bill's pilgrimage, part 1: amsterdam.
For the last three weeks I was more or less travelling through Europe. I say "more or less" because I was forced to visit more countries than planned due to the stupid volcano on Iceland that I still cannot pronounce. ;)
My first (planned) destination was Amsterdam, and I still love this city to bits. My kind host was lhuneldaiel, who did her best to make me feel as much at home as possible and who played mother hen for me when I returned from my odyssey on Tuesday exhausted as hell. ;) Thank you so much, Lhun, for everything you did for me. I keep saying this, I know, but I have every reason to. Not everyone is fortunate to have friends like you. *glomps Lhun*
It's impossible to do a full travel report, so I'm just going to share the main events of my stay and then let the pictures speak for themselves. :D
Things I did in Amsterdam:
The city's neo-renaissance theatre.
Leidseplein, Amsterdam's Panopticon, where you can almost always find street artists, musicians, and tons of (more or less expensive) restaurants.
The Paradiso, which used to be a church and was later used as a concert hall because of the great acoustics. Stars like David Bowie and the Sex Pistols celebrated their international breakthrough in this building.
The Bulldog, the centre of a soft drug chain, located in a former police station for the sake of sweet irony. ;)
Hard Rock Café:
The square in front of the Hard Rock Café, complete with big chess board and figures. I loved this.
The square from the other side.
Inside the Hard Rock Café, there was, of course, a picture of The Boss. XD
And the work tools of famous guitarists like Slash of Guns'n'Roses (right).
I was particularly amused by this photo of SUM41 and the blink-182 ad poster.
Albert Cuyp Market, De Pijp:
At a Dutch market, you naturally find cheese. XD
Here you can buy one of the traditional dishes, marinated raw herring with onions and gherkins.
No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, you can actually buy chocolate cocks and boobs and pussies at this market. XDDD
I really liked the bathtub curtain with the notes on it!
This is a statue of André Hazes, who died in 2004 and was one of Amsterdam's most famous singers.
To add some more cliché, have some clogs. XD
We also saw a little starling.
And a stand with lots and lots of fake football shirts. ;)
No clue what this statue was there for, actually. XD
Interesting/noteworthy/amusing stuff and curiosities I spotted:
I really love the fact that the clocks in Amsterdam have the city's sign in them, the three red crosses. :D
AJAX FLAG!
One could feel right at home! XD
And, rather unsurprisingly, we found grilled chicken from Chris - apparently the best there are. XDDD
Of course, none of my holiday picture posts would be complete without food pics... XD
The awesome, awesome tuna pasta salad that Lhun made for me when I arrived in Amsterdam!
Surinamese cakes! They were so good that I brought some home with me. :D
Our dinner at the Hard Rock Café. I had a hickory-smoked pork burger, which was fucking awesome.
At the market, we had delicious little pancake balls...
... Vietnamese egg rolls...
... and the aforementioned specialty, raw herring!
I also tasted the famous Hema sausage, a very juicy and absolutely fantastic smoked sausage that is famous for a good reason. :D
In this restaurant, we had dinner on my last day in Amsterdam. We actually went there because one of Lhun's former work colleagues worked there, but we found out he wasn't working there anymore. *LOL* BUT! They had the most gorgeous Spanish waiter. I nearly died every time I saw him up close. And he spoke English like Álvaro Arbeloa. So fucking hot, he was. XD
Ah yes, the food was delicious, too. XDD One of the best steaks I've ever had, hands down.
I do realise that this post doesn't really contain a lot of pics of Amsterdam, but then again my stay there was pretty short. If you want to see more of the beautiful city, and I do recommend you to, do check out my country: netherlands tag. I had a lot more time to visit places last year.
My first (planned) destination was Amsterdam, and I still love this city to bits. My kind host was lhuneldaiel, who did her best to make me feel as much at home as possible and who played mother hen for me when I returned from my odyssey on Tuesday exhausted as hell. ;) Thank you so much, Lhun, for everything you did for me. I keep saying this, I know, but I have every reason to. Not everyone is fortunate to have friends like you. *glomps Lhun*
It's impossible to do a full travel report, so I'm just going to share the main events of my stay and then let the pictures speak for themselves. :D
Things I did in Amsterdam:
- watched lots of football, including Real's matches against Getafe and Atlético, and the CL matches of Arsenal against Barcelona and Bayern against Lyon
- had dinner at awesome places like a Surinamese restaurant, the Hard Rock Café, and a fantastic Mexican restaurant
- watched Constantine and tons of Flaco/Lalo episodes of Botineras ;)
- went to see some sights, for instance the Albert Cuyp market at De Pijp and the Leidseplein
The city's neo-renaissance theatre.
Leidseplein, Amsterdam's Panopticon, where you can almost always find street artists, musicians, and tons of (more or less expensive) restaurants.
The Paradiso, which used to be a church and was later used as a concert hall because of the great acoustics. Stars like David Bowie and the Sex Pistols celebrated their international breakthrough in this building.
The Bulldog, the centre of a soft drug chain, located in a former police station for the sake of sweet irony. ;)
Hard Rock Café:
The square in front of the Hard Rock Café, complete with big chess board and figures. I loved this.
The square from the other side.
Inside the Hard Rock Café, there was, of course, a picture of The Boss. XD
And the work tools of famous guitarists like Slash of Guns'n'Roses (right).
I was particularly amused by this photo of SUM41 and the blink-182 ad poster.
Albert Cuyp Market, De Pijp:
At a Dutch market, you naturally find cheese. XD
Here you can buy one of the traditional dishes, marinated raw herring with onions and gherkins.
No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, you can actually buy chocolate cocks and boobs and pussies at this market. XDDD
I really liked the bathtub curtain with the notes on it!
This is a statue of André Hazes, who died in 2004 and was one of Amsterdam's most famous singers.
To add some more cliché, have some clogs. XD
We also saw a little starling.
And a stand with lots and lots of fake football shirts. ;)
No clue what this statue was there for, actually. XD
Interesting/noteworthy/amusing stuff and curiosities I spotted:
I really love the fact that the clocks in Amsterdam have the city's sign in them, the three red crosses. :D
AJAX FLAG!
One could feel right at home! XD
And, rather unsurprisingly, we found grilled chicken from Chris - apparently the best there are. XDDD
Of course, none of my holiday picture posts would be complete without food pics... XD
The awesome, awesome tuna pasta salad that Lhun made for me when I arrived in Amsterdam!
Surinamese cakes! They were so good that I brought some home with me. :D
Our dinner at the Hard Rock Café. I had a hickory-smoked pork burger, which was fucking awesome.
At the market, we had delicious little pancake balls...
... Vietnamese egg rolls...
... and the aforementioned specialty, raw herring!
I also tasted the famous Hema sausage, a very juicy and absolutely fantastic smoked sausage that is famous for a good reason. :D
In this restaurant, we had dinner on my last day in Amsterdam. We actually went there because one of Lhun's former work colleagues worked there, but we found out he wasn't working there anymore. *LOL* BUT! They had the most gorgeous Spanish waiter. I nearly died every time I saw him up close. And he spoke English like Álvaro Arbeloa. So fucking hot, he was. XD
Ah yes, the food was delicious, too. XDD One of the best steaks I've ever had, hands down.
I do realise that this post doesn't really contain a lot of pics of Amsterdam, but then again my stay there was pretty short. If you want to see more of the beautiful city, and I do recommend you to, do check out my country: netherlands tag. I had a lot more time to visit places last year.