Amsterdam and Germany - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Goedemorgen, Mention Amsterdam and the first thing that comes to people's minds is the red light district and illegal substances in the form of cookies. How does a beautiful town like this become so defined by such things with the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh museum, and all the beautiful seventeenth century architecture virtually being unmentioned. As we start our site seeing today, I take in the surroundings where the locals set up stalls in preparation for the festive season and the sound of cling cling reflect the commuters travelling to and from work. The small lane ways and canals mean that most travel by bike or boat here. At 8:30am, our group has the opportunity to do the latter. A one hour boat ride sees us travelling along the main canals which allows the site of Amsterdam in another light. Floating boat houses, museums, Catholic and Protestant churches along with the Anne Frank House and Museum are all seen whilst we are on water. We soon arrive to our next destination. As I notice all the men retracting from the entrance and the women's eyes start to sparkle, we are ushered into the Gasson Diamond factory. Truth be told, about 8 years ago, the company hired an employee for the Summer vacation. It was later found that this employee had a partner who enjoyed all things luxurious. The employee purchased a microwave during his lunch break or before his shift and brought it into work to leave in their storeroom. Despite us all knowing where this story will end up, no one questioned this. The employee had deliberately forgotten to take his microwave home (in which he stored £11 million, AUS$22 million worth of diamonds in it and returned to pick it up that night. The man fled the country and was eventually caught and served jail time. However over £200, 000 remain undiscovered. During the tour in the factory, we learn that the price of a diamond is determined by four things, clarity, colour, cut and carat. Guests are tempted as Gasson staff hand jewellery worth over £34,000 around. I admire the beauty but choke on the price and decide that perhaps these gems are a tad expensive to consider as a souvenir from Amsterdam. Not long after, a photo opportunity at a windmill is given before we are provided 2 hours of free time to roam the streets of the city. I partner up with a fellow neighbour from New Zealand. A lady by the name of Paula. Paula and I instantly hit it off. Aside from being another single traveller, Paula is an avid photographer herself. As an art/design and network head teacher of a high school we both quickly find that our personalities and interests are quite similar. We were united on the first thing to do and that was to find something to eat. Danish pancakes, waffles and chocolate stores tempt us but we both agreed we needed to start with something savoury. I spot a huge crowd at one of the stalls. It's the Original Grill House. A place where German sausages are cooked over wood fire and coal. We decide on this, not only because the meal looked appetising but that the heat generated from the wood was helping us with the 1 degree weather. Paula and I halve a Spicywurst and xxxx each. As we take in our hot dogs, we turn to admire the architecture of the buildings surrounding us, the birds roaming above and the loud chatter of tourists around us. It was the first time since flying out of Sydney on Monday that I truly felt I was on holidays. The next hour and a half was spent roaming the streets and taking photos. We spot a few unusual things, 'coffee shops', girls in windows and furniture being removed through balconies but fail to enter the Red Light District or smoke any weed (due to a lack of trying). Despite not spending more time there, both Paula and I thoroughly enjoyed our time there and for now it was goodbye to Amsterdam. The next destination was Germany. I forgot to mention that all the while I was paired up on the bus with an Aussie family from the Gold Coast who make the travelling time on the bus run quickly. Bev, Jeff and their 14 year old daughter Natalia truly prove that those down under are pretty down to earth. Gabby, another student Queenslander sitting to my right asks me how long I have of uni left or if I'm still in highschool, to which I laugh and respond neither and inform him that I had completed uni 7 years ago. I didn't know whether to take it as a compliment that I look young or an offence that I act like a 20 year old. By 6:30pm, we arrive at the Ramada hotel in Germany and spend our first free dinner together. I dine with John, Maria Pia, Paula and Magdalina. The night was extremely pleasant with lots of laughter, my first and only (yes only one Tiff) German beer and stories about people's incompetences with computers as both John and Paula work in the computer industries. I silently admit that I'm one of those people but could secretly name a few more. I should have known not to jump and claim that today was the best day as my negative room mate was ready for attack as we returned to our hotel room. A behaviour I was extremely unappreciative of as I had just walked her out of the hotel to help her get to the nearest ATM. Insults about my line of work, being a young person using iPhones, iPads and cameras were thrown. I try and laugh it off and tell her that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that a few things she was saying we'd have to agree to disagree. She replies no! I want to discuss you young generation. I tell her I would not be partaking any such conversation and explain to her that what I was doing was really none of her business (in actual fact I was note taking for my blog as we had no access to the internet. Without going into too much details