21.3 - Amsterdam with Tia

This night I slept anxiously and had a very broken sleep. Tia told me that she had the same problem. We were tiptoeing not to wake up the family and prepared ourselves. We left the house at 5.05, walked to the tram at Faidherbe and took it to Tourcoing centre. There we jumped on the metro 2 to Gare Lille Flandres to get the metro 1 to 4 Cantons, where the cicevoyages bus to Amsterdam was waiting.

We got awesome places in the doubledecker bus on the second floor in the front. Behind us we had two nice Tunisian guys, who we were talking to in the beginning. The bus host came to give us a paper with information about Amsterdam and some papers to sign, including one to confirm you won't take any drugs or bring them to the bus. During the ride we were just chatting, snacking, listening to music, Tia was reading and I writing and trying to sleep a bit, without any big success.

We arrived in Amsterdam just after 10 and then we had the whole day time until 19.30. We weren't considering to visit any museum because they were all very pricey. Instead, we had a new city to discover and still only one day time. We began by going to a tourist info to get a map and so there we went.

To start we mainly visited all kinds of tourist shops. Tia bought souvenirs for her family and I was very keen on the tasting possibilities of dutch waffels or gouda cheese as a huge cheese friend. Mainly we just walked around, admired the buildings and the channels and visited a lot of shops and all snack and coffee places. 

We stopped on a place where you could "build your own Frozen Yogurt". You take the froyo from tubes with different tastes and ajust then toppings according to your taste. There was a lot of choice and you payed after weighing the cup, 2.25€/100g. It was a very smart concept.

We walked around in shops and in an expensive shoppingcenter a women tried to sell me a 90€ acne cream.

There were bikes and bicycle le roads everywhere.

We walked through the red lights quarter. There was a lot of sex shops and people in light clothes posing in the windows. You weren't allowed to photograph in that area.

While trying to find a not too expensive crêpe or waffel place, we found by mistake an incredible place where you could get them both and chocolate kebab! That was totally something new and we had to try it. Instead of kebab meat, you got chocolate flakes, which were scratched similarly from a round turning block of chocolate as the kebab meat normally. The taste was like a piece of heaven!

The legality of cannabis was very obvious here. There were coffee shops, where you could get hand of drugs, in every corner and in many different forms.

(Cannabis biscuits with different flavours)

(Holding cannabis chocolate and cannabis tea in my hands felt very weird)

We tried to have small breaks every now and then to rest and snack and it was also necessary for Tias back. 

I bought home some cheese and stroopwaafels (syrup waffels) and chocolate for Tia and me in a supermarket called Albert Heijn.

We visited a very cute vintage shop in a cellar but unfortunately all the cool boots were in the size 37. As a result of travelling with a huge book fan, we obviously visited a few book shops. There were a few english book shops with very good books for nice prices.

On a tiny market lane I heard a couple speaking finnish. I had to ask them something just to be able to talk live some finnish. Afterwards I got very emotional. I couldn't have expected that you start missing and appreciating your own languages while being abroad for a long time.

Amsterdam has also its china town. We visited a chinese temple.

In the red lights quarter when it got darker we didn't stop anywhere except at this window which was just a bit funny...

After the shops had closed around 18, we decided head somewhere close to the meeting point and go and have a drink. It was a nice way tho end the day in Amsterdam.

The bus was a bit late but we still got the same places as on the way. During the bus ride we finished all the rests of our packed lunchbags and got to see the movie, Intouchables, which is about a dark man having to take a job of taking care of a handicapped man. In the beginning he hates the job but then they get friends. All the others who had taken care of the handicapped man had only stood the job for a short periode. The movie is touching and based on a real story. I liked it a lot. 

Many people were sleeping during the hometrip but Tia and I just chatted after the movie. We arrived at 23 o'clock back at 4 Cantons and took the metro to Gare. At Fives there was a ticket control and I hadn't bothered to validate my card just because of stupidness and tiredness and that's always when it happens... I just gave my card as usual and as the controller checked it, he said, Il n'y a rien (there's nothing). I pretended not to speak french and explained in english that I had charged my card. The guy just beeped something with the controlling machine and mumbled, c'est bon (it's allright). I think he just wanted to go home and noticed how tired and confused I seemed. I had really good luck but didn't feel well at all afterwards. 

At the gare Tia had just a tram home but I had still to wait for an hour for my bus at 00.30. She doubted to leave but I just told her to go. First I stayed at the metrostation because there were at least some people, controllers, policemen and drunk people... I don't like being alone in Lille at night. I decided to try with MacDonalds, which was unfortunately closed but then I got to sit in KFC until I had to leave for the bus.

In the bus I put on my headphones and listened loudly to music to stay awake.

I'm very tired but happy about having passed an amazing day with awesome company. Tia and I had a lot of fun, new experiences and a great time. The trip and money was totally worth it!