kitchen Angst!

As I stated yesterday, todays post is going to be about an 800 pound Gorilla that I just couldn’t shake!

I was in Europe on vacation visiting a good friend who lives in Germany. I had never been to Europe before so I wanted to see as much as I could while I was there. We had planned a day trip to Amsterdam on the day before I was to fly back to London and start my journey back home to the states. The train ride was 5 hours one way which meant we only had 6 hours in Amsterdam. This was a big mistake, you just can’t do a big city in that little time and really enjoy it, but we tried!

It started first thing in the morning while we were getting ready to leave for the station. I got a great feeling of dread, I was leaving soon! I had fallen in love with Europe, I wasn’t ready to go home yet, I hadn’t seen enough, 10 days went by too quickly, this was my last day in Germany and I was going to Amsterdam! I brushed my teeth and put on my best “excited smile” and we left the flat for the train.

We had no problem getting on the train but the Gorilla was already with us. We both felt it from the time we woke up, but neither of us wanted to discuss it! the 5 hour ride was full of small talk about what we wanted to do, or see, once we arrived. How we were going to plan our few precious hours in such a big city with so many places of interest to hit. We decided the Van Gogh museum needed to be the first stop, sense it was the one thing we both wanted to see, then the Anne Frank house, the red light district, the canals, and the homosexual monument which I didn’t even know about so this was a complete surprise . All of these things are in rather close walking distance of each other so we thought we were good to go!

After arriving in Amsterdam our first hurdle was to figure out what bus We needed to take to get to the Van Gogh museum, and buy the tickets. This was more difficult then We expected, but We managed to figure it out with the help of a slightly drugged out guy that honestly gave me the creeps! I wasn’t worried for my personal safety, but I didn’t want to loose all my money at the hand of a scam artist either. We were fine, we were on the bus, and on our way, but remember George ( our Gorilla ) was right there with us.

Once at the museum everything seemed to come together, We really enjoyed seeing the art and learning more about the man himself, It is a must see if your ever in Amsterdam. After our tour of the galleries we went to the gift shop to pick up some presents for my friends back home. This is when we had our first bout with George, We were feeling good about things and a little rambunctious I guess and caused a little scene that embarrassed us both to the point of having to leave in a hurry without buying anything. I didn’t think about it at the time, I just wanted to get out from under the stares and get on with our day. I did however regret, and feel bad about putting my friend in such a bad situation, it was my fault and I felt horrible.

The day was very hot, and the streets were crowded. I was trying to see as much as I could, but also paranoid about us getting separated so I kept my hand on my friends back the whole time as we walked. finally He turned to me and stated “I love your hand on my shoulder , but can you please remove it!” I did just to reveal a sweat spot where my hand had been, again I felt like shit for making him so uncomfortable. My day isn’t going as planned.

We were both hot, tired of fighting the hoards of people and still ignoring George! I did see all the sites I mentioned before, but not a whole lot else and really don’t remember much about the day other than contently watching the clock and being miserable.

We arrived back at the train station an hour and a half before our train was due to leave so we decided to take another friends advice and get an Amstel. After looking for a while we found a hole in the wall bar and went in. Here We met three Americans who had moved to Amsterdam, the bartender ( who I think owned the bar ) and the only other customers in the place! One of which was smoking a joint right at the bar.. I do love this city! We only had about half an hour before we had to get to the train so when we finished our beers, and the guy we had started up a conversation with singled the bartender to buy us another round we regretfully had to decline and leave. Honestly the most fun we had all day and we had to cut it short, that sucked! I was very glad to get on that train though, I was ready to leave this day behind me and ditch George. It was late by the time we got home and we were worn out, so we went to bed only to wake early the next day and start traveling again. Making our way to London where we had a day and a half before I was to leave Europe for good. George was gone… I think he had fallen asleep on the train back from Amsterdam and missed our stop! I wasn’t missing him, but I couldn’t understand why He was so hell bent on ruining Amsterdam, and not London. Oh well, good riddens to bad rubbish I always say!

I have to go back to Amsterdam some day so I can have a great experience, It is a beautiful city and I know without George I would really enjoy it.

This is a perfect example of how sometimes it is best to ignore your George! Even though he really messed up our day, trying to talk about it would have made it even worse, and more likely than not, ruined London as well! Instead We were able to laugh about it once in London, It rained all day and we just walked around the city without an umbrella laughing, taking pictures, and enjoying each other soaking wet!

like I said before pick your battles wisely!

James