Quaint ramblings and occasional reflections of a journeying Aussie musician...

02 March 2006

Dear Old Amsterdam - Friday

Rocked up to Leidseplein about 11, a little later than hoped, but after inhaling a lox bagel and a cappucino, I proceeded directly to the bike store next door, put down my credit card details and in a second I had two wheels again....
I'd been pretty fired up about this particular adventure - five years of tredley power was my principal method of transport back in the BC, and yet in London I'm still yet to purchase, not having ridden regularly for a whole year! Add to that no sleep for most of the week preceeding, caffeined to the eyeballs, suddenly realising that it was right-hand drive, and with back-pedal brakes (like I'm suddenly eight years old again), I chuckled out loud with delight (getting to be a habit on these little continental jaunts) and set off in earnest.
You have to have a spare set of eyes in the back of your head in this town...everyone drives everywhere! Cars drive where the trams go, scooters go where the bikes go, and pedestrians and bikes go wherever they please. My excitement found me rapidly overtaking the locals for a couple of blocks until I realised I'd lost my map! Regardless, fearless, the spirit of adventure overwhelming, I pressed on....
First stop the Jordaan, the cute little burb just to the west of the city. This is where musos would live if they could afford it. Saw some gorgeous streets with local cafes and restaurants and stuff and dropped into an awesome CD store with the biggest soul collection I think I've ever seen....
Dodging construction sites left right and centre, I moseyed on back into town and down to the Vondelspark, the big rectangular stretch of green a little outside the centre. Even in winter it was beautiful, and I could see that in summer it would be THE place to hang. As I cruised along the eastern side, the houses got bigger and more amazing until I got to the bottom corner and was astonished at these small palaces, set on a canal which came up to the park, with a little stone bridge off in the distance. Intrigued, I came back up the other side of the park, and then down to said bridge to have a look around at probably the plushest part of town.
Working my way back up a big street and one of the canals, I ended up in Museumplein, a truly amazing area....fronting the park are the Rijksmuseum (home of Rembrandt's works), Van Gogh museum, the music conservatory and the Concertgebouw (main classical venue in town)...a real cultural precinct....
After returning the bike I wandered off for another five euro special before finding an electro-acoustic gig...can't remember what the place was called, and the music left something to be desired, but the set-up of the venue was awesome...big restaurant place downstairs, then up some stairs to a bar, then through two sets of doors (i.e, the bar is close but not in the same space as the music) and into the performance room, with full lighting desk and sound system setup. Never seen anything like it!
Back to Lucky's place, out in the 'sticks' apparently (a whole 15 minute tram ride), where we put in a late night drinking session with Lucky's delightful girlfriend....

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