The party was...interesting. If I was a university student again, and living in Utrecht, I would definitely go to all sorts of these underground things.
The Dutch party too hard. We left after the first set...at 01:30. The other two bands hadn't even arrived yet by then. They were one of those bands that sounds great live, but I probably wouldn't listen to them otherwise. I can't even describe them - funk meets death metal meets psychedelic rock? ...maybe. There were four band members, and they were all dressed up in scary make up and ridiculous outfits - the lead guitarist was in a see-through billowy light blue robe and short shorts, for example.
Our second day in Utrecht was met with a late start - we were both sore and tired from the night before. We've been averaging about 10km a day walking around, and we're getting a bit tired. We went into the town centre and checked out the local cathedral. Communion was in session, so we looked into getting into the bell tower. We could only do it with a guided tour, which to be honest, was expensive and kinda lame. We climbed all 465 steps to the top of the 113m tower, but I felt like it was really rushed, and I didn't overly enjoy it. No fault to our tour guide though - I just don't enjoy guided tours.
The last very top section of the bell tower was a really steep, narrow, spiral staircase, and it made me claustrophobic. If I wasn't first in the line of people, I probably would have curled in a ball on the stairs. It was very dizzying. Going down was okay. The view from the top was pretty neat, though with all the protective fencing up, I needed to stand on the benches at the top to see anything.
When we climbed back down, communion was done, and the public was allowed back into the cathedral. We wandered around a little, but St. Martin's Cathedral (Dom Cathedral) wasn't as spectacular as the huge church we looked at in Haarlem. We did catch part of a choir group performing inside the cathedral though, and when we were in earlier, we listened to the organ play, which was beautiful. After that, we wandered around for a while and then headed back to the hostel for a few hours to chill.
Later that evening, we went back out again for a bit to wander around and grab a bite to eat. I bought a big bag of tomatoes, and haven't been in a place with a kitchen since, so I have no idea what to do with them.
We left early yesterday morning to head to Amsterdam. Our hostel (which is terrible and huge and I feel like I'm a student in a dorm or something) is in a park. It was brisk out yesterday, but the sun was still warm on the skin (they call this winter?) and we immediately set out to explore the park. I saw some parakeets, or tiny parrots, or something, and some coots, and one duck who seemed jealous I wasn't taking photos of her. Lots of people were walking their dogs, and it made me miss Jasper.
We walked down to Centraal station and took a canal tour, which was actually pretty cool. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. We spent an hour cruising the canals, and listening to a history recording as we passed by buildings. I saw a swan, and some sad, half sunk boats, and the best graffiti!
We ate some fries from a cone with a tiny wooden fork, with what couldn't be any less than a half cup of mayo on top - they are sold at little stands all over the place. I thought maybe the sauce was hollandaise sauce or something, but it just tasted like mayo. And it was awful. I felt so sick after I ate it. So....there's that dutch food tried and done. We've mostly been living off of french fries, giant waffles, bread, cheese, fruit, coffee, and beer. It's hard to eat healthy without a kitchen. Most of the hostels we are staying in don't have them.
Speaking of beer, last evening, we went on a journey to find a brewery in an abandoned windmill, for birthday beers. It was called Brouwerij t' IJ (I think it is a play on words - the IJ (ei) is the local river, so the brewery is called the brewer-ee-tee). It has a little pub attached to it, and we are so glad the beers were good, because it took us a whole damn hour to walk there. We misjudged how far it was. But the interior was really cool. We ordered beers (which, like their coffees, are small in this country). We both tried the amber ale and the in-house pilsner, which this country is famous for. I tried some cheese and dry-cured sausage that was actually tasty, although I had to eat it in tiny pieces because the texture weirded me out, but I didn't want to miss out on something just because I don't like to eat it. I'm not likely to make a habit out of it.
After a few beers, we walked to the Red Light District. On the way, we passed the zoo, and I saw flamingos! I've never seen them before. I thought they sounded like ducks, but there may have just been a duck hiding in there somewhere.
The red light district was exactly what I thought it would be, and nothing like I thought it would be. There was a theatre where you could watch live sex on stage (which we did not do), and there were prostitutes in the windows, but most of them had dead eyes. Any time I stopped to watch one of them, they frowned at me, but at one station, a group of men came behind me, and the woman started to flirt with them. I was grumpy about it - I feel like there is some kind of heteronormative standard.
We both felt uncomfortable about the place, and headed home. I only saw one woman who looked like she was alright with herself - I smiled at her, and she smiled a real smile back. The rest looked bored (possibly because it was a Monday night?), and I didn't like their eyes. Everyone had dead eyes.
This morning, we were rudely awoken at 06:15 by some drunk Germans and Dutchmen who came stomping into the room, and yelling, and running around. They were assholes. I hope they have the worst hangover when they wake up this afternoon.
I guess today is going to be an early day now.
The Dutch party too hard. We left after the first set...at 01:30. The other two bands hadn't even arrived yet by then. They were one of those bands that sounds great live, but I probably wouldn't listen to them otherwise. I can't even describe them - funk meets death metal meets psychedelic rock? ...maybe. There were four band members, and they were all dressed up in scary make up and ridiculous outfits - the lead guitarist was in a see-through billowy light blue robe and short shorts, for example.
 |
| We spent an hour one evening trying to find this damn tower. We never did. We could see it, but no matter where we walked, we couldn't figure out how to get into the courtyard. I googled it - it's apparently an abandoned museum. I couldn't find anything else out about it. |
 |
| Stupid staircase. |
When we climbed back down, communion was done, and the public was allowed back into the cathedral. We wandered around a little, but St. Martin's Cathedral (Dom Cathedral) wasn't as spectacular as the huge church we looked at in Haarlem. We did catch part of a choir group performing inside the cathedral though, and when we were in earlier, we listened to the organ play, which was beautiful. After that, we wandered around for a while and then headed back to the hostel for a few hours to chill.
Later that evening, we went back out again for a bit to wander around and grab a bite to eat. I bought a big bag of tomatoes, and haven't been in a place with a kitchen since, so I have no idea what to do with them.
 |
| This church had red glowing inside, there was a creepy chime noise every few seconds, and this tree kept lighting up with the image of a stag. Also....the lightposts were flickering. It was hella creepy. |
We left early yesterday morning to head to Amsterdam. Our hostel (which is terrible and huge and I feel like I'm a student in a dorm or something) is in a park. It was brisk out yesterday, but the sun was still warm on the skin (they call this winter?) and we immediately set out to explore the park. I saw some parakeets, or tiny parrots, or something, and some coots, and one duck who seemed jealous I wasn't taking photos of her. Lots of people were walking their dogs, and it made me miss Jasper.
We walked down to Centraal station and took a canal tour, which was actually pretty cool. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. We spent an hour cruising the canals, and listening to a history recording as we passed by buildings. I saw a swan, and some sad, half sunk boats, and the best graffiti!
We ate some fries from a cone with a tiny wooden fork, with what couldn't be any less than a half cup of mayo on top - they are sold at little stands all over the place. I thought maybe the sauce was hollandaise sauce or something, but it just tasted like mayo. And it was awful. I felt so sick after I ate it. So....there's that dutch food tried and done. We've mostly been living off of french fries, giant waffles, bread, cheese, fruit, coffee, and beer. It's hard to eat healthy without a kitchen. Most of the hostels we are staying in don't have them.
Speaking of beer, last evening, we went on a journey to find a brewery in an abandoned windmill, for birthday beers. It was called Brouwerij t' IJ (I think it is a play on words - the IJ (ei) is the local river, so the brewery is called the brewer-ee-tee). It has a little pub attached to it, and we are so glad the beers were good, because it took us a whole damn hour to walk there. We misjudged how far it was. But the interior was really cool. We ordered beers (which, like their coffees, are small in this country). We both tried the amber ale and the in-house pilsner, which this country is famous for. I tried some cheese and dry-cured sausage that was actually tasty, although I had to eat it in tiny pieces because the texture weirded me out, but I didn't want to miss out on something just because I don't like to eat it. I'm not likely to make a habit out of it.
After a few beers, we walked to the Red Light District. On the way, we passed the zoo, and I saw flamingos! I've never seen them before. I thought they sounded like ducks, but there may have just been a duck hiding in there somewhere.
 |
| I think the Queen of Holland is in her palace right now. There was a crowd, and a TON of security. |
The red light district was exactly what I thought it would be, and nothing like I thought it would be. There was a theatre where you could watch live sex on stage (which we did not do), and there were prostitutes in the windows, but most of them had dead eyes. Any time I stopped to watch one of them, they frowned at me, but at one station, a group of men came behind me, and the woman started to flirt with them. I was grumpy about it - I feel like there is some kind of heteronormative standard.
We both felt uncomfortable about the place, and headed home. I only saw one woman who looked like she was alright with herself - I smiled at her, and she smiled a real smile back. The rest looked bored (possibly because it was a Monday night?), and I didn't like their eyes. Everyone had dead eyes.
This morning, we were rudely awoken at 06:15 by some drunk Germans and Dutchmen who came stomping into the room, and yelling, and running around. They were assholes. I hope they have the worst hangover when they wake up this afternoon.
I guess today is going to be an early day now.
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