Holland: bikes, boats, & windmills [Spring Break Part One]

I don't even know how to begin this entry on spring break. It was a very interesting and exciting and exhausting week. I have seen and done so much. I guess the best place to begin would of course be the beginning...

Well, after a few days of rest and relaxation at the nearly empty villa Kate, Amber, Alyse, and I left for the train station around 3:45pm and took the train from Capolago to Lugano (only a 15 minute ride) and then from Lugano switched trains to head to Zurich. Even though it was only a couple hours to Zurich, the weather difference was pretty amazing. It was nice and sunny in southern Switzerland but a few hours north there was snow and it was absolutely frigid at the train station. I can honestly say that nothing is quite like walking around a train station (that is not heated, mind you) with a week's worth of clothes in a bag trying to find the next train only to find out that you have close to an hour to wait around. Well you can only pretend to walk around a store with your luggage, running into everything, without buying a thing for so long before you have to move on to the next heated store. We probably looked quasi-homeless. We eventually settled our bags right in front of the train departures board hoping our train would show up soon so we could find our track. We watched that board as if it was television because we were so desperate to get on the train and escape the frigid cold Zurich air. Once aboard the train we soon found our compartment and it was reminiscent of something out of Harry Potter. The door slid open to reveal a small compartment with two rows of three seats facing each other. There were four of us and at first we were excited to have our own private compartment but when it came to sleeping it was an entirely different experience. The excitement turned into utter frustration when we realized only two people could possibly sleep on the two rows of seats and the other two would have to suck it up and sleep on the floor. I sucked it up and slept on the floor with Kate and let me tell you there is nothing more uncomfortable (or more disgusting) than sleeping on the floor of that train. It was like sleeping on itchy plywood. I don't know, but it was pretty terrible. We ended up trading off sleeping arrangements after 3 hours on the floor proved to be completely miserable. It was definitely an experience for a night of sleep, or lack thereof. 

Around 9am or 10am we arrived in Amsterdam Centraal. We looked like a bunch of Bob Dylan-Rolling Stone followers with our messy hair, disheveled clothing, sunglasses, and sassy attitudes.  We had one mission and that was to get to our hostel and lay down in an actual bed for at least five minutes. Luckily our hostel was only a five minute walk from the train station and in a absolutely spectacular location. Unluckily, our beds weren't ready yet when we checked in. We were able to put our luggage in the luggage room that was kindly provided for us and we headed out into the streets. 

How does one describe the cast of characters that you come across is this city?  I could go on for days talking about all the different people we managed to cross paths with. I met people in our hostel alone from South Africa, Canada, England, Ireland, Germany, France, Romania, America, Argentina, and beyond. So many different cultures culminate in this city and form this sort of diverse community unlike anything I have ever seen. It was wild. It is a place where you can easily meet someone from anywhere in the world who have come to enjoy the local color and otherwise. Absolutely amazing how many people are there who aren't actually from Holland. Even the people who worked at the hostel were from all over and ended up in this place like a bunch of vagabonds. 

Alleyway 

Amsterdam reminded me of a mixture of things. I finally narrowed it down to Neverland meets the Island of Misfit Toys meets Lord of the Flies. I don't even know if that does the city justice. There is definitely traditional Dutch culture in Amsterdam but for the most part the city is overrun with tourists and outsiders who ended up there for temporary living or god only knows what else. I truly enjoyed Amsterdam but it is abundantly clear that the culture offered is mainly due to the demand of outsiders and cultural expectations and demands set by the public coming from outside of the city. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I would have loved to see it in a more natural and traditional light rather than this culture created from the outside world (but I'll get to Rotterdam soon enough, which sets the score even). 

Outside the Van Gogh Museum

During our few days in Amsterdam we managed to see the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, and walked around nearly the entire city. The Van Gogh Museum had the most spectacular collection of his works. I listened to the Icelandic band Sigur Rós while I toured the entire exhibit and it was absolutely perfect. [[A quick aside, I think that listening to music while going through an art museum is the  only way to do it. It can really set the tone for the entire experience, and if you don't know Sigur Rós, they are such an amazing band. I don't even know if I can describe their music properly with words, but I think that they demonstrate emotions through music perfectly. All their songs are sung in Icelandic or their own language they created, Hopelandic. It's very soothing music but I think it's also very emotionally charged and powerful. Definitely a great band to check out if you have a chance.]] I was astounded and awestruck by the paintings I actually got to see up close and in person. It was mesmerizing to see some of the most beautiful world-renowned paintings so close. I could have stayed at that museum all day staring at his work and admiring each brushstroke. He was truly a gifted artist and was able to see the world in such a unique and magical way. His perspective...I am just so jealous of his view of the world. He saw true beauty in such ordinary objects or landscapes and transformed them into the most remarkable and dazzling paintings I have ever seen. Honestly to see them in person truly made my respect and love for him as an artist all the most prevalent. I also was lucky enough to enjoy their Paul Gauguin exhibit. That was really nice but I'm not a terribly big fan of Gauguin's work. I also had the opportunity to see some Emily Breton, Monet, Manet, Seurat, and many other brilliant artists. 

The Anne Frank House was a very interesting but also extremely intense experience. It's amazing how well preserved the building is and how the story of Anne Frank has become known worldwide. I walked through the house two times because I just wanted to be able to remember it all. It was incredibly eery and oddly cool to walk through the trick bookcase that hid the entrance way to the annex where Anne and her family lived during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Her father was the only one to survive after someone tipped off the Nazis of their hiding place and shipped them all off to different concentration camps. Anne died only a month before war came to a close and the concentration camps were liberated. It is such a tragic story and her father was the one who turned the building into a museum and opened it up to the public to view. Absolutely incredible story. 

so many bikes! 

Aside from the museums, we also walked around the city which was absolutely gorgeous but incredibly cold. It was 40 degrees all week and very windy. Pretty much bitter cold. The entire city is quite extraordinary because most people ride bikes and there are thousands of bikes all over the city. Chained all the rod iron barriers along the canals and all through the streets. It is such a cool site to see all these people on bicycles of all kinds. I wish more cities were like that. I love that entire idea and mentality to use bikes. There were definitely more bikes in Amsterdam than cars and it makes much more sense. There are canals that cut through the city and have the most beautiful bridges with astonishing views of the narrow canals and the Dutch-styled buildings along the water. I really loved the set up of the city, but I would have to say that it was a little too crazy there for me. I can't even begin to describe the Red Light District. It's probably one of my least favorite places in the world. It's terrible to see women in such a sad situation where they have no other choice but prostitution. Not only that but how it is pretty much promoted in the Red Light District so it's as if you're window shopping for prostitutes. It's really rather terrible to see women being treated like pieces of meat. I definitely left with all the fervor of a feminist.  

Rotterdam

Amsterdam was a lot of fun but after a few days we were ready to leave and move on to Rotterdam. We left early Friday morning and arrived in Rotterdam before noon. Our hostel was pretty nice and in a really cool location. We only had a day in Rotterdam so we tried to use our time wisely but at this point we were all so exhausted. Once we got to the hostel, half the group passed out in their beds while I looked around the building and got some reading done. We managed to find a grocery store for some dinner supplies after we walked around the city a bit. Rotterdam is quite a spectacle because mixed in with all these classically Dutch-styled buildings are these huge modern architecture buildings. Rotterdam also has the biggest seaport in Europe, so there are plenty of boats and waterways. It was such an interesting combination of architecture, sailboats, and parks. The next day we walked along the water front to look at the boats and then continued through this park. It wasn't as cold as Amsterdam but it was pretty windy out. My favorite part of Rotterdam was seeing the windmill. I saw windmills on our way up on the trains but I actually got to see one up close. We walked quite a bit to get there but I think it was totally worth fighting the wind and cold. Eventually we made our way back to the hostel and we broke up for a bit. Some of the group went to explore some more but since it was so bitterly cold out I decided to get some reading done and hang out in the sitting room with Amber. I read my book "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" by Milan Kundera and also perused my Rolling Stone magazine I got in Amsterdam. 

sitting room/bar/dining area at the hostel

the windmill!

We had a bit of trouble on the way back from Holland to Zurich though. I have to say that I have lived up to my father's genes perfectly. I somehow managed to lose my train ticket from Utrecht to Zurich which cost a pretty good amount of money for a poor student. Unfortunately for me the people at the Tickets & Services kiosk were no help what-so-ever. They need to change the name of their kiosk because they did not service me in any respect to help me replace my ticket. Even though I had 3 different forms of identification, the credit card I paid with, and proof I had a reservation on the train there was apparently no way they could possibly look it up on their computers or reprint a ticket, or anything in that respect, to get me on this train. Panic and dread of having to buy another ticket after losing mine threw me and I was pretty much in shock they couldn't replace it. I did manage to reprint my ticket because I bought it online and had saved the email but trying to get to a place with a computer with internet and a printer before our train departed in 30 minutes was really hard and the most stressful time of the entire trip. After going to 4 different places around the train station begging and pleading and using the "I'm a dumb American far from home who lost her ticket and I need help" line...I FINALLY found a restaurant who helped me in my dilemma. There were a series of hoops I managed to jump through to get them to allow me to use their computer, internet, and printer along with all the steps it took to actually print the ticket but I did it. When Alyse came running towards me with a piece of paper from the printer that had all my reservation information it was like the passing of the torch for the Olympics because we literally had less than ten minutes to get to our train platform. We booked it back to Amber and Kate in the main area and then continued to rush along to the platform...but we made it. The rest of the journey went along without a hitch and we made it safely back to Riva the following day (which was yesterday). 

Spring break was really great and I had so much fun, but I am glad to be back in our little town of Riva. Unfortunately this week is crazy because I have a document paper/presentation due, a group presentation, a midterm for my Roman class, and Italian homework along with a workshop with Antonio Fava for Commedia dell'Arte. Then next week I have a paper due and a bunch of Italian quizzes. So it will be craziness around here for a while and I assume I'll go crazy at some point but I'm crossing my fingers that I'll keep my sanity. Oh! And I have a ton of Greek translations I want to get through so I can keep up with my independent study. 

So that's my long way of saying that this is all I have for now and I have a ton of work to do! 

Until next time (more pictures to come). 

p.s.

I lost my USB cord to my camera in Amsterdam so I can't upload my pictures from my camera just yet. You'll have to hold tight till my replacement comes in the mail (thank god for ebay). Until then all the pictures you've seen here were provided by the ever-talented Kate W. & Alyse C. who managed to take some fantastic shots of Holland!