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Parker and I chilled at the house while Steph took Andrew to the beach after the printing expedition; we learned a new Radiohead song together (or, I learned the string part to sing). Steph then took us to a nearby Haarlem park. I don't know if I've explained the process of riding on the back wheel of a sturdy Dutch bike, but it's quite fun and very convenient when you have the right number of bikes so everybody can take someone and nobody has to walk. It's a slightly intimate balancing game, sitting sidesaddle on the wheel shelf while the rider pedals, and I love it. We got to go the the park that way, me riding behind Stephanie.
There we met up with Celina and a bunch of their friends who are starting an art cooperative in the third floor of a building they're squatting. It's a complicated and legal process, but they have to clean it up and such. We went over there after the picnic and looked at it while they began to work on it; it's covered in dove poo and carcasses, and there are quite a few holes in the ceiling and the floor, but nothing too hard to overcome, and the space itself is great.
There were too many people to work efficiently at the site, so Celina and her boyfriend Gagi and Steph and we decided to hit Amsterdam to finish what we started and maybe see De Parade, the carnival/festival happening in the MLK park. It was a great time, even if we didn't do any of the payable options like the bands or the shows or the rides, but we sat by a whirler and danced to its music and ate Poffertjes (tiny tiny pancakes with powdered sugar) and were merry. We couldn't stay too long because of the tram schedule, and we did have to run all the way to the station, but we made it.
Celina and Gagi went home right from there, and we all said bye sadly, because we're leaving in the morning. However, Steph led us to the red light district which we'd somehow missed on our previous trip. It was quite surreal, though outwardly not that different from many places I've seen in Houston or Vegas. It was just the purpose that made it hard to believe.
We walked dazedly through and got back to the train station just having missed the last train for 40 minutes, so Parker and Steph partook of the Amsterdam pastime before needing some food. We made it to the last train of the night, the 1:34am, with about 30 seconds to spare. Oh, the montages my memories will be composed of. Holland has been good to us.
There we met up with Celina and a bunch of their friends who are starting an art cooperative in the third floor of a building they're squatting. It's a complicated and legal process, but they have to clean it up and such. We went over there after the picnic and looked at it while they began to work on it; it's covered in dove poo and carcasses, and there are quite a few holes in the ceiling and the floor, but nothing too hard to overcome, and the space itself is great.
There were too many people to work efficiently at the site, so Celina and her boyfriend Gagi and Steph and we decided to hit Amsterdam to finish what we started and maybe see De Parade, the carnival/festival happening in the MLK park. It was a great time, even if we didn't do any of the payable options like the bands or the shows or the rides, but we sat by a whirler and danced to its music and ate Poffertjes (tiny tiny pancakes with powdered sugar) and were merry. We couldn't stay too long because of the tram schedule, and we did have to run all the way to the station, but we made it.
Celina and Gagi went home right from there, and we all said bye sadly, because we're leaving in the morning. However, Steph led us to the red light district which we'd somehow missed on our previous trip. It was quite surreal, though outwardly not that different from many places I've seen in Houston or Vegas. It was just the purpose that made it hard to believe.
We walked dazedly through and got back to the train station just having missed the last train for 40 minutes, so Parker and Steph partook of the Amsterdam pastime before needing some food. We made it to the last train of the night, the 1:34am, with about 30 seconds to spare. Oh, the montages my memories will be composed of. Holland has been good to us.