Amsterdam, day 1 (Paper travelogue, transcribed)
Sunday, April 6th, 2003 02:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lapis_lazuli022At 12:30am back-home time, we were treated to an amazing peach-coloured sunrise over the outermost islands of northern Scotland. The small land masses rose out of the mist, just a few at first but becoming more frequent until we were over solid land. It's overcast in Scotland this morning, and the pink/peach reflections of the sunrise on the clouds are sporadically broken by the high peaks of land. It's gorgeous.
We're only about an hour out. We'll be crossing Scotland and possibly a bit of northern England, then the North Sea (which will be a mere hop in a plane this size, vs the hour in and of itself that it took in the little prop plane last April).
Daylight savings switches over, back home, in about an hour. I know England's already sprung forward, but I don't know about the rest of Europe. I'm assuming that, to accomodate the time change, for just today Ams is +7 instead of +6, which will put us in around 9am.
2pm (8am back home)
Most comfortable bed. Ever.
In other news, I'm in complete culture shock.
Everyone talks about how friendly it is toward English speakers here, and don't get me wrong, it definitely is. Everyone speaks wonderful English. But, the signage, once you leave the airport, is all in Dutch. Or if it's bilingual, then it's Dutch and French, or some other combination that doesn't help me very much. It's not the end of the world - we can still pretty much navigate around, and really that's all we need - but it's very strange for me, not being able to read any of the signs. I feel like I'm missing something big; almost like something's wrong with my eyes. And, what the hell is a 'toegang'? It sounds like something to call in the phantom cuticle sheriff to disband.
Everyone also told me that the pot smell is confined to the coffeehouses. Well, it's not. It's SO not. Already we've been queued next to people who positively reek. I suppose my phobia/aversion is in for some hardcore immersion therapy here, whether I like it or not.
And then there's the sex. My goodness.
Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a very sex-positive person, and I think a certain openness toward sex in daily life is a good thing, but... my goodness. And we haven't even gone to the red light district yet. It's just the pervasiveness of sex in the culture here. It's not a bad thing, necessarily. I'm not saying that. It's just strange to see it. It's something I'm not used to.
Like being someplace with so many cyclists. Recumbent cycles are pretty popular too, and it's just strange to see a whole procession of women in skin-tight clothing zoom past you, lying down.
So, all in all, I'm fairly overwhelmed. We went for a bit of a walk - to Centraal Station and around the streets between here and there. The distances are much closer than the map led me to believe. I'm glad we took a taxi here afterall because I never would have found the hotel on foot (and because our driver was very helpful and informative) but the station is only a block or two, and we should be able to take the train back to the airport with no problem.
I know I felt this overwhelmed in Whitby my first time, and I got used to it. I keep telling myself to give it time, and I'll be okay.
Directly across the street from the hotel, visible out our window, are a mexican restaurant, a gay bar (with rainbow flag) and a 'Chinese Fondue' restaurant. All in those old, old elegant row-houses.
We're only about an hour out. We'll be crossing Scotland and possibly a bit of northern England, then the North Sea (which will be a mere hop in a plane this size, vs the hour in and of itself that it took in the little prop plane last April).
Daylight savings switches over, back home, in about an hour. I know England's already sprung forward, but I don't know about the rest of Europe. I'm assuming that, to accomodate the time change, for just today Ams is +7 instead of +6, which will put us in around 9am.
2pm (8am back home)
Most comfortable bed. Ever.
In other news, I'm in complete culture shock.
Everyone talks about how friendly it is toward English speakers here, and don't get me wrong, it definitely is. Everyone speaks wonderful English. But, the signage, once you leave the airport, is all in Dutch. Or if it's bilingual, then it's Dutch and French, or some other combination that doesn't help me very much. It's not the end of the world - we can still pretty much navigate around, and really that's all we need - but it's very strange for me, not being able to read any of the signs. I feel like I'm missing something big; almost like something's wrong with my eyes. And, what the hell is a 'toegang'? It sounds like something to call in the phantom cuticle sheriff to disband.
Everyone also told me that the pot smell is confined to the coffeehouses. Well, it's not. It's SO not. Already we've been queued next to people who positively reek. I suppose my phobia/aversion is in for some hardcore immersion therapy here, whether I like it or not.
And then there's the sex. My goodness.
Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a very sex-positive person, and I think a certain openness toward sex in daily life is a good thing, but... my goodness. And we haven't even gone to the red light district yet. It's just the pervasiveness of sex in the culture here. It's not a bad thing, necessarily. I'm not saying that. It's just strange to see it. It's something I'm not used to.
Like being someplace with so many cyclists. Recumbent cycles are pretty popular too, and it's just strange to see a whole procession of women in skin-tight clothing zoom past you, lying down.
So, all in all, I'm fairly overwhelmed. We went for a bit of a walk - to Centraal Station and around the streets between here and there. The distances are much closer than the map led me to believe. I'm glad we took a taxi here afterall because I never would have found the hotel on foot (and because our driver was very helpful and informative) but the station is only a block or two, and we should be able to take the train back to the airport with no problem.
I know I felt this overwhelmed in Whitby my first time, and I got used to it. I keep telling myself to give it time, and I'll be okay.
Directly across the street from the hotel, visible out our window, are a mexican restaurant, a gay bar (with rainbow flag) and a 'Chinese Fondue' restaurant. All in those old, old elegant row-houses.
