Amsterdam (During and After)

(Note: On the day I was supposed to leave for Madrid, I woke up to a text that told me there wouldn't be a place to for me stay...1st discouraging sign, and then there was a phone call where I was told that there weren't any hotels nearby where O was living, 2nd discouraging sign...but then that was followed up by another phone call where I was assured that I would have a place to stay because it was requested that someone stay at their girlfriends for the duration of my visit...but that was also combined with reminding me how much walking there would be, just getting out of the airport and to the train to our destination, and that there wouldn't probably be a wedding on Saturday AND with Louis not eating again....it all felt like signs that I shouldn't go to after all. I had already had reservations about leaving him for so long AND all the walking I would have to do with just dealing with airports and being in a strange place but I was psyching myself for it.

But number one priority turned into making sure Louis was OK. The trip to the vet was in order and I luckily got an appt. before the office was going to close at 3pm. I knew that if indeed it was age and nothing wrong with my baby, then I would be free to go off and have an adventure after all...but I had canceled my flights to MAD. New Year's Eve and no plans and only the desire to not sit home, alone, feeling sorry for myself and the urge to still go off for an adventure spurring me on, I decided to go to Amsterdam. (I had thought about it a couple of weeks prior when thinking about going to Madrid. To maybe go to AMS on my way to Madrid but it turned out it wasn't going to be as easy as I wanted with the limited amount of time I had so I nixed the idea. So there I am, NYE morning with a backpack packed and no place to go. Availability in business class was good for non-stop flight from MSP to AMS and then back a day later so boom! A new impulsive plan was made.)

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One of the many things I'm always going to remember about this trip is that I ran into and was guided around by very kind strangers...starting with the crew on my flight over, Maren, Doug, Susan and Richard (I would have them on my flight back too as long I got on the flight...), to the woman at the tourist board at Shipol (not the moron at information); the blonde KLM employee I met at the airport train station, who showed me how to read the train schedule and guided me to the right train on platform 2, to the woman in the convenience store who told me where to find a phone (and then sell me the card I needed to use to use the phone :P ) to the absolute stranger I called (because apparently I had the wrong number) who Googled the hotel for me because was given the wrong phone number for the hotel the crew were staying at (now occurs to me that maybe they purposely gave me a false number? Oh god, I hope not), who not only gave me not only the right phone number but the address of the hotel ...sadly this ate up most of my time on my pre-paid phone card left so ...

Back to that convenience store for another card and then somehow between going back and forth between the store and the phones I lost the damn number!

****I think it was good thing that the first thing I did when I finally got downtown, was to find a coffeeshop and prepare myself for this adventure I was embarking on. I picked up a little treat that lasted me the whole time.

It's bloody freezing here. I found a marvelous, perfect place to sit down and grab some food (see pics on FB) and finally get a chance to pee.

So much walking, I'm dying! I'm glad I'm not in Madrid and they have to see me like this. Think that this is why I also felt the need to do this...come alone to a strange place, to prove to myself that I could do it, but I can't. (I did mention that part of what discouraged me from going to Madrid was they kept emphasizing how much walking there would be and that they were concerned about that...it's not the first time friends have specifically mentioned "a lot of walking"...but I'm not an idiot. I just need people to be patient with me if I'm going to give this stuff a try!!)

When I was back at the phones, frantically looking for the piece of paper with the correct hotel info on it...some old guy was being overly friendly and I was proud of myself for telling him to stop touching me (arm, shoulder....ewwwww) he was just trying to be friendly but I was having none of it because I had just realized I lost the number to the hotel.

It turns out losing the number wasn't the worst thing to happen, it worked out just fine.

Damn, I have to go the bathroom and I don't think I want to visit it in this place (the internet place, if they even have bathrooms for public use). Fuck. gotta deal with that.

There are a lot of people here for it being winter...or is it just because it's New Years Day? And speaking of that...is it because of New Years Eve last night that downtown is a litter strewn place? I am now appreciating swept streets...but you know there are parts of here that remind me of Taunton, England. I think it's because of the old buildings. (I found out later that it WAS because of the celebrations the night before that was the cause of the excess amounts of litter)

****(On the ride out the airport, I said to the cab driver that I was reminded of Taunton in the city, London in the areas outside the city, and as we got closer to the airport, of Minnesota because of the open spaces and farmland)

Anyhoo, damn I've got 33 minutes of internet time left, but my fingers are freezing. They apparently aren't heating this place. It's probably a ploy to get people to abandon their minutes before they're up. You know what? I'm gonna try typing in gloves! I've got two pair on, surely I can type and be warm in just one of them.

I should spend a few minutes checking the flight loads for tomorrow.

So am I going to attempt to get to their hotel (I've got the name and the general location of it) or should I try to make my way back the airport and spend the night there...?

OK I have homework to do before my time is up.

More to follow later....I think...

***It was terrifying at first and I was so tempted to give up when I initially got there...the airport was huge and I was clueless as how to proceed. I knew what I wanted to achieve was to get into the city and hit the coffeshops and maybe find a place to crash but that was about it. But it was oh so tempting to just either find out where my flight would depart from the next day and spend the night at the airport or just find the hotel where the crew would be staying and hunker down with them for the night (it turns out they had their own NYE celebration and I would have been welcome to join them..how awesome is that?) but I knew I hadn't endured the long, sleepless night before and flight just to tuck my tail between my legs and hide out...my only adventure being that I decided to take this flight over NYE and then go back. I knew had to partake of things that Amsterdam had to offer or I would feel like I really hadn't had the right adventure.

I told myself a couple of times during the day that I didn't think I would go back...it was too much but now that I've done it, I would sooooo go back again. Just having some experience now would be a major help and I'm sure it would be even more of a wild adventure.

So I found my coffeeshop, "Hunters", made my purchase, indulged, walked around, found the phones, lost the number, walked around some more, found a cool place to sit, eat and pee "Le Pot Au Feu", where I ordered a continental breakfast (chose over the "english breakfast" why? who knows) which was bread, cheese, ham, jam, etc. (and to my credit, had to haul my butt up very steep stairs to get to the bathroom...good for me! I had to go that bad!) then to figure out what next. I had decided to try and find this particular hotel where I could call for a taxi (I'd get a nice taxi from them per the woman at the cafe) and was just going to just go the hotel where the crew was and hope that they had a room at a reasonable rate for me, when on my way I stumbled across a Crowne Plaza Hotel. I went in to see if I could use the restroom (yup, had to use the facilities again! B would laugh at that...me and my always having to go to the bathroom at the worst of times) ..just for fun I decided to ask if they had any rooms available and for how much. $179 Euros. Eeegads! While I was in the "toilet", I added up what I had left on my debit card and in "cash" and thought that if they could take both, that I would just go ahead and do it.

So it was set up and I got a room there. I was paying for the room and pre-paying for "incidentals" (room service, phone calls, etc.) ...and the room was...splendid, wonderful, marvelous, perfect. (Only because I was in a certain frame of mind AND exhausted?...Nope! It was just truly wonderful.). I had a balcony to go smoke on. A shower with a detachable shower head. A big soft bed. A TV. A mini-bar. Room Service. Complimentary slippers and a robe. A phone that I could use to make long distance calls on (OK, so the robe didn't work for me but the slippers did...and yes, I took them with me!!!)

I was mindful of the amount I had prepaid for my "incidentals" and decided to use most of the incidental money on room service for dinner and the communications package (for the TV to get internet, movies, TV and radio)...but later was screwed on this...but more about that in a bit...anyhoo...dinner was more ham and cheese (but this time toasted/melted) and baked french fries! Then a shower, then an attempt to watch "Angels and Demons", but then I needed to crash. Was too tired to even think about going back out. I slept for about 4 hours or so, then up at 3am. Couldn't go back to sleep so watched "Terminator Salvation" and then gave "Angels and Demons" another go. Then time to start getting ready to pack up and make my way back to the airport. I might have wanted to do more walking around but when I stepped out on to the balcony after my shower and getting dressed for a final smoke on it, it was snowing a little bit so I just wanted to get my butt to the airport and be there. Not take any chances on missing my flight back home (as long as I got a flight...the worry about even getting on the flight of course stressing me out a bit.)

So I head down to check out and then it was a nightmare. Apparently there were charges I weren't aware of and I owed more money! This freaked me out because I didn't have any more cash on me other than a 5 euro note and 6 US dollars. My plan had been to just hit up an ATM on my way back to the train station...back and forth we went on the bill and finally I got it but I was pissed and frustrated and ready to cry. I had this wonderful hotel experience that was turning into a nightmare.

I finally told them that I'd have to head to the ATM and that I'd come back. But guess what? Yup, I didn't go back. I just finally found the ATM and it was right across from the train station and I just had my last cigarette and hopped a taxi to the airport. A nice 60 euros ride (with tip!) the driver was nice though and we made a wee detour so I could get a picture of a windmill. (Actually this probably cost me the extra euros. The ride should have been less than 50 euros. Oh well) I was glad I had my phone with me because that's how I took my pictures. (The camera was left in the bigger backpack I was going to take to Madrid.) I think the hotel will get what they need eventually from my debit card or at least I hope they do. If not, I will send them some money because when I go back, I'm going to want that room again!

Finally finding the right area for my departure. Finally finding some food with the little bit of money I had left and 3 postcards for my collection. No souvenirs for anyone else, no one. I feel terribly selfish that I didn't budget better to have enough to pick up stuff for anyone else. Next time I'll plan better.

Yes, there will be a next time. In spite of the missteps and things that didn't go smoothly, I can't wait for a next time. Everyone speaking English and the helpfulness of strangers and easy access to....treats. Oh yeah!

The flight was more full coming back so I was only able to tell the crew only bits and pieces about my adventure (they told me they wanted to hear about it on the flight there) and the flight was shorter than getting there and then just like that, it was over and we were back in MSP. (Of course, I slept this time around!)

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Home now. Back to real life. I slept half of today away. Thank god Kenrie took my shift today. Hello jet lag! I've got about $40 left until next payday after I pay rent. I can make it work. I mostly need gas and smokes.

Well. OK, so there it is. Now to head over to FB and get pictures posted. But maybe food first....

ttfn.