An Amster-Damn Good Weekend.doc

The title is a shout out to Bronwyn, one of my houseguests this past weekend. If I had a nickel for every time she said something was "Amster-Damn Good," I'd be a wealthy man. Thankfully, this type of enthusiasm for the city made the visit with Emily, Bronwyn, and Cynthia extremely memorable.

I greeted the girls as their bus arrived at 11:30pm. The meeting could have been in a movie: I cycled up just as the girls were dragging their suitcases away from the bus. I rang my little bell (which I think was a welcome sound after an eight hour journey) and we rejoiced in a mini-reunion. After the obligatory bike photos, we walked with luggage in tow to my apartment. There we blew up an air mattress (three guests is a new one for me) and then had a catch-up over a few beers. Emily and Cynthia had moved out of their apartment in Rennes that very day so we hit the hay quite early. It struck me afterwards that I was there to bookend Emily's Rennes experience in some ways. When I arrived in September she had only moved into her new apartment a few days before and the day she moved out of the city she arrived in Amsterdam. It's hard to believe how much time has passed since then.

The next morning we had a breaky feast (with the fresh market items bought the day before) and then we hit the city. I took the girls through the market. It was, without a doubt, the longest market visit I've ever had. That's because I've never been with shoppers before. Instead of just walking the length of the street and just "taking it in," the girls were keen to investigate, inquire about the price, and PURCHASE. This was totally fine with me. The next stop was MuseumPlein where I pointed out all the cultural spots. The I AMSTERDAM sign has returned to the area after a two-week absence (sorry Michael, Graham, and Leslie) so we took some shots with the sign. Bronwyn, not wanting to miss an opportunity for a great profile pic, sat in the lower case 'd' and we took photos from the opposite side so it looked like a 'b'. Clever girl. We wandered to the north of the city past all the galleries and busy shopping areas - both Emily and Bronwyn purchased some comfortable Birkenstock shoes. I might nab a pair before I ship off.

After a quick grocery stop to get supplies to the evening we headed to Hetta's house for an MAIPR BBQ. The girls had been in the city one evening and they were already invited to a party. We had prepared a platter of guacamole (made with fresh avocadoes, onions, tomatoes, and lemon juice). It was a big hit. Emily also made her own hamburgers, and Bronwyn and I opted for some grilled poulet. I am happy to announce that all the MAIPR crew made it out to the BBQ so Emily finally met Dev from India who she had heard a lot about; she was particularly interested by a story he told about sneakily catching a culprit back in Heronbank. I think they're kindred spirits - tricks and pranks rank high on their lists. We stayed late into the night chatting with the big group (Hetta also had three friends from home), avoiding RAs for a noise complaint, and enjoying the left over grill items. On the way home I took the girls through the Red Light District (an AMS must). Yet again, after previous visits from Emily and Michael, all the MAIPR kids told me just how much they love my friends. If they could just see us ALL at one gathering.... they’d probably run for the hills.

Saturday was also a busy day. Our first stop was the World Press Photo Exhibit. I took Michael two weeks ago and thought the girls would enjoy it. It was great the second time around; there is something interesting for everyone. We went through a few more markets, saw other parts of the city, and eventually ended up at the Anne Frank Museum. Bronwyn and Cynthia went inside. Since Emily and I had been in before we hung out in oversized patio chairs for an hour and talked about plans post-September. After that proved taxing, we read through a Dutch menu and tried to guess what each other would have for each course (some things never change).

That night we made a tasty and healthy dinner: pesto, tomato, mozzarella, and pine nut sandwiches (a recipe I picked up in Amsterdam) with an everything salad with corn and broccoli that Cynthia and Emily made. Delicious. I took the girls to a club on Rembrandtplein called Club Smokey since it has cheap cover and plays accessible 'poppy' tunes. The song playing as we entered was a Will Smith classic. I think Bronwyn had a heart attack. It turned out to be the perfect place for the Saturday night - they played new stuff and some old classics. Best of all, there was no cover and drinks were relatively well priced. We stayed there late until one of the group (who will remain nameless) parked herself in a chair and said she was danced out from all the walking; Lady Marmalade quickly cured her inability to walk. The girls sang Fill Me Up Buttercup on the walk home - undeniably one of the best nights in Amsterdam.

Sunday we took a day trip out of the city to Zandvoort. I'm not sure if Zandvoort translates intoSandfort in English, but it's the closest beach to Amsterdam and boy, is it beautiful. Who would have thought that 25 minutes outside of the city there are sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. Hotels and restaurants pepper the beach and there are wind tents for rent. If you had told me we were in Florida I would have believed you. It also helped that it was a scorching 24 degrees (scorching by Netherland standards). We made the most of it: tanning in the sun, eating lays potato chips and choco-peanuts, watching little children fight over a mountain of lounge chairs, and we even considered a game or two of beach volleyball. The latter was deemed too much effort on such a sunny day. From 2 - 7pm we soaked it up like beach royalty before taking the train home with everyone else who made the pilgrimage to the beach. That night, us lobsters made a wonderful peanut stir-fry and chatted over a beer (yes, we were beered out). As a nice cap to the trip, we flicked on Paris Je T'aime and fell off to sleep.

The next morning we went on one more market and department store trip before Bronwyn and Emily headed off for the bus en route to Spain. Cynthia visited for a few hours longer before heading off to the train station en route to Italy (I did mention we're royalty, right?). The apartment has never felt so empty. To go from four voices filling a tiny bachelor to just me getting back to schoolwork was a bit of a downer. After living with Emily at 135, I've become good friends with her louder volleyball loving other half Bronwyn, and after visiting Rennes in September I've also become close to her quieter med-school bound flatmate Cynthia. It was an absolute pleasure to host three really amazing girls, and surprise surprise; there was no noise complaint! I'm really proud when my MAIPR classmates tell me how wonderful my friends are, but I can't say I'm surprised they feel so.

I return to Canada a month today to see all my other wonderful friends and family.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: Euroshopper choco-peanuts (one third the price of M&M peanuts) were our companion this weekend. I don't know if you can get a hold of them, but they may just change your life.