i AMsterdam

on friday, anna, edy and i made our much-awaited travel to amsterdam, the land of canals and cannabis. after dropping our things off at our hostel, located near the van gogh museum, and unsuccessfully finding a place to eat, we were lucky enough to find a bar nearby packed with no one but university students. after a fantastic dinner of chips and guac and a couple of beers (plus a few), we learned that we had, in fact, walked into a dutch-version of a sorority and fraternity mixer, consisting of speeches, brandishing of wine, vodka and other wrapped gifts, and traditional dutch songs (one sung by the boys and another by the girls - at the same time).  

with perhaps our weekends' worth of current dutch culture, we set off the next morning looking for some classic dutch art starting with the van gogh museum. unfortunately, the museum is currently closed for renovation until april and is currently being held at the hermitage.

however, for the convenience of tourists, a thick red cable has been hung along the streets and rooftops from the van gogh museum to the hermitage. what has been turned into "the van gogh mile" was a quiet and gorgeous walk past the canals with swimming swans, exquisite dutch facades, and hundreds of equally beautiful bikes and vespas.

the van gogh exhibit was obviously gorgeous, and while some overcrowding was to be expected, the size of the exhibit itself was just right to allow for that to be only a minor issue. we spent the rest of the day exploring the city, frequently popping in and out of shops and cafes to warm up from the cold and wind and finding ourselves eating all the goodies displayed on every corner, including macarons, chocolates, cookies, and crepes, and fries.

i spy, with my little eye, a space invader! for those of you living under a graffiti-less rock, these little mosaic computer game characters have been made famous by the french urban artist, invader (born 1969!). he does this in cities around the world and then documents this as an "invasion", with books and maps of where to find each invader. he is repsonsible for perhaps the most recognizable street art stunt of the last decade and has spread the invasion to 32 french cities and 35 cities around the world. 

i had found on the internet the address to what was supposed to be a very hip restaurant in the city. word of advice: don't let looks fool you! we wined and dined at a place called "canvas op de 7e". a restaurant/bar/nightclub filled with cool, young people, great music, a delicious menu for reasonable prices, and hip artwork all around. the drab, cold, abandoned-looking lobby from which we had entered at the beginning of the night had been completely transformed into a welcoming club entrance with candles lighting the lobby, a hostess in front of a makeshift coat-check area and bouncers at the door. 

a view from the central public library

the following day we expected to wander the city a little more before our flight back to copenhagen. however, the weather proved a little too harsh for enjoyable walking, so we took one last impromptu tram tour that took us from one side of the city to the other (note: public transportation is an excellent way to see a city both during the day and night when the weather proves a bit too bitter to face head on) and then took shelter in the amsterdam central public library, located just 10 minutes from central station. 

another view from the library

this is a definite must-see on anyone's list to amsterdam. it is the largest public library in europe, containing an auditorium, an exhibition room, the library museum, and 2000 parking spaces for bicycles!

a submarine study nook!

challenge: find the one cd or dvd that the library does
not own (it's a trick question, i don't think it exists) 

after perusing the shelves and unwillingly letting the time trickle by, we made our way back to central station and in barely the blink of an eye, were back in copenhagen.