Day 86, 2 April: Biking in the Breeze of Amsterdam

Heart of Amsterdam Hostel, Day 86. Biking In the Breeze of Amsterdam

      The day was not marked by seeing the Van Gogh museum or hitting the touristy spots (for the most part) or going to the Anne Frank museum. Instead, Vinnie, Mo, Caitlin, and I went off to rent discount bicycles and we toured the city in its wholeness without trains or cars or buses or pained feet. The streets are lined with bicycle paths and the alleys are full to the brim with parked bikes. The city lives and circulates bicycles in as never-ending a cycle as the bike wheels themselves.

      After Joseph, Liam, and Vito went off to help celebrate Liam’s birthday today (great way to do it in Amsterdam), the four of us tried the walkie-talkie idea with them for a bit, but as a siren sound came on un-ceaselessly, we turned it off and did our own thing with the bikes. I honesty can’t say where we rode, except we made it to the Anne Frank museum to see just how long the line was. Nearby was a cheese store with wheels upon wheels of cheese (another thing on wheels here). The sample of pesto cheese was delicious. Mo was afraid, but I convinced him that the green cheese was not poisonous.

      We all journeyed around, and it became for me a sort of meditative time to think. I think it started at Anne Frank, but I realized that I had the dregs of stress over deadlines for Berkeley classes in the upcoming fall semester. How can I live and see the next deadline or assignment as the next means of progress in life? Somehow I think it’s been somewhat implicit in my mentality. Yes, I’m a serious student, but the character of my life shouldn’t have that as the overpowering outlook. I’ve always been told ‘it’s just an essay’, etc., but as I try to give it my heart and soul through the tips of my typing fingers, it’s as if the essay is another kind of test, a test of worth, of value. It has had disastrous results before.

      On this bike ride, feeling the fresh air of Amsterdam at every stop and over each bridge and street (either along a canal or into a park or just in the general haze of the city centre), I felt alive and free. My friends were with me, coming up with really witty ways to use each other’s name in sentences. Oh, I’m in such Suspence. (Good one, Mo.) Oh, Mo-ve away from me. I just need vincentive. It was great.

      We never got a picture of it, but in one park, a guy definitely held a full couch in one arm and kept his other hand on the handles of his bike. It was hilarious and impressive at once.

      We visited the ‘I am Amsterdam’ sign and posed together and separately. We got a lot of pictures on Caitlin’s camera and I have this video of a quick scan through them. Vinnie did a lot of the camera shots on the bike and going through the photos feels like a story, the bike ride evident from the movement between photos.

      Later, we met up with the rest of the gang and Joseph’s friend who lives in Utrecht 25 minutes away by train. We had dinner and it took forever because Joseph and Vinnie had this obsession over finding a place that served pancakes (first it was ‘Dutch pancakes’, then we realized they would be mentioned as just pancakes because everything here is Dutch) and milkshakes. We turned places down because of it. If restaurants had one, they didn’t have the other. Finally we settled on a back-up (that only had pancakes), and ironically, neither of them ordered them. They got burgers.

      I had long talks with Vito at dinner and later in the hostel room about Eugene, Oregon, a place known for its track due to Nike and a very vibrant running culture that got him into running as well. We also share an interest in picking up more guitar and singing. On another note, Caitlin was constantly the butt of many Vinnie and Mo jokes, but she fired back equally witty responses. After dinner, we stopped for healthy food (and enchanted bottles) at a supermarket and then headed back to the hostel. Most of us stayed in tonight, but Joseph and Vito decided to make the long trek to a jazz bar at 10. It’s 2 now, so obviously they must be having a good time. All right, good night.