Since it was Kevin’s last day, we let him decide our plan for the day. He decided that he wanted to go for a stroll down through the Red Light District. After all, what trip to Amsterdam is complete without hookers, weed, and crazies?
Well, we experienced a little bit of everything during out trip. There was certainly enough weed…everywhere. Coffee shop after coffee shop reeking of pot, neon signs everywhere, and a few prostitutes here and there. It was kind of like Vegas, only more European. In any event, a good experience and glad we went around.
We said goodbye to Kevin, and decided to rent ourselves some bicycles! Everyone says that the best way to tour Amsterdam is on bicycle (after all, bicycles rule, if you remember from the previous post). So, Yost and I got ourselves some original Dutch bicycles and made our way away from the city.
We rode all around. First, we headed toward the Amstel river (yes, the same Amstel that gives the beer its name). We had a beautiful ride down there along the river, and came across a windmill, a buffalo, and some pretty scenery. We turned around, and then started making random turns, following wherever our heart desired from various streets to side streets to parks.
After one of these impulse turns, I spotted a sign that said “Brewerij,” which I was pretty sure meant Brewery in Dutch. So, we just so happened to make our way over. As we would read later, this place is actually a favorite among the locals. It was actually called “Brewerij ‘t IJ,” and the spot was absolutely packed with people. The beer was phenomenal, and we played cards, sat on a bench, and had a drink. That was a really nice, spontaneous, and fun surprise (and a much needed break from all of the riding).
A bit more riding landed us at a place called Nemo, which looked like a giant ship. We only saw the slanted roof, but we decided it was worth checking out. We think that it was a museum, but this deck was opened to the public, and had chairs and games out for people to play. We took advantage, and had a quick catnap on the chairs before making out way back home.
Hungry, we looked for some suggestions as to where to eat. The menus were pretty difficult to decipher, so we found a general area that had tons of places, and figured we would find something. After looking at tons of menus, we found two places that were not Italian: one of which was talked about in a tourist map, and the other looked like traditional Dutch food. We went with the latter.
Again, we can’t seem to miss on restaurants (knock on wood). First, we met this really great couple from England (well, the wife was from Australia, but they now live in England), and we got to talk to them for a little while. It was actually their third time back at this place, so we knew we had made a good choice even before we ordered.
When we did order, we were not disappointed in the least. I got the pea soup on the recommendation from the gentleman next to me, and Yost went for the potato soup. Both were awesome. But then came the main course. We both ordered “Hochposh,” a traditional Dutch dish consisting of a shitload of mashed potatoes mixed with a vegetable (we got endive) and a shitload of meat. We probably had four whole potatoes each, as well as a bocce ball-sized meatball, and it was heavenly. Barely able to move, we called it a night and went to sleep.
The next morning was rainy and gross, so we returned our bikes, grabbed some delicious stroopwaffels (crazy-heavy wafer waffle type things with caramel in the middle. Hard to explain, but great) for our train ride to Berlin. Six hours later, we were finally at Yost’s “home.”
After dropping our stuff off at his apartment, I was immediately introduced to the two things he had been raving about: doner and Eschenbrau. Doner is kabob meat with veggies in a pita (which was delicious), and Eschenbrau is the home-brew place that is situated in a little garden covered by trees and filled with benches…and people. The beer was phenomenal, and the atmosphere was great: people were having picnics, just hanging around talking, and just enjoying the evening.
From there, we decided to hit up the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag because Yost had never seen them at night. They were absolutely beautiful, and a really cool welcome to Berlin for me. From there, we took the last train back and caught up on some sleep.
Day two in Berlin was a “do work” day, led by Tour Guide Brian. So, we did what we had to do! First things first, we headed back to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag to see them both during daylight and to try and go up the dome of the Reichstag because it was closed when Yost went with his group. Unfortunately, it was still closed. I tried to complain to the administration, telling them, “After all you’ve done to my people, letting us up there is the LEAST you could do.” They weren’t having it, so we left to find bigger and better things.
Next stop: museum island. We saw a monument set up for the burning of books, the Berlinerdome, and some other famous spots. We made our way to the D.D.R. museum. No, not that D.D.R. This was an interactive, hands-on museum that displayed the lives of people living in East and West Germany during the divide. You have to love a museum where you are not only allowed, but also encouraged to touch and open things.
After all of those monuments, we had a nice walk around Alexanderplotz and Hackesher Markt, as well as a stroll through a park toward Yost’s University, so I could see where he went to school everyday. We also made moves toward the T.V. tower, but it was a little overcast so we decided to save going up for another day.
Ka De We was our next destination. Ka De We is the largest department store in Europe next to Harrods. This place was massive, and we spent some time just walking around the food section, looking at twenty cases of cakes, truffles, sandwiches, anti-pasta…basically anything and everything you could need or want food-wise was on display. It was pretty insane.
A quick stop at the apartment, and we were off again, this time to the Holocaust memorial. I love how each memorial is set up so differently and can mean whatever you want it to. It was set up as a ton of rectangular pillars of varying heights and sizes, and created almost a maze. Yost gave me a few minutes to get lost in there.
A long, long walk down Fredrichstraße brought us to Checkpoint Charlie, where the U.S. had set up their checkpoint between East and West Germany. Not too far by was the Berlin Wall, as well as an amazing museum called, “Topography of Terror,” which was in the building formerly used as the S.S. Headquarters. This museum was fantastic. It had pictures of so many aspects of the war, from the officers to the rounding up and public humiliation of Jews and Gypsies as well as pictures from inside the concentration camps as well. It was an amazing history of the rise and fall of the Nazi party, complete with photographs. Truly incredible.
We grabbed some groceries on our way home for lunch for the next few days, headed out to dinner at a great Thai place, and then came home to relax. More importantly, I finally got to do laundry. Let me rephrase: I finally got to do laundry in a machine, and not by hand. Best €1.70 of the trip! Just kidding…but really.
To top off an already incredible day, we met up with two of Yost’s friends (Karl and Ian) who had just gotten back from Italy that afternoon. We all went to Eschenbrau, had a beer, and talked about all of our travels, about Michigan, about, well everything. A perfect end to a perfect day.
That’s all for now!
-Josh
