You might have thought that my next entry would have been discussing St. Patty's day, but honestly compared to the last two years this year did not live up. That's fine, maybe my expectations were too high. Well, I am getting bored of working on my project dealing with the WTO and the role of GATS in financial liberalization. If you were wondering it is about as boring as it sounds. Also, Peyton Manning is going to the Broncos, so I want to listen to some ESPN radio. When I turn that on I don't get any work done so I might as well blog. The following will be a bit of a recap of the trip I made to Amsterdam last November. Sorry I needed something to talk about and it is still fresh.
Unfortunately I had a lot of classes that fell on Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays. Saturday seriously? I know right. I had more Saturday classes than I ever want to talk about. Since the class schedule was stupid, this was going to be my first big trip of semester and I was excited. This trip sort of happened on a whim and most of the planning was discussed via Facebook so there could have been mistakes made, but it worked out. We were renting a car and quickly realized that to get an automatic would be much more expensive, so it was looking like I was going to drive the entire way. Turns out being able to drive stick shift is a commodity. I was honestly a little nervous. Yes, I know how to drive a manual, I basically learned to drive with one. I got pretty good with a hand break from all of the shittys I used to whip in the school parking lot. Being the only one who could drive I had to play it cool. Once we got the car it came back fast. It is like riding a bike, you never forget. It was kind of nice to drive around Rennes, as I had to drive around and pick everyone up who would be accompanying us on the trip. For this trip, we would be packing ourselves like sardines and fitting 5 in a small car. The trip was going to include: Ryan my roommate, Alex the Canadian guy from downstairs, Rachel a girl from UNI, and Kristina a fellow diehard Cardinals fan. We planned to leave around noon on Thursday for people who had morning classes. We ran into a little bit of controversy even before we left. We had originally looked at renting a Peugeot Partner, but I made an executive decision since I was driving, that it would be too big. I knew we would have to fit in some tight squeezes and I ended up being right, but every Peugeot Partner we passed was pointed out along the way. It ended up working out for the best so suck a fart.
We named her Ethel and headed out for what was, for most of us, our first European road trip. We all started off in pretty good spirits, but it quickly got more quiet after a few hours. We ran into a ton of unexpected toles so we at least had that to bitch about for awhile. What was supposed to be about a 8 hour trip turned into more like 10. We ran into some horrific traffic in Belgium because of an accident and were bumper to bumper for a long time. It was better for everyone else because the just opened a bottle of wine. Of course I felt a a bit left out, but I knew I had four lives in my hands. Ok, I was actually upset because I didn't have any chew and it is tough to road trip without it. We passed some cool sights along the way, but had no time to stop. We got into Amsterdam and once we got in the center of the city the driving was crazy. The roads were narrow, there were bikes everywhere, and you drove on tram lines. After a bit of drive around the city, we found our hostel and we came to our first lucky occurrence. There was a parking spot right in front of the hostel, but it was going to be tight. It was a total team effort since I could not see behind me due to the luggage packed to the ceiling, but without too much trouble we were able to back into the spot. We checked in, parted ways with Alex who was staying with friends, and headed out on the town.
It turned out to be a blast. We had no idea of where to go so we just wandered. Turns out, people from the Netherlands speak amazing English which made things easy for us ignorant Americans. We went to a few places throughout the night. We even sang Karaoke at one. The selection was slim, but settled on " I want to dance with somebody" by Whitney Houston RIP. We recruited two girls to sing with us and I tried to hand them the mic, but they were busy making out, so the song was bringing out their true love. It was not the girls we were with as these girls haircuts were a little more butch. The only weird thing was that you have to pay for the bathroom, even in a bar or restaurant. We also went to what we found out was a transvestite bar, but we were up for anything. We were a little lost, but Ryan offered the girls we were with in exchange for directions so we made it back. This might have not set so well with them, but they did make it back with us.
It turned out to be a pretty good hostel where we were all able to stay in the same room by ourselves and it had a bathroom. This place was full for the weekend so we needed to find our new hostel. After a traditional Dutch breakfast we set out to find our new hostel. We found it checked in, but still had the problem of finding somewhere to park. We drove forever and found a place near a stadium across the city and realized we had no idea of how to get back. It was going to take the entire day to get back, and it actually took till about 10 PM to get back. We had to whole day to explore and made the most of it. Amsterdam is really cool with all the canals and bridges. Everything looks the same and that played a part in having a hard time getting home. Not having a plan we just stopped at places along the way. We actually found some Chouffe and stopped at a few other places. I wanted to try some local cuisine so I got something out of a fast food vending machine, which turned out to not be so good. After entering some local establishments we started our 6 hour journey. Rachel was worried about getting back and the rest of us were not so worried, so it was a little stressful for her. We finally made it back and went to bed so we could get up for a full day. This hostel was not nearly as nice. There was the four of us and then a couple who apparently were living there and another weird guy.
We all awoke to some ridiculously loud music and the shaking of a bed. They were not bashful around others and were getting nasty in front of the entire room. I am not sure how Kristina got any sleep as she was the one sleeping above them. None of us wanted to say anything to them because we noticed the assortment of knives the couple possessed who were consummating their marriage below. We got out of their as fast as possible and had some things planned.
We wandered out to the Heineken Experience. It was not a working brewery, but was really cool and with a bonus were able to score a few free Heinekens. A double plus, we were all able to get personalized bottles. I was extremely creative and went with Jake Grothoff. As starving as we all were, we found an Italian restaurant near the hostel and sat down to get some grub. Not 5 minutes after, the horny dirtbag who was living in the hostel we were at walked in and seemed to work there. That got a bit of a rise out of us. We ate and then grabbed a few beers to have at the hostel before we met up with the other guys we knew. Also, the Hawks were playing Michigan State so we couldn't miss that. We met up with the guys and headed over to check out the famous "RED LIGHT DISTRICT." I knew I was eventually going to cross paths with this area and I felt pretty confident about going there since I had discussed it with friends in detail before the trip. I was ready, I mean I am the guy who got a fake ID and spent all night at a strip club the night before my senior prom, but I was not ready. I honestly didn't like it. I saw those girls in front of the curtains and could only think what do their father's think. It's decided, I am never having a girl. Not that I want kids ever, but I hope by then natural selection is possible. After that uncomfortable stroll we ended the night at a bar fairly early because we had a long drive back in the morning.
We started off the morning by taking a canal cruise which went through many of the canals of the city and into the bay. It was good to actually get some information on the areas we had been traveling. If I hadn't said it before, the main mode of transportation is bike. They are everywhere! Lined up along every bridge and they even have parking garages for bikes. It is unreal. We picked up Alex and went to search from something to eat and find our way home. While working the GPS, someone noticed an Applebees listed. Of course we were going there. Our prayers had been answered. I was going to order a 2 for 20 just for myself. There were 4 of us in the car that were super pumped and all hailed from the Midwestern Unites States. We actually had to drive like an hour and a half out of our way, but this was going to be worth it. Once we got there, we asked around, but no one had heard of Applebees so our hopes and dreams quickly diminished. We ended up eating at Burger King and were lucky enough to witness an old man walk right into a window. It was absolutely hilarious and we all shared a moment with a Dutch family across the restaurant. It turned out to be quite alright. This town was very cool and was on the ocean so we were able to walk around the peer for awhile, but it was getting a bit dark and we had quite a drive, especially since we went an hour and a half the other way in search of an Applebees. Well, it worked out and we were able to see this amazing place that we had no idea that existed. We headed home and only ran into one problem...
We were in France by know and only a few hours from home, but our gas light had just popped on. O shit, there is nothing close. We used the GPS and got to the nearest town and found the gas station was closed. This is not good. Can you imagine if we ran out of gas. It was like 11 PM and nothing was open so we would be sleeping 5 deep in a small car. We finally found a place that accepted cards and coasted in on fumes. The girls were getting a little upset and I can see how my dad feels with my mom thinking she is a co-pilot in the passenger seat. We made it. I didn't kill anyone, we hit nothing, and although we missed out on the culinary excellence of Applebees, we made it home around 1 AM. It was a great trip and opened the door for other trips to come. Better get back to my homework. Au Revoir.
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