The diary of a Scot in Amsterdam

I can’t remember if I have mentioned it here before, but in any case I will do so again now. Myself and Astrid have been discussing a gigantic plan – no, we’re not getting married, but instead something far more exciting. It was her idea originally, but the more I have thought about it, the more it appeals to me too.

The plan is to go cycling next year. I am not talking about a day trip here, or even a week away, but something much more ambitious. The plan is to set off from Holland, travel through Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China, perhaps finishing in Hong Kong or if possible in Taiwan.

There is a lot of things still to be sorted before we can be certain about this trip. First of all money, then visas, various other preparations, vaccinations, and things we haven’t even thought of yet. As I know more, I will write it here.

Astrid has been doing most of the research up until now, and via a string of communication had made contact with a couple living in Utrecht, who are experienced “world cyclists” and who were happy to talk to us and pass on their knowledge. Therefore, we made an appointment to go and see them yesterday evening.

They were very friendly and helpful and seemed extremely eager to share their knowledge and experiences, which as well and being interesting and useful also served the purpose of making the whole thing a lot more concrete in my head. To hear from people who have cycled through Iran, Kyrgyzstan, various other “stans” and who have come back to tell the tale makes it seem so much more doable and realistic, and thus easier to get enthusiastic about.

So, a very enjoyable and productive evening. The only downside was that having not really kept an eye on the time, I ended up missing the last train back to Lelylaan and got stuck at Sloterdijk, meaning a long walk in the wind through the rather desolate far west of Amsterdam in the middle of the night. This did however give the opportunity of seeing some interesting werkzaamheden going on on the tram tracks near my house – there was a bunch of guys grinding down the rails, producing a spectacular mini-fireworks display in the process as can be seen.

Well, obviously it looked a lot more impressive in real life than in this shitty mobile phone photo, but that can’t be helped.

After my dad having been here in May, it was the turn of my mum to come and visit me this weekend. It was actually quite a short visit, but all the same good to see her and see this place once again as a tourist.

On Saturday we wandered around the town a bit, visited Astrid working at the Noordermarkt, saw an exhibition at Mediamatic, passed by Eat at Jo’s (my work), and later cooked dinner back at my flat. A long and lazy breakfast followed on Sunday, then lunch in the restaurant at the top of the OBA (Amsterdam’s main library). After this we took a trip to see the Caspar David Friedrich show at the Hermitage. This was a little disappointing in that there were not so very many of his paintings, and it was in any case much too crowded to see things properly.

Soon it was time to head back to Schiphol and say goodbye, although before long it will be Christmas and time to make another trip of my own back to Scotland.