The Whirlwind Comes to an End.doc

After six glorious days in Berlin and Prague, I took an overnight bus back home to Amsterdam. Not only was I excited to drop my bags and settle into some fresh clothes, but Emily and Raffi were waiting for me upon arrival.

You see, their bus was set to arrive in Amsterdam at 11:30pm and my bus was to pull into the city at 7:00am the next morning. To remedy this conflict, I duct-taped my apartment key to the inside ceiling of my mailbox. When Emily arrived, she was to reach into the mailbox (as if to deliver a letter) and pry the tape and the key from the box. All week I tried not to think about the possibility of someone inserting a letter and noticing there was a key, but I was mighty happy to get a message from Emily saying they had received it.

I arrived in Amsterdam at 5:00am and hoofed it home. After a quick reunion and obligatory questions about each others bus rides, we all collapsed into a few hours of extra sleep. That morning, we raided the grocery store downstairs (not the C.H, but the A.H in fact) to collect items for a breakfast feast. It seems the only time I have breakfast feasts is when visitors arrive (I wouldn't have it any other way). After the meal, we set out from the apartment and covered a lot of ground - I took Raffi and Emily through six to eight of the popular areas of the city. We saw markets, squares, buildings of note, and, of course, bicycles everywhere we went. At the market, we picked up broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms for a stir-fry as well as three avacadoes for 1 Euro! 

After our five hour walk, we returned home and made a delicious peanut stir-fry with rice. We chatted over a few beers before heading to The Neighbour - which is, without a doubt, my favourite Amsterdam haunt. It's off the beaten path, it's open until 4am, and it feels to me like a quintessential Amsterdam bar. We spent a few hours there sipping beers and listening to really groovy music.

The next morning we slept in and rejuvenated with yet another breakfast feast. It feels great to have guests to make coffee and eggs for. The weather was so great that we decided it would be a shame to spend the day inside. Instead of spending the 12 Euros on the Van Gogh (which we considered) or going out for a nice meal (also an option), instead we spent the money wisely on a nice communal dinner at the apartment - the guacamole made from the avacadoes was the highlight of the meal. Because 12,000 Scottish fans had infiltrated the city for a qualifying match for the World Cup, we decided to stick in and have a house party instead. We stayed up over a few drinks and shared some laughs, talked about the future (as we're prone to do), and compared travel schedules. 

The day of departure is always hard, but we managed to get up for a final walk around the city and finished the visit with a cup of tea before Emily and Raffi went to the bus station. It was a wonderful weekend and a reminder that I'm lucky (in addition to MAIPR friends) to have such wonderfully close friends also on the continent. When I sometimes miss the types of parties that go on back in Canada, these types of visits completely rejuvenate my spirit, while at the same time reminding me of all the great friends back home. I really got to know Raffi more this weekend than I did in December, and I was happy to have the opportunity - he's a great guy. Emily is OK too.

With the end of the visit came the harsh reality that reading week was over. I had a fantastic time on the road and an equally great time back home in Amsterdam with Emily and Raffi. The time off was maximized to the best of its potential. 

Doc's Prescription of the Day: I'm half-Scottish by birth, and I love the Scots. But 12,000 testosterone driven football hooligans proved to be overwhelming in the city of Amsterdam. I'm glad the Dutch won the game.