Along the Banks of the Canal

Way back in December last year my dear friend Charlotte Seto from Washington, USA sent me an email with the news that she would be flying to Amsterdam for a week at the end of March. I told her I would do everything I could to make it over to see her and then the Facebook event went live. Our crazy, disjointed, exchange family from New Zealand would be reuniting.

I left work early on Thursday 21st March and got the aircoach to the airport. I slipped through security seamlessly and waited for my flight while I pondered over team selections for our upcoming Ultimate Frisbee InterVarisities. Despite not paying for anything more than my ticket on Ryanair I ended up in the emergency exit which was a nice surprise. Once in Schiphol, I discovered that my travel card would need €20 to use the train from the airport which would mean I’d also need €20 for the return journey. In the end I bought a 3 day unlimited travel pass for €24, though in hindsight I should have just bought individual tickets. I reached Amsterdam Centraal at about 17:30 and met Charlotte by the infamous piano. It was so wonderful to see her again! We shared a warm embrace and recounted our days before we met our couch surfing host for the evening, Ruslan. Ruslan is studying business in Amsterdam but is from the Russian/Asian border and had done a degree computer science already. He claimed that he didn’t get a visa to the UK because they thought he was a Russian hacker! As a homosexual, the last 18 months have been life changing for Ruslan as he is finally able to embrace who he really is without risk of prosecution. His life is full of yoga, vegan food and couch surfing guests.

We walked together to one of the free ferries and 11min later we sauntered the last 5 minutes to his student studio. His place was very well maintained with a double bed, a desk, kitchenette, wardrobe and sofa bed. Not to mention the washing machine he’d rigged up in his bathroom! He very kindly cooked us a delicious vegan dinner, including sweet potato, chickpeas, mushrooms, beat root bread and Charlotte’s salad and dressing. Charlotte and I washed the dishes and then the three of us went for a wander around the canals. We saw some of the wonderful street art in Ruslan’s area before ferrying to the city centre and taking in some of the canals by night.

In the morning we parted company with Ruslan to begin our adventure to meet our friends. Charlotte and I had brunch together and meandered along the canals in the general direction of our Airbnb. While eating brunch we got a message from our friend Joe who, true to character, had managed to miss his flight as he had not gotten back on time from a surfing trip! Charlotte and I had so much to catch up and stories to tell that there was no shortage of conversation. We found some balance beams at one stage and I have to say that Charlotte was far better than I! Just before we got to our Airbnb Charlotte purchased some flowers for our abode and we enjoyed the sun breaking through the clouds around midday. We arrived to the Airbnb a little earlier than intended but thankfully our host was accommodating and let us in. Once we had relaxed for a little while we went on a food purchasing adventure for our dinner for everyone. Stopping in various parks along the way and purchasing various local pastries we eventually managed to get the necessary vegetables and once more sunned ourselves in a park. By now, Marlene, Bobby and Eemelie had arrived at their Airbnb so we made our way over to cook our group dinner, not without stopping to buy plenty of cheese!

It was quite an incredible feeling to reunite with friends who I hadn’t seen in almost 18 months in some cases. They were staying in a gorgeous spot, on the top floor of a building, with a hook out of the window for hoisting things up and down rather than using the stairs. The cooking process was underway with veg being chopped and washed and some people running to get some final ingredients. I made a garlicy-cheesy potato dish to go with our rye bread, carrots, cheese and courgettes. A fantastic feast. Just before we ate we had a fantastic surprise- Harry (my friend from Scotland) arrived! He had originally said that he wouldn’t be able to join us because his thesis was due but on the Wednesday he sent me a message saying that he’d decided to book the flights! I was so over the moon to see him again. To top it all off, Ulysse arrived from France just before we finished eating. It was almost indescribable, the feeling of having all these people who I hold so dear in the one place, sharing food, stories and jokes. With dishes washed we headed out on the town! Bumping into another mutual friend along the way we went a bar on the canal and continued in our merriment.

As I had to be home for hockey coaching and frisbee training, Saturday was to be my last day. A leisurely start to the morning included Harry and I fetching some jam and bread to eat and Charlotte making some butter oats for breakfast before we hired bikes and went to a park to throw a frisbee while we waited for Marlene, Bobby and Eemelie. With no real set itinerary, we set off on our adventure! One of the highlights was a massive Saturday market with amazing cheese and fish, local mini pancakes, all manners of bits and bobs, clothes and also a couple of stray heron! We had plenty of tasters at the market before we cycled a very long and convoluted route to get to a recommended restaurant. We did stop at a free coffee stall and a Green Peace ship along the way! I got the soup while others got a range of strange teas and sandwiches.

From here the next mission was pancakes. We stopped along the way to pass through a flower market and I threw the frisbee in the middle of a square for a little bit. There was a small incident with one of the bicycle spokes on Charlotte’s bike but it was soon sorted and we had our ridiculously sugary and delicious local mini pancakes. Unfortunately, by the time we finished them we had to hightail it to our Airbnb so that I could grab my stuff and get to the airport. The goodbyes weren’t as hard as last time. I think that it was clear that we would see each other again in the not so distant future.

My travel home was fairly seamless and dad even collected me from the airport.