Amsterdam #34 - Waar Ajax tweede in de poule wordt

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Op woensdag 29 februari 2012 18:41 schreef Bleie het volgende:

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Dat dorpsgevoel kende ik ook al van de Oostelijke Eilanden waar ik hiervoor woonde.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2012 16:51 schreef Piles het volgende:
Hier nog iemand met contacten voor (tijdelijk) woonruimte in Amsterdam? Kans bestaat dat ik binnenkort uit m'n appartement moet, dus opzoek naar iets anders. Sociale huur is onmogelijk qua wachttijd, vrije sector onmogelijk qua inkomenseisen Kopen met tijdelijk contract ook onmogelijk. Wat een heerlijke woningmarkt hebben we toch

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Op dinsdag 28 februari 2012 16:54 schreef Luco het volgende:
Dit weekend vrienden vanuit Australië over gehad in Amsterdam. Heeft een leuke blog geschreven over de eerste dag (en dag 2 volgt binnenkort):

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Friet was gehaald in de Voetboogsteeg bij Vlemminckx en het ijs was uiteraard bij van der Linde gekocht. Toch bizar dat er bij 6 graden een rij buiten dat winkeltje staat voor hun ijs

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Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 19:39 schreef magneetstrip het volgende:
Binnenkort 2x proefstuderen aan de VU Zijn er plekken/winkels in Amsterdam waar ik gewoon geweest MOET zijn?

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Op dinsdag 28 februari 2012 16:54 schreef Luco het volgende:
Dit weekend vrienden vanuit Australië over gehad in Amsterdam. Heeft een leuke blog geschreven over de eerste dag (en dag 2 volgt binnenkort):

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Friet was gehaald in de Voetboogsteeg bij Vlemminckx en het ijs was uiteraard bij van der Linde gekocht. Toch bizar dat er bij 6 graden een rij buiten dat winkeltje staat voor hun ijs

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I vowed to finish posting about Amsterdam! So here I am, 2 weeks later with a hazier memory of my second day in Amsterdam.

10 am Sunday morning. Feeling slightly seedy from the previous night in the red light district, so Chris and I do the complete opposite of a dirty night out and head to the very homely and wholesome ice rink near Diemen (De Jaap Eden dus). The ice rink is quite large and has both outdoor and indoor sections. The outdoor rink to me is incredible, as it is decorated with strings of pretty lights and packed with people of both amateur and semi-pro level. It has a very homely feel to it; Dutch families bring their kids who can barely walk let alone skate. I could also tell that this was not a tourist spot as everyone pretty much spoke Dutch. That and there were no loud wankers around wearing heineken merch. After a couple of croquettes (kalfsveelskroket) we hit up the ice-rink. Luca is a natural and tells me he was skating in the canals 2 weeks prior. Chris is alright too. I laze on the ice, playing it safe so I do not fall.

We head to the city centre after lunch. Here we walk into one of the infamous coffee shops. To anyone from Australia who ventures into Amsterdam, be aware there is a difference between a “coffee house” and “coffee shop”. The one we went to was, in my opinion, particularly touristy. Neon lights in the shape of marijuana leaves and high Jamaicans decorated the frontier of the shop. The smell of weed was unique and very strong and will be one of the smells that I will remember for the rest of my life. There are two bars in this joint, no pun intended. The first is a normal bar, serving snacks, beers and spirits and the second is the weed bar. Naturally we ignore the first bar and head for the second bar. I was curious as to how the product would be sold, only to find myself talking to a British dude in a floppy hat behind the bar. The products are all laid out carefully under a glass panel and illuminated ontop of a mild green glow. There were many kinds of weed available in multiple forms - loose leaf of varying quality and strength and in muffins. The White Widow was one of the weaker brands of loose leaf available. Chris joked that “it does what it says”. Other brands included Thai Delight, Bhudda Bar, Haze, Nepaleze etc. Luca pointed out that Dutchies were educated about this kind of stuff from a young age - smoking it will render effects in a couple of minutes, eating it will take about 2 hours. Chris bought a space muffin in the middle of the table. The British dude asked what I wanted but I declined - I would need my brains for my research project the next day. He stored it in my back pack to have later. I wondered later if the staff there were constantly high given that they would be subject to hours and hours of second hand smoke and a place that smelt like a shoe. A mate from Sydney told me later that you cannot get high from second hand smoke (hi Lily!)

We head to the Heineken Experience next. The Heineken Museum used to be an active brewery until 1988 when operations moved to Zoeterwoude. In short it was an incredibly flash museum, very different to the Carlton factory I had visited in Melbourne. (But to be fair the Carlton/Fosters factory conducted a more thorough tour and showed you the giant mills, boiler rooms, 3 separate warehouses for the bottling, keg filling, can filling etc. That and we were given a LOT more beer. ) It was not surprising given that the marketing power of Heineken is of mammoth proportions. There were rooms where the walls were constructed out of old Heineken bottles. “4D” cinema, a DJ arena, and a couple of touristy red star shaped bars at the end of the tour where you could grab middies of Heineken. (What is the Dutch equivalent of a middy?) By then we were craving beer so badly. We also noticed that all of the writing in the museum was in English, not Dutch. The museum contained on top of all this, stables at the ground floor which housed 6- 7 horses, surprisingly. The smell was very earthy and intense and hit me like a slap in the face. The horses and kept mainly for historical purposes and for pulling the odd cart on weekends. I think that was the only functioning part of the Museum. Playing true to my tourist status, I purchase a Heineken shirt and a signature Heineken bottle with my supervisors name on it. Which I will not drink for myself.

I had also learnt at the museum how to pour beer, Dutch style! Two fingers of head. But why? Is that not a waste of space that could potentially be amber fluid? No they say, it is to prevent the carbon dioxide rising too quickly out of the beer and thus rendering it flat before you’ve reached your table.

We were given a lift from Luca’s Dad to Luca’s parent’s house for dinner. They were incredibly kind, showing me and Chris around the house and feeding us with honestly the best home-made lasagne I’ve ever had. If you’ve heard the stories about Luca’s mum’s cooking (hello anyone from my lab if you’re reading this) it is so true. The layers and texture of the dish is evidence of days of hard work and I felt so blessed to be in that room. Chris wondered how Luca could stay in shape and still be fit seeing as he is subject to this gorgeous Italian food day in day out. Must be korfball.

Luca’s dad rushes us to the station after dinner, but not without leaving with a few gifts from the family. Again it was so so kind. We say our goodbyes at the train station - Luca headed off to Groningen. We felt so sad to say bye! The sadness was equivalent to how happy we were to see him for the first time in Amsterdam, if that makes sense. If you’re reading this thanks mate for the fantastic two days - you really made a huge difference in our experience of Amsterdam. Chris later said that it made his trip in Europe. And mine too for that matter!

We catch the connecting train to the Stena Line Britannica and prepare ourselves for the sail home. By preparation I mean that Chris stuff his face full of muffin before leaving the train. I had early encouraged him to eat half the muffin instead of the whole muffin, but later found out he ate the whole thing anyway.

He was tripping balls on the boat back to England.
Throughout the boat ride he stared at the ceiling and laughed his arse off. In between bursts of laughter he told me that there were funny patterns in the ceiling and they were changing shape. It was purely bizarre to watch this. I turned on our cabin TV to distract him from the ceiling. It occurs to me now that that in itself is really weird. Iron Man was showing and boy did he take that seriously. His emotions were heightened and when Tony Stark was injured he took it very seriously. While he was distracted by the TV, I made sure I had hidden all my stroopwafel deep inside my luggage so he would not get the munchies and go nuts on them. Sorry laav!

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Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 19:55 schreef jimjim1983 het volgende:

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de bubbels

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Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 20:12 schreef Luco het volgende:

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En het vervolg staat ook online:

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Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 21:29 schreef AMDB het volgende:
Goed geschreven verhaal inderdaad! Al zijn er wel iets te veel cliché's

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Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 19:55 schreef jimjim1983 het volgende:

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de bubbels

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Op woensdag 21 maart 2012 15:53 schreef El_Liberaliste het volgende:
Binnenkort ga ik verhuizen van de Bijlmer naar De Baarsjes. Bijlmer viel me qua overlast/problemen best mee, zijn er nog ervaringsdeskundigen die als autochtoon in West wonen? Veel problemen?

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Op woensdag 21 maart 2012 17:58 schreef Haunter het volgende:

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Ik woon er nu 2 jaar, ik heb me nooit echt onveilig gevoeld. Ik merk juist dat er veel buurtinitatieven opkomen en er een gemoedelijke (multiculturele) sfeer hangt. Met name "Ik geef om de Jan Eef" (nav de overal op de juwelier met dodelijk afloop) is een erg actieve club hier in de buurt; van marktjes tot exposities en borrels. Erg tof! En tja, natuurlijk heb je er af en toe wat rotte appels tussen, maar die vind je overal wel in Amsterdam.

Prima plek Waar ga je precies wonen?

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Op woensdag 21 maart 2012 22:46 schreef El_Liberaliste het volgende:

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Klinkt goed!
Ik ga aan de Jan Evertsenstraat tussen Bar Baarsch en een shoarmazaak wonen, waar woon jij ongeveer?

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Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 20:00 schreef VeX- het volgende:
Radijs ken ik niet maar Cafe Kostverloren is wel nice, zeker op maandag (Pubquiz).

Cafe Thuys daar in de buurt is ook prima.

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Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 18:40 schreef Haunter het volgende:

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Admiralengracht, vlak om de hoek bij fietsenmaker Lechkar. Geweldig vriendelijk gozer trouwens, maar iets minder vriendelijk voor je portemonnee.