Amsterdam

I'm back in London now after a whirlwind holiday on the continent. Last Thursday night I took a bus from London to Dover, which is quite a remarkable place. The bus drove down threw the great white cliffs of Dover that somewhat glow at night from the reflection of the vast span of lights that illuminate the enormous seaport that sits at the foot of the cliffs looking out into the English Channel. From Dover I took a ferry to Calais, France and then from there I took another bus to Amsterdam. I had never been to the European continent before, it was very exciting for me to be driving through the countrysides and cities of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Once I got to Amsterdam I instantly feel in love with it. I walked outside of Amstel Station not to be met by a cramped car lot but instead rows upon rows of bike racks neatly placed on brick sidewalks flanked by rows of trees and other greenery. This is exemplary of the city. It is so green and beautiful and everyone rides around on their bike with a big grin on their face or a song on their lips. There is literally more bike traffic then car and tram traffic put together. The priority for transportation in the city is bicycles first, then their electric above-ground trams, then cars. So many of the streets don’t even allow cars on them or if they do you hardly see any. This all makes for a very beautiful and peaceful city. And it really seems to make a difference in the life of the people there. Everyone is very friendly and happy and laid back. I found myself having to check the speed of my stride on many occasions because I was used to the bussel of London and not the calm of Amsterdam.
Not only is Amsterdam’s aesthetic and personality amazing but they really have good taste too. Their food and drink is amazing. I had the best food of my time abroad thus far in Amsterdam. I had herring and smoked salmon from a open air fish cafe, their famous Frites (fries) a couple times from little stands, Dutch pancakes from a Dutch pancake house, and an amazing Mediterranean meal from a restaurant serving food typical of a little Dutch island in the Mediterranean that I had never heard of and can't remember the name of. The drink is just as good if not even better. After only two days there I am finding it hard to drink the espresso and coffee in London now, which until I went to Amsterdam I thought was very good. The beer is also great there, Heineken is ten times better fresh then it is bottled and transported like we have it in the US and the UK.
I did not spend all my time making myself fatter though. I also did tons of walking just exploring the city. There were so many museums I wanted to go to but I only made it to the The Rijksm, the Van Gogh Museum and the Ann Frank House. The city has as much culture and artistic and intellectual curiosity and brilliance as cities 4 or 5 times its size.
My travels are not over yet, either. Just before I left for Amsterdam, I booked a plan ticket and hostel for Dublin for next weekend. I just got done reading James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man for class. I felt after reading it I had to go to Dublin to witness for myself the city that Joyce so intimately describes in his amazing novel. I also picked up a book of poems by Yeat's, A famous Irish literary contemporary of Joyce's, who also writes a lot about Ireland, its people, and especially Dublin.
Speaking of class, it is going very well. We are now reading a couple novels by Virginia Wolf and some of her social/political essays. There are only 4 other students in the class so it is a very nice and intimate setting to discuss these great works. Our professor up and gave us tickets to the Frances Bacon exhibit at the Tate Britain and also tickets to the new exclusive installation galleries at the Tate Modern. I am so excited to go and see them both. I am kind of going museum wild but I think I'm going to try to go to the Natural History Museum and the Imperial War Museum here in London this weekend.
My internship is still going well, also. I am currently working on making a film for the Giving Nations awards ceremony that I described in an earlier post.
More soon to come.... Cheers!