Hello again everybody
the time has come for another epic adventure so this time i have teamed up with Joe Paulson and we are traveling to Sweden in order to study abroad at Uppsala University. on our trip we plan to stay in first Dublin, then Paris, then Dublin again before we make our way over to Sweden where we are staying for 6 months. post describing day 1 is on its way
Friday, January 9, 2009
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Dublin Day 3
Today i decided to make the most of my day as it was my last full day in dublin, so i went into the city and purchased a ticket to the guided bus tour of Dublin, i had a wonderful time jumping on and off the bus at certain points and just learning about the city from a true irishman who knew his stuff. The way things had worked out the previous night i knew taht i wanted to aim to get back to the hostel around the evening so that i could meet up with my friends and go out together, so i knew i had an extra hour and half or so to kill and when the Bus driver/ Tour guide mentioned the stop at the Jamesson Distillery and the amazing quality of the tour i knew just how to spend that time.
The Jamesson distillery tour was by far the best tour i have been on. the guide was quite informed she loved the product ( which she pronounced jaa-mmmm-ehhh-san) and the investment that the company had made in all the entire tour from beginning to end was quite evident. the bus driver had also suggested to our tour that at the beginning of the tour when the guide asks for volunteers it is important for us volunteer as we will get to participate in a whiskey tasting. so when the guide asked for volunteers i volunteered aned got to participate in a whiskey tasting of a blabk label scotch, regular 12 year matured jamesson, and johnny walker. I learned that in order to truly enjoy whiskey when you drink it, it is imperative to put a few drops of water in the drink in order to bring out the full flavor and i learned that oak is the best and preffered wood to use in the casks that help the whiskey mature over the years.
After that tour i jumped back on another tour bus and made my way back to the hostel after a quick dinner where i met up with my french friends again. at first i was disappointed because i had been very excited to go on a literary pub crawly where the actors performed works from famous irish authors as part of the drinking experience but i relented when they suggested to me that we go on another pub crawl instead known as the backpacker pub crawl. this pub crawl started out at right outside of trinity university, and we got to visit places like the trinity university pub which serves the cheapest beer in all of dublin. we got to visit a viking themed pub. we got to visit a traditional old Irish pub where we heard stories about how some man lost his leg, and we got to visit a dance club, on this tour i met a whole bunch of other cool tourists and we all exchanged facebook information and are now in contact, on our way home some Irish girls started yelling at us about something or other luckily we ignored them and continued walking because apparently Irish girls can hold their own in a fight. thus ended my last night, night 3 in dublin
The Jamesson distillery tour was by far the best tour i have been on. the guide was quite informed she loved the product ( which she pronounced jaa-mmmm-ehhh-san) and the investment that the company had made in all the entire tour from beginning to end was quite evident. the bus driver had also suggested to our tour that at the beginning of the tour when the guide asks for volunteers it is important for us volunteer as we will get to participate in a whiskey tasting. so when the guide asked for volunteers i volunteered aned got to participate in a whiskey tasting of a blabk label scotch, regular 12 year matured jamesson, and johnny walker. I learned that in order to truly enjoy whiskey when you drink it, it is imperative to put a few drops of water in the drink in order to bring out the full flavor and i learned that oak is the best and preffered wood to use in the casks that help the whiskey mature over the years.
After that tour i jumped back on another tour bus and made my way back to the hostel after a quick dinner where i met up with my french friends again. at first i was disappointed because i had been very excited to go on a literary pub crawly where the actors performed works from famous irish authors as part of the drinking experience but i relented when they suggested to me that we go on another pub crawl instead known as the backpacker pub crawl. this pub crawl started out at right outside of trinity university, and we got to visit places like the trinity university pub which serves the cheapest beer in all of dublin. we got to visit a viking themed pub. we got to visit a traditional old Irish pub where we heard stories about how some man lost his leg, and we got to visit a dance club, on this tour i met a whole bunch of other cool tourists and we all exchanged facebook information and are now in contact, on our way home some Irish girls started yelling at us about something or other luckily we ignored them and continued walking because apparently Irish girls can hold their own in a fight. thus ended my last night, night 3 in dublin
Dublin Day 2
Today i woke up and feeling much refreshed made my way down to the free breakfast which turned out to be free toast and coffee, but no matter i was still satisfied. While down at the breakfast room with many of the other borders at the hostel i inquiered as to what would be the best and cheapest tourist things for me to do while i was in Dublin for the short time that i was. The first thing that became immidiately apparent was that any trips would take up my entire trip as most places were a days drive away and i only had about 2 1/2 days in Dublin so trips out of Dublin were out but as i discovered there was plenty to do in the city intself.
Everyone who i talked to in the hostel and everyone i have talked to who has visited dublin has all told me the same thing, that i must go and visit the Guiness Brewery during my time in Dublin, and after some converstaion with some fo the americans bording there i disvoered that the brewery was walking distance from our hostel which was good news because as i discovered everything in Ireland is very expensive espcially for an American traveling on the Dollar. as i walked around i familiarized myself with the city a little bit and learned where the gigantic flagpole was, and where the bridges were, all of which you will see plenty of in the pictures which i will post in a little bit. Once i had my bearing i began to make my way toward the brewery, and while Dublin is not nearly as confusing as Amsterdam that is not to say that it is easy to find your way around there. after finally finding my way and getting lost about 10 times i made my way to the brewery and had a very nice time touring there and even got to learn how to pull the perfect pint of Guiness for which i still have a certificate, i realized i was hungry and did not want to spend a large amount of money on one of the fancy restaurants in the brewery. So i went searching for cheap food and discovred that in Ireland many pubs only serve drinks and not food, so after some careful investigation i found a local place known as The Pale where not only did they have quality beer but they also had quality food.
While at the pale i met a few really cool old Irish men who were they and all excited because there was about to be an exciting game of hurling ( which is a crazy cross between soccer, rugby, football, field hookey, and lacrosse but much more violent and intense) between Kildare (the underdog) and another team whose name i cant remember. There was only one crazy old guy in the pub who really oloved Kildare and was cheering them on but he made the rest of the pub look like they didnt care at all about the game. also during that time i discovered that even though the Irish claim that they speak english it is very difficult to actually understand their version of the language as they have both very heavy accents and intersperse Celtic words in their everyday speech. Once i finished at the pale i made my way back to the hostel before i got caught in the daily downpour in Dublin, once i made it back i met my new french roomates who wanted to go out together in the evening, i agreed to go out after a short nap and so about an hour alter we made our way to an area of Ireland known as Temple Bar where all of the tourists go at night. we had a fun night watching the olydmpics and waging as to which country was going to do the best (GO AMERICA) and at about 1:30 got kicked out of the club as that is when the new curfew they had just instituted took effect, and made our way back to the hostel where i slept well and happily because i had had a good day in Ireland after yesterdays terrible experience.
Everyone who i talked to in the hostel and everyone i have talked to who has visited dublin has all told me the same thing, that i must go and visit the Guiness Brewery during my time in Dublin, and after some converstaion with some fo the americans bording there i disvoered that the brewery was walking distance from our hostel which was good news because as i discovered everything in Ireland is very expensive espcially for an American traveling on the Dollar. as i walked around i familiarized myself with the city a little bit and learned where the gigantic flagpole was, and where the bridges were, all of which you will see plenty of in the pictures which i will post in a little bit. Once i had my bearing i began to make my way toward the brewery, and while Dublin is not nearly as confusing as Amsterdam that is not to say that it is easy to find your way around there. after finally finding my way and getting lost about 10 times i made my way to the brewery and had a very nice time touring there and even got to learn how to pull the perfect pint of Guiness for which i still have a certificate, i realized i was hungry and did not want to spend a large amount of money on one of the fancy restaurants in the brewery. So i went searching for cheap food and discovred that in Ireland many pubs only serve drinks and not food, so after some careful investigation i found a local place known as The Pale where not only did they have quality beer but they also had quality food.
While at the pale i met a few really cool old Irish men who were they and all excited because there was about to be an exciting game of hurling ( which is a crazy cross between soccer, rugby, football, field hookey, and lacrosse but much more violent and intense) between Kildare (the underdog) and another team whose name i cant remember. There was only one crazy old guy in the pub who really oloved Kildare and was cheering them on but he made the rest of the pub look like they didnt care at all about the game. also during that time i discovered that even though the Irish claim that they speak english it is very difficult to actually understand their version of the language as they have both very heavy accents and intersperse Celtic words in their everyday speech. Once i finished at the pale i made my way back to the hostel before i got caught in the daily downpour in Dublin, once i made it back i met my new french roomates who wanted to go out together in the evening, i agreed to go out after a short nap and so about an hour alter we made our way to an area of Ireland known as Temple Bar where all of the tourists go at night. we had a fun night watching the olydmpics and waging as to which country was going to do the best (GO AMERICA) and at about 1:30 got kicked out of the club as that is when the new curfew they had just instituted took effect, and made our way back to the hostel where i slept well and happily because i had had a good day in Ireland after yesterdays terrible experience.
Amsterdam Day 4 - Ireland Day 1
Today was my last Day in Amsterdam so i wanted to make the most of it, me and Valentijn both planned to do all these exciting things so i woke up quite motivated to get on with it. When i woke up however the sun seemed awefully bright for the morning so i checked the time and quickly realized trhat we had severly overslept and that we had to leave right away in order for me to be able to make it to the airport.
Once up and going we took the tram to the central train station, and from there made our way to the airport. The airport itself was nowhere near as straightforward as most of the airports i am used to, and i was very gald that valentijn was with me both for navigational reasons and due to the fact that many of the signs were only in dutch. Once we parted and i made my way onto the plane i reflected on what a fun time i had in amsterdam with my cousins and hoped that i could visit again soon.
As Amsterdam and Ireland are not very far away from one another i was not expecting a very long plane ride and spent the entire time reading luckily i had a book i was only halfway through. as we approached the airport the captain came on the speakers and announced "hello passengers this is your captain, we are above the Dublin airport but have been put in a holding pattern we should be landing shortly" about 15 minutes later we land and the airport makes its way onto the tarmac and its parking spot when the captain comes on again once we have parked "Hello Passengers although the tower directed me to a specific parking spot in which i should park it turns out that flights from amsterdam have a specifilly designated area which they must pass through a special customs investigation in order to enter the country, please remain in your seats and patient as me and the airport control attempt to work out this problem." about an hour later of just sitting in our seats the pilot finally officially welcomes us to dublin and informs us that it is raining very heavily. we do not get any tunnel or beridge instead we take the stairs off of the airplane in the incredibly heavy downpour and run into the airport itself.
Once in the airport we quickly all grab our bags and make for the exit already quite late, i get a text message from my hostel booking service with all of the information of the hostel where i am staying, which was quite useful as i had forgotten to print out and bring with me the information. i call the hostel and get the information as to where to go and how to get there, i make my way to the bus station and see that only 2 buses are there and are packed but are not moving, finally 2 of them get going another one pulls up but instead of loading people on simply has an out of service display on his screen, after a quick conversation with him i realize that there is absolutaly terrible flooding everywhere and that a trip that normally takes him 45 minutes took him 2 hours to make and that there will be no buses for quite a while.
so i sit on one of those portable luggage racks and read my book while i am waiting, luckily i finish the book as the bus that i need pulls up, and using all of my crafty obnoxious israeli cutting in line skills, i make sure that i make my way onto this bus, once on i and all of the other passenger are soaking wet and on a crowded hot bus which is not too much fun but at least i know i am finally on my way. as we are dribing i see that in places the water level is so high that cars are actually floating away which is not a good sign. we finally make it to the stop 2 stops away from where i am supposed to get off when the bus driver decides to announces that this is the "last stop everybody off" so i end up walking for about half a mile in the pouring rain with all of my luggage trying to make it to my hostel. I finally get there and see a full house sign and thank g-d that i booked my room ahead of time on the internet. I get in and really do want to go out and have fun but realize i am exhausted so i go to the supermarket buy some food because i havent eaten since me and valentijn grabbed some fast food on the way to the airport and after meeting some of my italian roomates go straight to sleep. not the best way to start my Ireland experience however I go to sleep knowing that i have made it and despite everything things might look better in the morning.
Once up and going we took the tram to the central train station, and from there made our way to the airport. The airport itself was nowhere near as straightforward as most of the airports i am used to, and i was very gald that valentijn was with me both for navigational reasons and due to the fact that many of the signs were only in dutch. Once we parted and i made my way onto the plane i reflected on what a fun time i had in amsterdam with my cousins and hoped that i could visit again soon.
As Amsterdam and Ireland are not very far away from one another i was not expecting a very long plane ride and spent the entire time reading luckily i had a book i was only halfway through. as we approached the airport the captain came on the speakers and announced "hello passengers this is your captain, we are above the Dublin airport but have been put in a holding pattern we should be landing shortly" about 15 minutes later we land and the airport makes its way onto the tarmac and its parking spot when the captain comes on again once we have parked "Hello Passengers although the tower directed me to a specific parking spot in which i should park it turns out that flights from amsterdam have a specifilly designated area which they must pass through a special customs investigation in order to enter the country, please remain in your seats and patient as me and the airport control attempt to work out this problem." about an hour later of just sitting in our seats the pilot finally officially welcomes us to dublin and informs us that it is raining very heavily. we do not get any tunnel or beridge instead we take the stairs off of the airplane in the incredibly heavy downpour and run into the airport itself.
Once in the airport we quickly all grab our bags and make for the exit already quite late, i get a text message from my hostel booking service with all of the information of the hostel where i am staying, which was quite useful as i had forgotten to print out and bring with me the information. i call the hostel and get the information as to where to go and how to get there, i make my way to the bus station and see that only 2 buses are there and are packed but are not moving, finally 2 of them get going another one pulls up but instead of loading people on simply has an out of service display on his screen, after a quick conversation with him i realize that there is absolutaly terrible flooding everywhere and that a trip that normally takes him 45 minutes took him 2 hours to make and that there will be no buses for quite a while.
so i sit on one of those portable luggage racks and read my book while i am waiting, luckily i finish the book as the bus that i need pulls up, and using all of my crafty obnoxious israeli cutting in line skills, i make sure that i make my way onto this bus, once on i and all of the other passenger are soaking wet and on a crowded hot bus which is not too much fun but at least i know i am finally on my way. as we are dribing i see that in places the water level is so high that cars are actually floating away which is not a good sign. we finally make it to the stop 2 stops away from where i am supposed to get off when the bus driver decides to announces that this is the "last stop everybody off" so i end up walking for about half a mile in the pouring rain with all of my luggage trying to make it to my hostel. I finally get there and see a full house sign and thank g-d that i booked my room ahead of time on the internet. I get in and really do want to go out and have fun but realize i am exhausted so i go to the supermarket buy some food because i havent eaten since me and valentijn grabbed some fast food on the way to the airport and after meeting some of my italian roomates go straight to sleep. not the best way to start my Ireland experience however I go to sleep knowing that i have made it and despite everything things might look better in the morning.
Amsterdam Day 3
Today i woke up at about 3pm and took a shower and prepared to meet Valentijn's Father Baas and his mother. Once all showered and prepared we took a tram which runs on the street and is a crazy hybrid of car and train, to the other side of Amsterdam where Baas lives and had a dinner with the relatives whom I had only met once before when i was very young.
About 3/4 of the way through the meal Valentijn had to leave because he was scheduled to work a shift at his job, as a bartender, he gave me directions back to his house and the name of his bar so I could find him later at my convienience. I spent more than an hour at the house just talking and reminiscing about old family stories and traditions as well as trying to fit together different pieces of the family puzzle. Once we were all talked out, Baas offered to drive me dback to Valentijns, to which i promptly agreed. Apparently in Amsterdam there is a program called Green Wheels where you can reserve a car for a few hours to drive and then park it in a specific parking spot once you are finished using it, the program is brilliant in that it uses really advanced technology to book the car and helped save on the hassle of parking which is a big problem in amsterdam and on carbon emissions. anyway We got to the Green Wheels car and i got a ride home all the while admiring Amsterdam. once we got to Valentijns apartment i let myself in and got changed for the evening. After I had gotten some food and very basic directions I made my way to velntijns bar, I took a cab who got me very close to the place but was not sure exactly where specificly Valentijns place was located, so i spent about 5 minutes looking around and could not find the place so i began asking people how to get there. I asked 2 people who i probably shouldnt have because they looked like complete idiots and they told me that the bar was a 15 minute walk in the opposite direction, i started to walk that way and realized that not only had they given me terrible directions but i did not trust them at all either so i asked a bike cab ( these cab that are actually operated by footpower rather than a moter) if he could take me there, the man agreed and set off, although after a minute he turned back and went the other way saying he didnt think that the directions i gave him were correct, in the end he stopped right where we had left off he walked up to one of the bouncers at the bar right next to us and asked him how to get to the bar, turned out it was nextdoor, so the guy gets back into the drivers seat moves about 5 feet and then turns around smiles and says "were here" well after some arguing i gave him his minimum 5 Euro fee and went into the bar where i met up with both Valentijn and his Cousin Jakob and ended up hanging out there until about 5 am. Once we got back we went to sleep with all sorts of great plans as to what we will do on my last day in Amsterdam.
About 3/4 of the way through the meal Valentijn had to leave because he was scheduled to work a shift at his job, as a bartender, he gave me directions back to his house and the name of his bar so I could find him later at my convienience. I spent more than an hour at the house just talking and reminiscing about old family stories and traditions as well as trying to fit together different pieces of the family puzzle. Once we were all talked out, Baas offered to drive me dback to Valentijns, to which i promptly agreed. Apparently in Amsterdam there is a program called Green Wheels where you can reserve a car for a few hours to drive and then park it in a specific parking spot once you are finished using it, the program is brilliant in that it uses really advanced technology to book the car and helped save on the hassle of parking which is a big problem in amsterdam and on carbon emissions. anyway We got to the Green Wheels car and i got a ride home all the while admiring Amsterdam. once we got to Valentijns apartment i let myself in and got changed for the evening. After I had gotten some food and very basic directions I made my way to velntijns bar, I took a cab who got me very close to the place but was not sure exactly where specificly Valentijns place was located, so i spent about 5 minutes looking around and could not find the place so i began asking people how to get there. I asked 2 people who i probably shouldnt have because they looked like complete idiots and they told me that the bar was a 15 minute walk in the opposite direction, i started to walk that way and realized that not only had they given me terrible directions but i did not trust them at all either so i asked a bike cab ( these cab that are actually operated by footpower rather than a moter) if he could take me there, the man agreed and set off, although after a minute he turned back and went the other way saying he didnt think that the directions i gave him were correct, in the end he stopped right where we had left off he walked up to one of the bouncers at the bar right next to us and asked him how to get to the bar, turned out it was nextdoor, so the guy gets back into the drivers seat moves about 5 feet and then turns around smiles and says "were here" well after some arguing i gave him his minimum 5 Euro fee and went into the bar where i met up with both Valentijn and his Cousin Jakob and ended up hanging out there until about 5 am. Once we got back we went to sleep with all sorts of great plans as to what we will do on my last day in Amsterdam.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Amsterdam Day 2
Today was my first full day in amsterdam yesterday by the time I had landed and gotten myself all sorted out it was already evening and so i didnt get to experience much however i did stay out all night so the morning mostly passed me by as well. Once i woke up at about 2pm, valentijn told me that today he was going to take me on the inside tour of amsterdam so instead of just getting a tour bus or something like that i had my own personal tour guide do an explerary job of showing me around.
We went to many places, to be perfectly honest the names of most of the places confused me at the time because dutch is a very difficult language and it does not always make sense, we did wander all around amsterdam we went to some canals debated whether or not to rent a boat but in the end decided it was not worth it. we had some middle eastern turkish food to eat which was delicious and filling. We then spent much of the day going to valentijns favorite hangout spots and meeting up with his friends, which was a lot of walking and a lot of fun.
This tour continued until about 5pm at which point we decided to head home and get changed for the evening, when we went out again. this time we went to totally different bars never repeating our experiences twice but having a good time everywhere we went, the truth is that again the names of most of the bars that we went to were in dutch so i had a hard time figuring out exactly what and where they were because at this point i had discovered that amsterdam is one of the most confusing cities i have been in as its architechture is desinged to revolve around the canals in the city.
One highlight that does stand out in the night is that after the bar closed and we spent some time hanging out with a friend of valentijns named wendel who insisted that he knew of some bars that were still open at 5am so we took a 20 minute detour in the wrong direction only to discover that in fact we were not in luck and the bars were all closed, however the unanticipated benefit of this foray was that i got to discover a famous square that had statues all over just like in the picture of the night watch so i had a nice time admiring that. After our long detour there and back we got home 40 minutes later and both fell asleep because we were exhausted after a long day of hard work.
We went to many places, to be perfectly honest the names of most of the places confused me at the time because dutch is a very difficult language and it does not always make sense, we did wander all around amsterdam we went to some canals debated whether or not to rent a boat but in the end decided it was not worth it. we had some middle eastern turkish food to eat which was delicious and filling. We then spent much of the day going to valentijns favorite hangout spots and meeting up with his friends, which was a lot of walking and a lot of fun.
This tour continued until about 5pm at which point we decided to head home and get changed for the evening, when we went out again. this time we went to totally different bars never repeating our experiences twice but having a good time everywhere we went, the truth is that again the names of most of the bars that we went to were in dutch so i had a hard time figuring out exactly what and where they were because at this point i had discovered that amsterdam is one of the most confusing cities i have been in as its architechture is desinged to revolve around the canals in the city.
One highlight that does stand out in the night is that after the bar closed and we spent some time hanging out with a friend of valentijns named wendel who insisted that he knew of some bars that were still open at 5am so we took a 20 minute detour in the wrong direction only to discover that in fact we were not in luck and the bars were all closed, however the unanticipated benefit of this foray was that i got to discover a famous square that had statues all over just like in the picture of the night watch so i had a nice time admiring that. After our long detour there and back we got home 40 minutes later and both fell asleep because we were exhausted after a long day of hard work.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
England Day 9 - Amsterdam day 1
Today was my last day in England I woke up early packed all my bags, said a heartfelt goodbye to my cousin Daniel, after stealing a lot of his music. I then made my way cautiously via underground to my uncle and aunts house. once i was there we had some Grozinsky's Bagel which according to my father are the best bagel's ever, i am still unsure as to that assertion but will admit that they were delicious. After a quick tea and Bagels Breakfast we made our way to the Luton Airport which is the Smallest airport i have ever seen, they only have 1 terminal and a terrible boarding system worked out. after wandering the airport for a while with no clear and consice directions or help from anyone at all i realized that instead of a number my ticket said that i was at gate "tv" and i remembered that the lady at the counter had been complaining that her printer was not working so i started freaking out. after a few calmingh breaths and comforting answers from people in uniforms i began to understand that because the airport was so small they would not assign a gate until the plane pulled up, so i just sat down and waited next to gate 6. in the end the plane was boardingh at gate 7 so i got lucky and got to be one of the first in line which was great beacause i got my favorite, a window seat.
Once i landed in amsterdam the airport was the exact opposite, HUGE we walked and walked and walked, and then got stuck for a good 40 minutes waiting for the customs people to let us through the 3 booths that were operational for the 5 planes that had landed simultaneously, it was great...... NOT.
Once i had claimed my bag and made my way through the single exit, where all of the middle easterners thought they could push me around i got out and met up with my distant cousin on my moms side named valentijn (pronouned vanlentine) and his cousin Jacob. we immidiately got along and when Valentijn suggested that we drop off all my stuff at his place and then go to the beach i agreed wholeheartedly. we went into Amsterdam for my first time threw all of my bags into his apartment and then left quickly on our explorations. on our way out Valentijn tossed my a spare set of his keys just in case i needed to get in when he was not going to be around.
We got to the beach and spent some time at what valentine called a beach bar, where i discovered that in Holland everybody drinks Heineikin and so i participated. After the beach we made out way back to the city and started bar hopping. Valentijn however is a local guy and a bartender himself so bar hopping with him as his cousin is a very different experience that what most tourists get. the last bar that we went to we got to at approx 1.50 am and the bar closed at 2 am. it turned out however that the bar closing just meant that almost everybody had to leave and almost everybody had to stop drinking but, not us. We stayed at the bar until about 5:30 am when we left after drinking a lot of yager and a beer called Heinkein extra cold which is amazing, although my eyes were about to close we went to get some fast food before we called it a night, at the fast food stand there were a lot of israelies who kept trying to get me to cut in line for them and i kept telling them no. we walked back to valentijn's because at that time all public transport had stopped running that was my first night in amsterdam and the time was the earliest i would get to bed there.
Once i landed in amsterdam the airport was the exact opposite, HUGE we walked and walked and walked, and then got stuck for a good 40 minutes waiting for the customs people to let us through the 3 booths that were operational for the 5 planes that had landed simultaneously, it was great...... NOT.
Once i had claimed my bag and made my way through the single exit, where all of the middle easterners thought they could push me around i got out and met up with my distant cousin on my moms side named valentijn (pronouned vanlentine) and his cousin Jacob. we immidiately got along and when Valentijn suggested that we drop off all my stuff at his place and then go to the beach i agreed wholeheartedly. we went into Amsterdam for my first time threw all of my bags into his apartment and then left quickly on our explorations. on our way out Valentijn tossed my a spare set of his keys just in case i needed to get in when he was not going to be around.
We got to the beach and spent some time at what valentine called a beach bar, where i discovered that in Holland everybody drinks Heineikin and so i participated. After the beach we made out way back to the city and started bar hopping. Valentijn however is a local guy and a bartender himself so bar hopping with him as his cousin is a very different experience that what most tourists get. the last bar that we went to we got to at approx 1.50 am and the bar closed at 2 am. it turned out however that the bar closing just meant that almost everybody had to leave and almost everybody had to stop drinking but, not us. We stayed at the bar until about 5:30 am when we left after drinking a lot of yager and a beer called Heinkein extra cold which is amazing, although my eyes were about to close we went to get some fast food before we called it a night, at the fast food stand there were a lot of israelies who kept trying to get me to cut in line for them and i kept telling them no. we walked back to valentijn's because at that time all public transport had stopped running that was my first night in amsterdam and the time was the earliest i would get to bed there.
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