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| T. and I |
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| Leiden |
Woke up in yet another strange room, it was still
dark so I dashed to the loo to try to get back to bed before my mind officially
announced itself awake. I bumped into my mate in the hallway and sighed at the
thought that the day had started and bedtime would have to wait a few more
hours. The miserable rainy weather made it feel
early but we were going on midday by the time all the breakfast was on the
table. We made a huge fry up, recycling the one available frying pan to make
eggs, baked beans, bacon, mushrooms and the rest of the essentials. We wrapped
up tight with our rucksack for the day and set off. Dressing for winter is an
effort and a half. First you deal with the pain of getting out of whatever
warmth you have on you, pushing through the cold to get into the shower and then
layering up, tights, jeans, vests, t-shirts, jumpers then coats, gloves, socks,
thicker socks, boots - and then you stuff yourself through the door feeling
slightly like a Michelin man yet losing all insecurities about what you look
like when you can still feel the cold through a million layers. It's the very
end of October and the temperature has already gone below 0 - I'm terrified to think about how much worse it will get.
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| Crystals at a local market |
Our day was action packed, on our
way down to the beach we made friends with a 'fun guy that made the rest of the journey
slightly more colourful and silly - luckily the clouds had drifted away leaving
a pristine blue sky. We took full advantage of enjoying the moment, rolling
down sand dunes and hiding from the wind in cave-like indentations in the sand.
We bought crisps, grapes and pears from the supermarket to munch on later and then
began our stroll towards the little town of Leiden - I experienced 'kibbling'
on our way down the windy beach front -- fresh cod fried in batter eaten with
mayo. It was the perfect warm snack, followed by apple pie and hot chocolate in
the closest café we could find, we sat there enjoying the luxury of the warmth
in total defeat from the cold. We considered the 1.5 hour walk home, but
decided to clink a few more coins and get the bus instead. A quick bite of a
pizza, a little dance to 'Clint Eastwood' by the Gorillaz and we were off to the bus stop. We made
sure we'd have at least 10 minutes so as not to miss the bus, as it was the only
one coming in our direction for 40 minutes. This bus was essential to
catch as one of my mates A. had another bus to catch back to London from Amsterdam and we were
already running short on time. We teared up a little waiting for the bus to
come, I lay on our pile of bags looking at the two boys in front of me who I'd watched grow into men over the past 3.5 years - wondering when the next time
I'd see them again would be. We all looked defeated, but soon saw the bus
lights approaching on the dark empty road. Our hearts dropped when it drove
straight passed us, tactically ignoring the three teenagers that stood waving their arms in the middle
of the road. We panicked and fretted for about 5 minutes, sharing our annoyance
towards the dick bus driver before getting practical and working out what to
do. We ran to the closest bus station that was 10 minutes away, and managed to
catch the bus that was late for its post - thank god we made it.
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| By the canal |
We all hugged
goodbye, A. went off towards Amsterdam and I journeyed onwards to the Hague to
see an old friend that was waiting for me as soon as I arrived. The evening sweetened up as we bought some banana's from the supermarket,
in preparation for one of my new favourite snacks, purely due to it's
convenient preparation time - banana milkshakes! 2 banana's, a cup of milk,
water or ice cream if you want, blended - done. We snuggled up in bed with our shakes, a buzz from a light spliff and breaking bad on full screen I don't know
whether it was the series itself or our mental states but there were some
points of the series that were beyond ridiculous, leaving us in stitches. A
bathtub full of a decomposing body falling through 2 stories because the acid
used to dissolve the body dissolved through the tub and the floor - It's an
entertaining series so far, I'll give it that. We fell into a 14 hour peaceful
slumber - the next morning the clocks turned back, winter has
officially set in, yelp!
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| Popeyes |
The sun rose slowly and we had a lazy morning in bed watching more breaking
bad, munching on scrambled eggs, and pondering what we'd do for the next few hours together. Our pro-active minds kicked in soon enough and we went off exploring the Hague on the back of my friends scooter -- free transportation still comes with a price though, as the speedometer rose, the harshness of the wind could be felt on our faces as our eyes streamed. We made our way to a beach about 10 minutes away, the wind picked up as we approached the sea but at least it was fresh air? We walked through the main shopping centre for shelter, popping into T's mums shop for a little hello and having a light coffee and a cigarette for a pause. We walked passed the buildings that were responsible for imprisoning war criminals and laying down the laws on dangerous chemicals etc. -- this country's got such a high moral standard that it made so much sense that it would be the place where crimes etc. were put in question. We returned home and T. left his bike unlocked and leaning against the wall outside his house - apparently it's safe enough to do so! Something I'm not used to at all. It makes me think how sad it is that one has to
assume the worst from people in order to take precautions. After a quick milkshake at home, I jumped on the train back to Centraal station in Amsterdam. That evening we walked to another coffee shop 'Abraxas', picking up a bag of hot chips and mayo on the way, and returning home later that night with a stick of candy floss crisps and an apple pie - using 'I'm on holiday' to justify my unhealthy eating habits.
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| Street art |
The days are trickling down and we're down to only 2. The next morning began with a spot of yoga, followed by another coffee shop 'Popeye'. We began with a huge breakfast, that was closely followed by a Shawarma, 2 bars of chocolate and lots of tea. I'm fascinated as to how my stomach is coping with all of this, but it'll get it's break soon. Popeye's was a laugh, one mate A. from London sat for the majority of the time squirming over the cute Scottish waitress who stood at the bar seductively licking cream off her fingers and flashing him cheeky smiles - we were entertained. I decided one thing I needed to do while in Dam was buy a winter essential, so I chose boots given that every shop we passed had about 50 pairs on offer and all for fairly reasonable prices compared to London. So I left the others and set off to choose a pair. I spent the next hour stumbling all over the shop floor, stressing out over
varying prices - leather or no leather, fur or no fur, heel or no heel ah! The trip was not successful so we went home, with the mental promise of completing the boots mission the following day.
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Street art:
"We eat the poor to feed the west"
- scary message |
That evening we made a full on meal using whatever ingredients we had in our fridge, and a few others. Make-shift ratatouille was the result, with bread and salad. Followed by an chocolate and vanilla pudding! We ate our happy muffins about an hour before we started cooking, and by the time we'd finished, the giggles had kicked in. We'd set up our night, loaded Ice Age 3 on the laptop, made a delicious meal, and got into our PJ's - it was all timed perfectly for once. The idea of watching a movie is always better conceptually, as our non-stop laughing and short attention span that didn't outlive 5 minutes at a time, didn't help us understand what we were watching at all - and failed to distract us from the white/ milk chocolate ginger biscuits, apparently they're a Dutch speciality, and I see why. After we'd ploughed through a huge meal that should have left us with leftovers for at least lunch and dinner, and the vanilla and chocolate pudding AND the bag of white/
milk chocolate ginger biscuits - we were literally left immobile, struggling not to laugh as our stomachs dealt with the immense
amount of food that needed to be digested, yet somehow the drive for more more more beat the pain and we finished the entire bag. Eugh.
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| Street performer |
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| Self explanatory? |
I waved goodbye to Amsterdam as we made our way to Eindhoven the next day, I managed to buy boots in the morning which felt like an accomplishment in itself- munching on rye bread and brie (my staples for the week) we packed everything up and left the apartment. Returning to L's home with a warm home-cooked meal awaiting us, made us smile and appreciate the little things. The next morning was a struggle, getting out of bed and beginning the stressful journey to the airport. I stood in line as everyone was checking in, watching countless people in front of me being turned away as they were too late for their flight. I find that no matter how much time you give yourself, travelling is always a stressful process. On my way to the departures gate I found myself in an 'all day breakfast' restaurant that proved as quite a distraction. But I finally made it on to the plane with no extra costs and I zoned out to my tunes with a cup of English Breakfast tea - So what have I taken with me from Amsterdam? It's beautiful canals, flat grounds and beaches. The proof of a successfully functioning city that has legalized and controlled weed consumption, and a beautiful variety of Art, from the graffiti on the walls, to the street performers, to the huge museums and galleries that are scattered all over the city. Dutch food is one thing I don't particularly warm to however, processed meats and cheeses, lots of bread with a weird variety of spreads, and fairly bland accompaniments.. But that's was a minor flaw. Right now I lie in bed on an overcast Saturday morning, snuggled up with a comfy duvet, wearing my old school hoodie with a cuppa, back 'home' in London town.
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| Centraal station, infront of a big old crowd ♩ ♫ |
Recipe of the day: Ratatouille
