Firstly, allow me to introduce myself as the first guest writer on the ‘Steve-and-Beth-work-is-fo-suckas-a-rama’ blog. As one of Steve’s best and most attractive friends of some 14 years, I instantly ignored him when he asked me to write an Amsterdam piece that made nil drug references. But luckily the city of Amsterdam was so architecturally & culturally charming that there is much more to write about than some special baked goods.
My lovely girlfriend Brooke & I arrived excitedly in the Dirty Dam and after a quick catch up with our newly fiancée-d buddies it was like old times…except Brooke was doing some mad diamond ogling. We familiarised ourselves with our locale; nicely preserved historic house & shop fronts with uber trendy interiors shining out to the street from massive rectangular windows.
We caught up with the second craziest McKernan sister, Lauren along with Nick, Kim & Alex and mused about how much we were missing working and how being on holidays is just the worst. After an enlightening visit to the Anne Frank House, we strolled the mesmerising streets of Amsterdam constantly being reminded of how Europeans just do things in the coolest and trendiest way possible and Steve and I constantly reminding the girls not to step out in front of cyclists at every pedestrian crossing whilst they were deep in catch-up conversation. (Seriously, Steve & I summarised 10 months in about 23 minutes, why were these girls still talking!?)
We wandered the Red Light District with its colourful window displays (I kept my eyes to the floor obviously) and the heady waft of herbal cigarettes filling the air, interrupted only to shove a fistful of vlaamse-covered frites in our mouths. Friiiiiiiiiites!
We took a lovely evening canal boat cruise narrated by the effervescent Ron and…whoever (for some reason my memories of Amsterdam are patchy?) who affected an obnoxious American accent that made me want to jump in the canal and never resurface. If I want to hear an obnoxious American, I’ll just speak to an American.
The next day we did the old standards; the Flower Market and the Heineken Brewery Tour where we took the beer ride which unfortunately didn’t result in drinking beer but we hurried along to the beer tasting and the complimentary beer bar so we could partake in the drinking of beers and additional beers. Beer! All in all, I couldn’t think of a better place for a long overdue reunion with great friends and a beautiful city from which to launch our Scandanavian travels. I can definitely recommend the bakeries in Amsterdam, their brownies are so moorish!
Cheers,
– Drake
Beth & Steve's round-the-world adventures 