on earth that is.

I then struck out on my own again. Found some dinner and then found my friend from home Ross who was on his own holiday with his uni friends. We met up for a pint and then headed to a coffeeshop. Eventually we reunited Ross with his mates as well and had a fun time in an Irish bar. More people that apparently knew one of Ross’ mates (also from his home) showed up. Seems Amsterdam is proper place for meeting up with week. We went to another coffee shop where finally a managed to find staff that weren’t rude. It was great to see Ross again, and very random to see him there. But I’m glad I did.

For my final morning I went to get a coffee at the river. As I drank my espresso I had the pleasure of watching a team drudge items up from the river. This is the type of thing that gets me excited to see but most people would find pretty non-engaging I think. The strangest thing about it was the fact that two random blokes seemed to drop in and help. Anyway they seemed to pull out one of the cafe’s tables and were rather pleased about it.

After this it seemed non of my Amsterdam contacts were reachable or available so I decided to go off on my own again. Off of (cousin) Flora’s recommendation I headed to the Straat museum. A gallery dedicated to street art. The only art I really care about. Some incredible art hung around the building, I enjoyed it a great deal. There was even interactive art.

One piece I especially enjoyed was David vs Goliath. Not really sure if it was the message that got me or just the fact that at heart I’m a kid who just likes helicopters. I also really liked the van dangling from the ceiling. Happy to report there was also some animal rights type art.

I then headed back to find (non cousin) Flora, who’s phone had been replaced due to a complete mother board failure. It wound up being that meeting her near the Apple Store was a convenient spot since it was next to my hostel. Of course I went in because at this point I had kept a decent streak of popping my head in every day. I’m surprised they didn’t recognise me if I’m honest.

I had walked back via Anne Frank’s house, I share this only to mention an uncomfortable common thing I’ve seen this holiday. Tourists seem to have this obsession with taking photos with things. Even things that maybe aren’t a great photo op. Personally I don’t understand why people want a smiling and beaming photo stood next to Holocaust memorials but as an onlooker it’s always been a bit off to me. It’s no different for the house a dead girl.

Once I’d found Flora we grabbed a quick coffee and prepared to have a very relaxed train journey. Off to Brussels we go. There’s a Brexit joke in there somewhere but I can’t be bothered to find it.