part two

Below are some photos from part two of my Christmas travel adventures, and now you will find a brief summary of the rest of the trip...

After we left our friends in Den Bosch, we headed into Amsterdam in search of Postjesweg--the neighborhood where our hosts, Marco and Cees (pronounced case) lived. We had not yet officially met these hosts--as we found them on couchsurfing.org--a website that connects travellers with people in their destination cities that are willing to let them in to their home, free of charge, to sleep on whatever they can find, be it a couch, spare mattress, air mattress or floor. In most cases, the hosts on this website are willing to offer more than just a roof over one´s head, as the idea of couch surfing goes far beyond a free place to stay. Marco and Cees were AWESOME hosts--two Dutch guys in their early 20s who could not have been more welcoming. Upon arriving (2 hours late--after getting lost), we were immediately offered hot tea and delicious cookies, and we spent the remainder of the night getting to know each other. Marco and Cees both teach at a community center in their neighborhood, which is on the outter edges of Amsterdam and considered one of the more shady areas of town. In exchange for working in this community center, the government provides them with the pad--a spacious 2 bedroom apartment in a social housing district. Well, we thought it was spacious. But as Marco informed us, almost all of these apartments were taken up by families of usually 6 or more, primarily Morroccan. He seemed to be a bit upset about this--I guess Holland isn´t perfect after all.

The next 5 days were a blur of constant confusion. We were almost always lost, and when we weren´t out roaming the freezing cold streets we were inside trying to figure out where we were going. The one problem with couch surfing is that as a traveller you must be much more pro-active about seeing the sights. In a hostel, the last thing you want to is hang around, but in a warm cozy apartment with your new Dutch friends? We rarely ever left the house before 2, which really limited our sight seeing time considering the sun went down at 5. This keyboard is REALLY pissing me off because the backspace button keeps getting stuck and erasing what I type so I am going to go ahead and try to wrap this up...

Amsterdam was amazing. And this is saying a lot, because it was SO SO SO cold, cold enough to ruin a vacation. But I still loved it. Because there is just too much to say, and not enough time to say it--I will highlight one particular worthy night: New Year´s Eve.

We were six people sleeping at Marco and Cees´s apartment at this point (long long story) and on New Years, all in Postjesweg, far from the happenings in the city, we had 3 bikes. Dutch styling--Marco, Cees and Dave chauffered us ladies on the back of the bikes to the party, nearly 25 mins away. One would think that this would be miserable, with the cold and all. But alas, no! The men riding the bikes stayed more than warm with the exercise, and we ladies sat prettily, side-saddle of couse, completely and comfortably blocked from the wind. The streets were full of festive Amsterdamers on their bicycles--and it could not have been a more lovely way to enjoy the beautiful city.

And the party was SO AMAZING! In a huge student housing building, 5 of 6 floors had open-door parties, with a different DJ on each floor. The apartments were made for about 20 students each, and faaaaar cooler than anywhere I lived in college. The walls were covered with all sorts of paint designs, not a single one was bare. The best part: on the roof top of this very tall building was the biggest party of all, and we arrived just in time to see one of the most incredible firework shows I have ever seen. A 360 degree view of fireworks, the whole city was exploding. Unbelievable.