Amsterdam!

I am in Amsterdam!

I arrived in Amsterdam yesterday morning, thoroughly confused as to what time it was because it seemed like the clock in the bus was changing at random between British and Dutch times.

The thirteen hour bus ride from London was... long. The most exciting part of it was the ferry crossing from Dover to Calais, which was about ninety minutes in the darkness. The ferry was quite large, but you could tell that you were on a ship nevertheless, since there was some light rocking (and rain, if you went outside).

Yesterday I strolled around town, getting an idea of the lay of the land. Had a variety of Dutch treats (stroopwafel, poffertjes). Returned to the hostel for a nap, and then attended “Hostel Night”, where they provided a free dinner of fajitas, and then played charades. After that I headed out to a nearby goth/alternative club, where I was able to listen to music that was more my style (after eight months in the Highlands where the radio station was almost always set to Top 40, this was very necessary!). Danced a bit, chatted with some Polish guys. Then returned to the hostel and went to bed.

Today, I visited the Oude Kerk and St Nikolas Kerk (two churches) – the most interesting parts were the choir stands in the Oude Kerk (where there were woodcarvings picturing various proverbs) and the floor of the Oude Kerk – this was made up almost entirely of graves with stone coverings. Some were very plain, others were very intricately carved – be careful you don't trip over them!

Following along with the religious theme, I visited Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder - a very intricate house church from the 16th century, when Catholics were persecuted and were not allowed to have churches that outwardly looked like churches, thereby many house churches were constructed. This one was quite fancy, on the top two floors of the house, and looked, well, like the interior of any normal church building.

I also visited the Torture Museum (quite small compared to the one in San Gimignano in Italy that I visited several years ago), as well as the Sex Museum, which was... informative. Lots of artwork from throughout the centuries, from all over the world. On the way back to my hostel, I also saw the Homomonument, a memorial to all of the GLBT people who have ever suffered persecution throughout the world.

Tomorrow I am heading to Utrecht for two days to stay with a Couchsurfer, and then I will be back in Amsterdam for two days after that.

Good night!