My original plan was to meet up with Julia and Steve at
their Airbnb apartment at 8:30am…. You’ll find out later that even though
I decided to meet them at the train station instead, I wouldn’t have made it to
their apartment anyway and could have screwed up the plans for the whole day.
We headed to Alkmaar for the famous cheese market. Now, this
is no regular cheese market, mind you. This is a market for the people that
make the cheese to sell it to the people that sell the cheese… (I’m sure Julia
has a much more efficient way of saying that in her blog.)
It was so funny to watch these guys in their “uniforms”
running the cheese to and fro, across the square as it was auctioned off. A
choice few also had the privilege of riding in the… cheese carrier things (also
sure that Julia knows the fancy term for that).
The cheese inspectors were so intense.
After lunch, we headed to the Rijksmuseum. It was the first
time for all of us. Although, I think that Julia and I were the ones that were actually
excited about it. Julia and I love to walk through museums at similar paces so
that we can ponder the symbolism of certain paintings. I really hope that
people don’t listen to such conversations… Let’s just say we don’t sound like
art experts when we discuss the meaning of Hals and Rembrandt’s depictions
of peasants.
“How drunk
do you think that guy there in the corner is?”
“Well, you see the way that lady is
helping him stand up? I think that means…”
Those are the kinds of discussions that we have.
After the Rijksmuseum, Steve and Julia headed to the Anne
Frank house (which I had been to this past winter). I took this opportunity to
meet up with my friends (Max and John) from the night before and hang out and
shoot some pool. I lost. Terribly. Upon realizing that they hadn’t gone
exploring yet, I took the opportunity to give them a tour of my favorite city.
I tried the whole “even though this is a free walking tour, I make my living
based on tips” speech that I’ve heard on walking tours, but to no avail.
We waded in the water in Museumplein that I had gone
ice-skating on this past winter. THAT was awesome. There are so many things
that can be seen in a mile radius, so I really enjoyed just walking around and
seeing my favorite sites and describing why I like them so much. I don’t know
how much they were listening to all my “fun facts;” I’m sure they would’ve
failed a pop quiz if I had given one… I guess my teaching side comes out when
Julia is not around.
Julia, Stephen and I then met up for a canal tour. A must
for Amsterdam. We went right at dusk and got to see the bridges all lit up
which was just perfection. I decided that since the weekend prices for all of
the hostels went up so much that I might as well just stay at the apartment
with Julia and Stephen, so I headed back to my hostel to grab my bag while
Julia and Stephen hung out in Dam Square. As we were walking to their
apartment, I started realizing how far away it was. I went most of the way with
them, but then Julia ended up carrying my bag for the last bit because I had
plans to meet up with Max and John. We set up a time for me to be back so that
she could set her alarm and I could buzz in.
We went to some cool places, meeting people from New Zealand
that thought that we had the coolest American accents. It’s so strange how much
I hear that when I’m abroad. I always answer with an “I don’t have an accent,”
and then people look at me like I’m crazy and laugh.
We ended up just wandering along the canals and lit-up
bridges, which, in my humble opinion, is Amsterdam at its finest. I figured
that since I had a map, and I know Amsterdam pretty well, that I could just
find where I was on the map when I had to go and find Julia’s apartment. This
was not the case. This actually turned into what I should have in the “about
me” section for my blog, which is all too accurately entitled, “The diary of a
directionally challenged traveler.”
I could not for the life of me find where I was on the map.
So, instead I would think that I recognized a street, go down it, recognize a
landmark, walk to that, recognize another street and then literally be back in
the same spot 15 minutes later, flabbergasted as to how I even got there. And
then the same exact thing would happen again because I would recognize street
names BECAUSE I HAD JUST BEEN DOWN THERE. Of course, Max thought that it was
too funny to watch me walk in circles to help.
I don’t know how many people will get this reference, but I
was watching The Two Towers the following night, and remember the very
beginning when Frodo and Sam are wandering around? Sam says something to the
effect of, “This looks strangely familiar.” Frodo responds with, "It’s because
we’ve been here before… we’re going in circles!” That was us. Except they ended
up with a really creepy guide name Gollum, and I ended up asking drunk people
for directions and getting even more lost. But you can see the similarities.
SOMEHOW, (after two hours of being hopelessly lost), I
FINALLY wandered onto a street that I could find on my map, and with a few
mistakes, arrived at Julia’s apartment. Now, believe it or not, I didn’t panic
during this ordeal. I knew I was going to find my way. That’s one thing I love
about traveling by myself. I often end up taking the long way to get to things,
but I always get there because I don’t get stressed about leading people in the
wrong direction. When it’s just me? I don’t really care. It means I’ve found
another route, that’s all!
The one thing that I was worried about, though, was that
Julia would be worried about me. Thankfully, she went back to sleep, trusting
that I would find my way home… and I did! When I buzzed to get into the
apartment, she woke right up, let me in and I just stood there, AMAZED that I
had arrived.
So, yes, I am directionally challenged, but to my defense,
not all of the street names were on my map.
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