Amsterdam 2011
That next day, after puking in the metro station and feeling like dying in the train we finally got to Amsterdam where we stayed at the Flying Pig Hostel (Uptown). On the way there I saw tons of signs saying "erotic massage" and "call now for erotic times" lol. The hostel was huge and had tons of young travelers. At the reception desk the woman welcomed us and says "The common room and bar are open all night and the smoke-room is to your left, you can smoke cigarettes and joints in there." We were definitely in Amsterdam. Another thing is that they sell burgers and fries and food in vending machines!!!! Its so gross. Everything is in vending machines. It wasn't until I thought about it that I realized the reason that everyone was bit "on crack" in the hostel, they were all high on something. We shared a dorm with 6 other people, all of which turned out to be Australian travelers, they joked that 3/4 of Austria was probably traveling around Europe now on their paid vacations.
I managed to get out of bed in between running to the bathroom every 5 minutes and Torey and I headed out in search of a pharmacy and food. I felt horrible that Torey had to deal with me moaning and complaining but she was a trooper about it. We got to the pharmacy and embarrassedly I explained to the lady that I had eaten raw duck by mistake and now I everything I tried to eat or drink was escaping my body from every which way. She grabbed a small box with the name Imodium on it and explained that this pill was for diarrhea and through her broken English I was able to make out that you are to take 2 pills every 2 hours until it stops and then just take 1 pill afterwards. Torey and I stopped at a small italian pizza restaurant and laughed about not knowing what to speak to anyone because already we had been spoken to in Italian, French, Spanish, English and Dutch. On a mission to get better I checked my watch every hour waiting to take the next dose of pills.
Afterwards Torey suggested that we visit a coffee shop. In amsterdam the cafes are places that sell coffee and the coffee shops are the places that sell weed and where you can hang out and smoke. As many of you know most likely because of the peer pressure you've all tried on me I have never smoked, but eager to stop the cramps in my stomach and with little energy to protest (not to mention the thought that on vacation one must explore all of the pleasures, especially in Amsterdam) I agreed to go with Torey to the coffee shop and smoke, yes, I said smoke lol. We went down into a basement that had a bar (without liquor) and big Tupperware boxes of different kinds of weed. There names were white willow, cheese, ak-47 and so on. Torey bought a joint and I bought a chocolate muffin. We sat in the smoking room and I scarfed down half of the muffin worrying that it would taste disgusting. Torey was smoking her joint and offered me a hit, however, I guess I did it wrong, I didnt get it in my throat? Lol, I was too worried that I would look like the coughing fool in the corner. Afterwards we went to HM where I could NOT concentrate at all and kept just stopping and staring at things and then Torey and I went back to the hostel where we fell asleep, FOR 12 HOURS STRAIGHT. (Except for waking up once to take 2 more pills)
That next morning we woke up and I WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN I WANTED TO DIE.
Now, instead of getting rid of everything, my body was holding onto everything, and everything in your body while your trying to get rid of a stomach bug from food poisoning is not good. We had planned to go to the Anne Frank House in the morning so we got up and made our way around 930 am to the house. The line wrapped around the block and took about an hour to get through. When we were in the house though, it was really weird. Apparently, after the war Otto Frank had been the only surviver of his family and after wandering around for months returned to the hiding spot that his family had lived in for years. After finding out that Anne was dead, Ottos old secretary gave Otto Frank the diaries that she had salvaged from the capture and Otto decided to publish the books in his daughters memory. The house was mostly empty except for diary entries that the museum had put on display. The house was bigger than I thought it had been but when you think about nine people living in there it would have been extremely small. The house was also kept dark and damp for the visitors to understand what it must have been like.
Afterwards we visited the pharmacy and they looked at me in shocked when I told them how many Imodium pills I had taken. Apparently one pill is more than enough to stop any kind of stomach problem and the fact that I had taken 6 pills in 12 hours was unbelievable. (Thank you lady who told me to take all those pills) I was given some stomach ache medicine and the only thing I could do was wait it out. I slept the whole afternoon and Torey met up with our room mates to go to the Heineken Brewery and the I am Amsterdam sign. Later she joined them for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe which apparently is a cool American restaurant in Europe. (Torey is gunna fill in this part). I met Natalie for a drink the main square and we chatted and people watched for a while. Shes staying in the Hauge and had just been to visit Ireland. That night Torey and I once again stopped at the little Italian pizza shop. We were both so tired but thankfully Torey made us go to the red light district. It was a whole bunch of small roads with tons and tons of tourists. The ladies were in small apartment rooms on the ground floors with red lights over the doors and windows and were all in bikinis or lingerie. All of the girls wee really pretty and looked like barbie dolls. We only saw one older woman. Even though it was exciting to see, after a few red light rooms you've pretty much seen them all. So we headed back, joking that my newest business venture would be to open a red light district in Portland. Good Night!
I managed to get out of bed in between running to the bathroom every 5 minutes and Torey and I headed out in search of a pharmacy and food. I felt horrible that Torey had to deal with me moaning and complaining but she was a trooper about it. We got to the pharmacy and embarrassedly I explained to the lady that I had eaten raw duck by mistake and now I everything I tried to eat or drink was escaping my body from every which way. She grabbed a small box with the name Imodium on it and explained that this pill was for diarrhea and through her broken English I was able to make out that you are to take 2 pills every 2 hours until it stops and then just take 1 pill afterwards. Torey and I stopped at a small italian pizza restaurant and laughed about not knowing what to speak to anyone because already we had been spoken to in Italian, French, Spanish, English and Dutch. On a mission to get better I checked my watch every hour waiting to take the next dose of pills.
Afterwards Torey suggested that we visit a coffee shop. In amsterdam the cafes are places that sell coffee and the coffee shops are the places that sell weed and where you can hang out and smoke. As many of you know most likely because of the peer pressure you've all tried on me I have never smoked, but eager to stop the cramps in my stomach and with little energy to protest (not to mention the thought that on vacation one must explore all of the pleasures, especially in Amsterdam) I agreed to go with Torey to the coffee shop and smoke, yes, I said smoke lol. We went down into a basement that had a bar (without liquor) and big Tupperware boxes of different kinds of weed. There names were white willow, cheese, ak-47 and so on. Torey bought a joint and I bought a chocolate muffin. We sat in the smoking room and I scarfed down half of the muffin worrying that it would taste disgusting. Torey was smoking her joint and offered me a hit, however, I guess I did it wrong, I didnt get it in my throat? Lol, I was too worried that I would look like the coughing fool in the corner. Afterwards we went to HM where I could NOT concentrate at all and kept just stopping and staring at things and then Torey and I went back to the hostel where we fell asleep, FOR 12 HOURS STRAIGHT. (Except for waking up once to take 2 more pills)
That next morning we woke up and I WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN I WANTED TO DIE.
Now, instead of getting rid of everything, my body was holding onto everything, and everything in your body while your trying to get rid of a stomach bug from food poisoning is not good. We had planned to go to the Anne Frank House in the morning so we got up and made our way around 930 am to the house. The line wrapped around the block and took about an hour to get through. When we were in the house though, it was really weird. Apparently, after the war Otto Frank had been the only surviver of his family and after wandering around for months returned to the hiding spot that his family had lived in for years. After finding out that Anne was dead, Ottos old secretary gave Otto Frank the diaries that she had salvaged from the capture and Otto decided to publish the books in his daughters memory. The house was mostly empty except for diary entries that the museum had put on display. The house was bigger than I thought it had been but when you think about nine people living in there it would have been extremely small. The house was also kept dark and damp for the visitors to understand what it must have been like.
Afterwards we visited the pharmacy and they looked at me in shocked when I told them how many Imodium pills I had taken. Apparently one pill is more than enough to stop any kind of stomach problem and the fact that I had taken 6 pills in 12 hours was unbelievable. (Thank you lady who told me to take all those pills) I was given some stomach ache medicine and the only thing I could do was wait it out. I slept the whole afternoon and Torey met up with our room mates to go to the Heineken Brewery and the I am Amsterdam sign. Later she joined them for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe which apparently is a cool American restaurant in Europe. (Torey is gunna fill in this part). I met Natalie for a drink the main square and we chatted and people watched for a while. Shes staying in the Hauge and had just been to visit Ireland. That night Torey and I once again stopped at the little Italian pizza shop. We were both so tired but thankfully Torey made us go to the red light district. It was a whole bunch of small roads with tons and tons of tourists. The ladies were in small apartment rooms on the ground floors with red lights over the doors and windows and were all in bikinis or lingerie. All of the girls wee really pretty and looked like barbie dolls. We only saw one older woman. Even though it was exciting to see, after a few red light rooms you've pretty much seen them all. So we headed back, joking that my newest business venture would be to open a red light district in Portland. Good Night!
