Friday, July 2, 2010

HIP HUP HOLLAND

So today was a day that probably shouldn't have happened. As Nate put it, we witnessed fair, adorable Holland "slay the beast" in the quarterfinal match against Brazil. We started the day out with the perfect touristy/yet local/awesomely summery trifecta activity: we rented bikes and scooted all around. If you are not aware, in Amsterdam, bikes are EVERYWHERE. Other cities, inspired by their success, have tried to push biking onto their locals for years, with free bike share programs and the like. My guidebook estimated there to be at least 600,000 bikes in the city, and boy can you see them everywhere--hoards of them hooked onto everything stationary, hoards of them casually pedalling down the road, hoards of them zigzagging across every sidewalk and intersection. In Amsterdam, bikes are the kings of the road.



So we headed to the closest rental place, got our double locks, and pedaled out to Vondelpark, supposedly Amsterdam's answer to Central Park. We saw lots of tanning action, were dutifully informed that "We don't ride bikes 3 people across... not even in Holland"(whoops, sorry local!), and, KDries, this is for you: joined a mega-sized jenga game, just chillin' on a busy square in the middle of the park.


Not losing track of time, we made our way over to Rembrandtplein, supposedly a pretty hip square, by 2:30. Bright orange abounded already, on shirts, hats, and all kinds of streamer concoctions. It felt like an eerie
European version of U of I, actually. Found a restaurant fully geared up for the game, tried out the various remaining seats for optimal viewage (Bridget is the legit football fan of the bunch) and we ... waited. For the 4:00pm start time. By then, the place was S.R.O., so our prudence was rewarded. You all know how the game went down, but being surrounded by earnest orange and increasingly intoxicated Amsterdammers was just beyond delightful. They are really into the clap clap clapclapclap clapclapclapclap LETS GO cheer, only, of course, it´s HOL LAND. Upon the clock´s running out, the square went NUTS. Cops smirking on horseback, mooning, and roaring motorcycles contributed to a pretty awesome first day in Amsterdam.


Out of time! Pictures to come!
A+,

Jessie

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