Guest Entry: Christy visits A'dam
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2003
1
30
69
Trip End
Ongoing
Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Monday, October 13, 2003
I just wanted to let all you Cubs fans out there know that there is nothing to worry about. Due to the lack of American sports shown in A'dam and the 7 hour time difference to Chicago, I have not seen many Cubs games this year. I have gone to the sports bar to watch 2 games in the past week-plus...and they lost both of them. So, now that we are leaving for Spain, I doubt I'll be able to see any more baseball this season. As a result, I would expect that the absence of my jinx will hopefully result in a few more Cubs wins (and maybe even a championship win over the Yankees so I can talk all kinds of smack with Weiss). So, GO CUBS!
I also want to just share with you all that I woke up at 3AM on Saturday to listen to the Badgers beat the Buckeyes on the internet
01. Herengracht Canal
. I'm not sure if it is sad or inspiring that I actually sat with the laptop during the early morning, yelling at the computer in a little more than a whisper as not to wake Julie. I only wish I could've seen the game (and especially since Julie's cousin Danny streaked the stadium with just over a minute left - that was you, right Danny?). Anyways, I am a loser but I was happy to be a part of the Badger win this weekend and I can't wait till I receive the videotape from BAJJERFAN, my new friend from Ames that I met in a Badger chatroom who has been sending me tapes of the Wisconsin games. So, GO BADGERS!Also, we are going to try to send 1 more T-Pod about our past weekend around town before we leave for Spain Wed morning. We'll be gone for just over a week so that ought to give you guys enough to read while we are gone. Remember to pace yourselves so that you don't run out of T-Pod with 10 days to go.
Lastly, in case you want to keep up with us while we are in Spain, Julie will be wearing a webcam so visit us at www.Kantors_Abroad_drive_around_the_south_of_Spain_for_13_days_and_hope_not_to_get_into_too_much_trouble.com. Seriosly though, we fly into Malaga and will rent a car. From there, we are planning on spending 4 nights in Granada, 2 nights in Cordoba, 3 nights in Sevilla, 1 night in Jerez de la Frontera, and 2 nights in Torremolinos
02. View of street and canal
. We return to A'dam on Oct 28. We are super excited! I'm sure you'll hear all about our trip when we return.With that, here is the T-Pod that Julie's college roommate Christy wrote about her 5-day visit to A'dam in August. After A'dam, Julie filled in for Christy's b-friend Jeff as her date to Christy's friend Angela's wedding in Saint Arsenio, a very small town about an hour from Naples.
Hope all is well. Speak to you all soon.
GO BADGERS! GO CUBS! GO DUTCHBOY!
-Stephen
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Well, it's officially been two months since my visit to Amsterdam and I don't think I can procrastinate any longer with my TravelPod. Hopefully I have not forgotten too many things, but here are my thoughts of my visit.
I arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday, August 16th
03. View from Kantors roof
. Unfortunately, my luggage did not. I proceeded to the US Airways counter and gained hope when they told the three people waiting ahead of me that their bags had been located. But, that was not the case with mine....there was no information available and they could not exactly tell me where my bags might be. Ok. I tried not to panic. This could not really be happening to me on my trip to Amsterdam and then to Italy (where I was to attend a wedding). I finally walked out of the terminal to find Julie (who had been calling Stephen to make sure she hadn't gotten my arrival date confused) and was so excited to see her, but so miserable about my luggage at the same time. I tried very hard to remain composed because I didn't want to let this ruin my trip....yet.It was a very easy trip from the airport to Stephen and Julie's home. As we walked into their apartment we waved to Stephen and his parents who were having lunch across the canal. I was very impressed with their place; extremely bright, lots of window, and very spacious. It was decorated with many of the items that they possessed while living in Chicago, so everything seemed very familiar and comfortable. I thought that was kind of neat, sort of like they were still in Chicago and I was just visiting their old place. I loved the view of the canal from their living room, but my favorite spot was their rooftop deck.
04. Gerber daisies for christy
It is the highest point in their area and is completely exposed on all sides so it is very easy to get some sun at all hours. Julie and I spent many afternoons just lounging up there and I found it to be very relaxing and quiet, even though the streets and canals were only 3 stories below. I found the large mosquito net over Julie and Stephen's bed to be quite amusing at first, but after many sleepless nights fighting the mosquitoes for pillow space, I could see how it was a necessity. The guest bedroom was very comfortable with it's own sink and shower. Stephen, always the romantic, bought me some beautiful Gerber daisies to brighten up the room, I think he was feeling bad for me because of my luggage situation. It was a very sweet gesture....might have been his parent's idea (j.k).Back to my luggage, my pride and joy. What would I do without my fanny pack? After many calls to the airlines which got nowhere, Julie took me to buy underwear and afterwards confessed that she did not know what she was going to do with me since all Dutch clothes were made for taller frames and winter clothes were in season. Not good when your next destination is a friend's wedding in Italy with record setting heat. On one more frustrating call to the airlines, I broke down and said MY wedding dress was in my suitcase. They then told me they would flag it as "priority" (whatever that means) and I ended up getting it on Sunday late afternoon
05. Mosquito net around Kantors bed
. Now I could breathe! Ok, so that this does not turn into a 14 page entry, that is Stephen's job, (sorry, Stephen) I will try to summarize my thoughts and activities.
ENVIRONMENT-
Amsterdam is the definition of quaint, with the cobblestone roads and the canals. Everything is safe and clean, except for the freestanding urinals on the sidewalks that drain into the canal. I would have attached a picture, but it seems as if the photo processor did not find it suitable to print. I almost had a anxiety attack when walking through the red light district and a large penis fountain squirted canal water in my eye, but alas, I could still see in the morning. There are lots of kids just running around (not always supervised) everywhere. Lots of bikes and rail cars making walking very difficult. Great weather. Not too cold, not too hot.
FOOD-
All of the food was always very good and fresh.... (at one place I could actually taste the sand in my mussels). And I did get my fair share of great food thanks to Stephen's parents and their friends Andrea & Moshe who were all visiting at the same time. Thank you all again for everything!! As Julie repeated over and over "I picked the right week to visit". We had a great meal for Stephen's mother's b-day and on the last night Andrea & Moshe took us all to Chez Goerges to celebrate Stephen's parents anniversary. Aside from the comments from the neighboring tables that we were awfully skinny for Americans, this meal was truly superb
06. Houseboat
. The only other thing I can say about the food is that it had to be good because the service was soooooo slow. Essentially the meal becomes your night. I think our meals averaged approximately 2.5-3 hours. MUSIC-
Techno, techno, and more techno. And everything else is pretty bad. Papa Chulo and some other cheesy stuff is all Julie kept singing.
ANIMALADA-
My mouth dropped when I watched a woman come out of a shower and dry herself off with a maxi-pad to display its absorbency in commercial. But this was nothing compared to "Animalalda", the TV movie (not cable) Julie and I stumbled upon one night. You wouldn't believe me if I told you so here's a write up Julie found. We didn't need an English translation (Julie did a good job at improvising) to understand this story line. Think Mr. Ed with a little twist ......
Lots of people love animals, but one man takes his fondness for a sheep beyond the boundaries of what's acceptable at your neighborhood petting zoo in this darkly absurd comedy. Alberto (Carlos Roffe) is a wealthy man whose nearly three-decade marriage to Natalie (Cristina Banegas) has run out of gas
07. Cute kid on canal boat tour
. While puttering around his summer estate, Alberto spies a sheep being led through the meadow by his caretaker, Miranda (Pepe Monje). Alberto is immediately infatuated with the sheep, and asks Miranda to lock her up in the barn near the house. Naming the ewe "Fanny," Alberto soon falls in love with the animal -- and begins expressing his affections physically. As it turns out, Miranda also has cast a lustful eye on the sheep, but Alberto genuinely loves Fanny, and even imagines that the sheep is talking to him, though it still sounds like baa-ing to everyone else. Slipping past eccentricity into madness, Alberto decides no one can have Fanny but him -- not Miranda, and certainly not that ram grazing nearby -- and he hires a preacher to marry them after he divorces Natalie. Alberto discovers not everyone is accepting of his new "bride," and Alberto responds to those who cannot celebrate their love with violence and murder. Animalada was shown in competition at the 2001 Buenos Aires Independent Cinema Festival. ~ Mark Deming, OTHER ACTIVITIES-
The must sees for every tourist: Heineken Brewery tour, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, canal boat tour, sex museum, Red Light District , some famous windmills and a place called Casa Rosa which Julie and I stumbled into which was truly unlike any theatre I've ever seen before. Lots and lots of walking. Australian ice cream. A little shopping. Fortunately, I was one of Julie's first visitors so I don't think she minded doing some of these things for the second or third time. All in all we kept very busy. One thing I wish we could have done if there was more time was renting bikes and heading to the beach. Maybe next time!
08. Julie and Christy on Heiniken Brewery tour
ITALY-
On Wednesday, Julie and I were off to Italy to attend a close friend's wedding (Angela & David). First, a day in Naples. Don't need to go there again. Flying into the airport was like we were in a third world country. Complete chaos. I was surprised we even got out of there with our bags. I had no doubt they would be stolen right off of the conveyer belt. It was complete disorder and extremely hot.
Thursday we took a train to Salerno and were picked up for an hour ride to Saint Arsenio. The town was fabulous to say the least. Pictures can not even do it justice. A small little town in Italy like you've probably only seen in the movies. Our hotel was across the street from the piazza which remained crowded throughout day until 4-5 in the morning with people of all ages, but especially old Italian men playing cards. The hotel was different to say the least, we were asked one night if the hostess could borrow our room key because our neighbors across the hall had locked themselves out and of course, all room keys worked for the whole floor...but we were in the prime location.
Rehearsal dinner was that night and it was an endless supply of appetizers and entrees
09. Julie and Christy at Chez Georges
. You hardly had time to take a bite because the next round was always already coming out. Now this is what Julie came for. It was an experience straight out of National Lampoon's European Vacation.Friday was the wedding. It was hot. Many thanks to Angela's father who reserved us a room with air conditioning to get ready in because one step in our sauna of a bathroom and you were dripping. We arrived at the church only 10 minutes before the ceremony because this was such a hot event that many uninvited townspeople were going to try to sneak inside, so they were not going to let anyone in until right before. 5 minutes later the groom arrives. 1 minute after that Angela arrives. Next thing I know Angela's walking down the aisle, but I don't think anyone's had time to get into the church yet. The whole wedding party is still outside, but we improvised. The service was mostly in Italian and the church was beautiful. They were married!
We then proceeded to a castle somewhere in the mountains. We had drinks and appetizers in the courtyard as the sun set. Truly breathtaking. Not quite sure what time dinner started, but the menu was a page long. Many a person actually excused themselves to take a break from the courses to return to backlog of dishes, except Julie, I actually caught her trying to steal my salad
10. Everyone at dinner
. And in between breathes she kept thanking "the godfather."After much singing and lots of food we proceeded into the center courtyard for dancing and more food...dessert. It was a spectacular evening. A once in a lifetime event and I was so happy Julie was able to come with me. After a long evening we then proceeded back to the piazza and of course it was packed.
Our last day there we went to a pool which was up in the mountains. The view on all sides was beautiful landscapes and mountains, pretty unbelievable. The weather was perfect and about 20 of us just lounged at this picture perfect spot the whole day. That night I was off to Rome at about 3AM with a handful of others to catch our flights. About 20 some locals gathered to send us off. I only met these people 4 days ago, but it was like family. This is where I had to say bye to Julie. I didn't think of it as I wouldn't see her again for awhile but rather I could see her again very soon because this visit was hardly planned. After doing about 2 drive-by's in the van with the driver honking and the piazza going wild we were on our way to Rome. This was our closest brush with fame.
FINAL THOUGHTS-
Julie & Stephen really seem to be living an incredible experience right now
11. Dinner at Chez Georges
. I'm glad I got to experience a taste of it with them. I give them both so much credit for uprooting themselves to try something new. This is an amazing adventure, but it still takes a lot of strength to leave your comfort zone like you have. I know you'll be successful because you always are. Thank you both for everything! I had an amazing time and can't wait to see you again soon.(To all future guests)
Pack lightly. Those steps at their building will kill you...unless you your luggage is lost by the airline of course.
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