Just coming down to earth with some unpleasant jolts after a weekend of decadence in Amsterdam. Had a 6am flight from Gatwick to get, so obviously I went to bed stone cold sober on friday night at about 9pm. Except by 9pm I mean 2am and 'stone cold sober' means drunk off my ass, stoned to the point of incoherence and with some coke rubbed into my gums so I could stay awake on the cab ride home. Despite my best efforts to sabotage my holiday, I made the flight in body but not necessarily in mind. Was a great weekend of glorious sunshine, great food and smoking the reefer. Our accomodation was somewhat lacking in luxury but had all necesary amenities and it was an apartment, rather than a hotel so came with a certain sense of freedom. Our trip (6 of us, plus couple of others making brief guest appearances) basically consisted of smoking a joint, wandering to a cafe for a drink, wandering to a coffee shop and having a joint, getting lunch, wander, drink, wander, joint etc etc. As Amsterdam is the most beautiful city in northern europe and the sunshine was spectacular the whole holiday passed in blissful contemplation. Hit up the Rijksmuseum which was mostly shut and there was only a selection of about 9 rooms worth of stuff to see - couple of STUNNING inlaid cabinets, great Vermeers, surprisingly shoddy Nightwatchmen, great Rembrants.
The highlight of the trip had to be the food. This is a shame because when I tell people about it I can see them thinking 'you were so stoned you could've been eating gravel out of a bin and thought it was ambrosia' but really it wasn't just the pot, the food was incredible. We went to a Thai restaurant called the Bird and a great Indonesian whose name escapes me. The Thai was extraordinary - easily the best Thai I've ever had. We had one of those mixed appetiser starter things and every element of it was differently spiced, uniquely flavoured and cooked to perfection. I find Thai food suffers the most from lazy cooking - everything can easily end up tasting the same. The Bird puts such lazy caterers to shame and they should all be forced to go and experience the standard they should be aiming for.
Interesting thing I learned about Holland this weekend was that they have the WORST taste in music. A couple of locals (friends of one of my holiday companions) took us to a club that they said had funkier, edgier music they had found in the entire city. The night hit a low note when 'Summer loving' from Grease came on. Apprently the Dutch can't get enough of 80s power ballads either - I heard 'Alone' by Heart song about 50 times while I was there and had it stuck in my head yesterday and today as a result, in fact I'm humming it right now.
I went through this whole trip thinking seriously about whether or not I could move to Amsterdam. After my first trip there I took it as a given, but just to ensure that wasn't the pot thinking for me I gave it some serious contemplation this weekend from the point of actually existing there rather than just showing up, getting stoned and leaving. I guess the short answer is a resounding yes, especially since the people we met there told me that if you buy a flat in Amsterdam you get 50% of the value of the mortgage back out of your taxes. Its a small, perfectly formed city which means that funky newsagents, great food and fun bars are all within walking distance. The real estate is gorgeous and plentiful and obviously much cheaper than London. Its hard to deny that I would have a much better quality of life in the Dam than I do now. Plus it seems a paralegal there makes about 12K more than I do now. Hello.
So now I am faced with two options - move to Amsterdam or to Madrid. The Dam is much more the person that I was and still tend towards. I'd be in cold, northern european country, smoking pot, not going out very much, eating too much. Madrid and living with Drury would be far more inclined to clean living, yoga, sunshine (ugh) and socialising. So really I should move to Madrid, but I want to go to Amsterdam. Madrid would be really good for me, the Dam really enjoyable. The Dam a step back, Madrid a step forward. Hence the paths of good and evil. Which to choose? Perhaps the biggest plus for Amsterdam is that the language isn't too much of a problem EVERYBODY speaks english. Spain its more difficult because so many people speak Spanish. hmmmmmm.
The highlight of the trip had to be the food. This is a shame because when I tell people about it I can see them thinking 'you were so stoned you could've been eating gravel out of a bin and thought it was ambrosia' but really it wasn't just the pot, the food was incredible. We went to a Thai restaurant called the Bird and a great Indonesian whose name escapes me. The Thai was extraordinary - easily the best Thai I've ever had. We had one of those mixed appetiser starter things and every element of it was differently spiced, uniquely flavoured and cooked to perfection. I find Thai food suffers the most from lazy cooking - everything can easily end up tasting the same. The Bird puts such lazy caterers to shame and they should all be forced to go and experience the standard they should be aiming for.
Interesting thing I learned about Holland this weekend was that they have the WORST taste in music. A couple of locals (friends of one of my holiday companions) took us to a club that they said had funkier, edgier music they had found in the entire city. The night hit a low note when 'Summer loving' from Grease came on. Apprently the Dutch can't get enough of 80s power ballads either - I heard 'Alone' by Heart song about 50 times while I was there and had it stuck in my head yesterday and today as a result, in fact I'm humming it right now.
I went through this whole trip thinking seriously about whether or not I could move to Amsterdam. After my first trip there I took it as a given, but just to ensure that wasn't the pot thinking for me I gave it some serious contemplation this weekend from the point of actually existing there rather than just showing up, getting stoned and leaving. I guess the short answer is a resounding yes, especially since the people we met there told me that if you buy a flat in Amsterdam you get 50% of the value of the mortgage back out of your taxes. Its a small, perfectly formed city which means that funky newsagents, great food and fun bars are all within walking distance. The real estate is gorgeous and plentiful and obviously much cheaper than London. Its hard to deny that I would have a much better quality of life in the Dam than I do now. Plus it seems a paralegal there makes about 12K more than I do now. Hello.
So now I am faced with two options - move to Amsterdam or to Madrid. The Dam is much more the person that I was and still tend towards. I'd be in cold, northern european country, smoking pot, not going out very much, eating too much. Madrid and living with Drury would be far more inclined to clean living, yoga, sunshine (ugh) and socialising. So really I should move to Madrid, but I want to go to Amsterdam. Madrid would be really good for me, the Dam really enjoyable. The Dam a step back, Madrid a step forward. Hence the paths of good and evil. Which to choose? Perhaps the biggest plus for Amsterdam is that the language isn't too much of a problem EVERYBODY speaks english. Spain its more difficult because so many people speak Spanish. hmmmmmm.
1 comment:
Woe. WOE! My name is Buffalo William and my big huge problem is whether to move to Madrid or Amsterdam.
Forgive me if I'm not falling over myself to pat your back over this toughest of tough decisions.
Kidding. Sort of.
My opinion is that you should do both. Life is nothing without a BALANCE of good and evil, yin and yang, pot and yoga.
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