Amsterdam etc...
Yes, yesterday was actually much fun, and I did in fact get up in time, which was a miracle in itself. Went to the trip (organised by ESN - the Erasmus Student Network, i.e. the International Students' society, sort of) in a large group of people, and for only E15 managed to do quite a lot!
Started the day off with a trip to the Heineken Experience - it was actually really fun!! Went around their old brewery which has been converted into a sort of museum-like thing which told the story of the company and of the general beer-making process. Even included tree free drinks in the two bars inside!
[It was past midday by the time we got round to having them, so I guess it's not quite so bad ;)]
Then it was time for a canal trip around the Centre of the city, intermingled with lunch (sandwiches provided by ESN) - was really good, and I managed to take an insane amount of photos (but then, the same can be said about the whole day!). This was followed by a trip into the Amsterdam Historical Museum (i.e. museum on the history of the city), which was very interesting but, unfortunately (I guess), so much so that the hour that we were given to go around it was in no way enough. I only got as far as about 1500 in any detail - the rest I had to rush through on my way to the meeting point - and it was first referred to in the chronicles in 1275 [scary thought - Merton is older than Amsterdam... :s].
After that, we had some free time before dinner, which was used to go around the shops. Managed to find a nice pair of trousers for only 15 euros, but didn't buy it to begin with as thought it'd be good to have a look around the other shops too... What I didn't realise was that the shops were closing at 6, and so I managed to miss it - but it was still good to know that I can actually fit quite comfortably into a 28 waist pair of linen/cotton trousers!
Anyhow, dinner (which unlike everything else - beside the shopping of course - was not included in the 15E we paid for the whole day) was quite good, though the pepper steak they served was a bit on the small side and a bit too peppery, at least until my tongue got used to it!
The dinner was swiftly followed by a brisk walk around the city - in fact, a guided tour, which encompassed the Jewish and Chinese quarters and, incidentally, the Red Light District. It was about 8pm by this point, so it was rather busy there. An experience, if I may be forgiven the cliche... I think it's one of those things that you have to do if you're in Holland - not that it's necessarily pleasant or anything, but it's certainly quite eye-opening... The guide was also very good in explaining to us the actual workings of the system - and that's not something that you hear about every day, nor indeed in every city in the world!
Having been slightly traumatised by the tour (and suffering somewhat from the freezing cold outside), I didn't spend that long in the club that everyone else went to; the music was really rather poor, and I really wasn't in the mood. So I went back to Leiden; but it was, overall, a very very good day out :)
Not been up to anything productive today; went to a pancake place with the others from Ox+an assorted crew of friends, which was nice... Ah, the huge pancake with cherry and cream/ice-cream! OK, so it may've cost more than the pepper steak with chips & salad for yesterday's dinner, but it was totally worth it! Still feeling quite full now, about 3 hours later!
Am thinking about doing work... I suppose that's progress! ;)
N x
PS: anyone actually going to guess No4 on the lyrics quiz? See here...
Started the day off with a trip to the Heineken Experience - it was actually really fun!! Went around their old brewery which has been converted into a sort of museum-like thing which told the story of the company and of the general beer-making process. Even included tree free drinks in the two bars inside!
[It was past midday by the time we got round to having them, so I guess it's not quite so bad ;)]
Then it was time for a canal trip around the Centre of the city, intermingled with lunch (sandwiches provided by ESN) - was really good, and I managed to take an insane amount of photos (but then, the same can be said about the whole day!). This was followed by a trip into the Amsterdam Historical Museum (i.e. museum on the history of the city), which was very interesting but, unfortunately (I guess), so much so that the hour that we were given to go around it was in no way enough. I only got as far as about 1500 in any detail - the rest I had to rush through on my way to the meeting point - and it was first referred to in the chronicles in 1275 [scary thought - Merton is older than Amsterdam... :s].
After that, we had some free time before dinner, which was used to go around the shops. Managed to find a nice pair of trousers for only 15 euros, but didn't buy it to begin with as thought it'd be good to have a look around the other shops too... What I didn't realise was that the shops were closing at 6, and so I managed to miss it - but it was still good to know that I can actually fit quite comfortably into a 28 waist pair of linen/cotton trousers!
Anyhow, dinner (which unlike everything else - beside the shopping of course - was not included in the 15E we paid for the whole day) was quite good, though the pepper steak they served was a bit on the small side and a bit too peppery, at least until my tongue got used to it!
The dinner was swiftly followed by a brisk walk around the city - in fact, a guided tour, which encompassed the Jewish and Chinese quarters and, incidentally, the Red Light District. It was about 8pm by this point, so it was rather busy there. An experience, if I may be forgiven the cliche... I think it's one of those things that you have to do if you're in Holland - not that it's necessarily pleasant or anything, but it's certainly quite eye-opening... The guide was also very good in explaining to us the actual workings of the system - and that's not something that you hear about every day, nor indeed in every city in the world!
Having been slightly traumatised by the tour (and suffering somewhat from the freezing cold outside), I didn't spend that long in the club that everyone else went to; the music was really rather poor, and I really wasn't in the mood. So I went back to Leiden; but it was, overall, a very very good day out :)
Not been up to anything productive today; went to a pancake place with the others from Ox+an assorted crew of friends, which was nice... Ah, the huge pancake with cherry and cream/ice-cream! OK, so it may've cost more than the pepper steak with chips & salad for yesterday's dinner, but it was totally worth it! Still feeling quite full now, about 3 hours later!
Am thinking about doing work... I suppose that's progress! ;)
N x
PS: anyone actually going to guess No4 on the lyrics quiz? See here...