Who knew there was a Queen of Holland?

Did you know there was a Queen's day in Amsterdam? Did you even know there was a Queen in Holland? I didn't, but that didn't stop me from celebrating her birthday.

When Mike, Patty, and I decided to meet up with our friend Ryan in Amsterdam for Queen's day, I thought it was going to be a bit of a crazy time. Then our friend Schwartz decided she wanted to come with us on her way home from visiting Poland/Prague, and the answer was yup, it was gonna be crazy. Combine that with our friend Conway and her friends from London, a boat rental on the canal, and the simple fact that it's Amsterdam, and you've got a weekend on par with Bay to Breakers, Mardi Gras or Carnival (maybe).

(I must apologize for the lack of pictures...everything was taken from my phone, since my camera was still in Prague during this trip)

I still can't figure out why it's called Holland, or the Netherlands, but things from there are called Dutch. Maybe people don't want to be known as Hollandese, or Netherthals, since it sounds likes a sauce and a caveman. Anyway, some things make sense. Some things make no sense.

Jumping pictures in front of the I AMsterdam sign make sense

The red light district kinda makes no sense at all. It was fascinating (and awkward) to see, but so sleezy and I felt embarassed for all the "clients" negotiating through the glass doors with creepy grins on their faces. And the even creepier grins as they walked out.

By the way, I think Schwartz is still there. 

The bikes in the city make sense...the city is so flat, and relatively small, with no parking, and limited streets (lots of canals). Bikes really are everywhere. It's strange, but it's normal to see a guy in a nice suit, on an old rickety bike talking on his cell phone. Weird.

I don't know if the legal pot makes sense or not. I guess it's nice to have the option?  Don't worry mom, I didn't have any. 

A boat rental for Queen's day makes sense, since all of the canals are like a big parade of orange, with lots of music, fun and friendly people. But a boat that doesn't work? That makes no sense at all. Of course, that's what we had. Once we were all sitting on it, the captain said "sorry, it's broken. But you can sit on it for free". Gee, thanks. It ended up being pretty fun, and it was nice to have a place to camp out during the all-day party.  Plus we go to sing "I'm on a boat" as many times as we wanted.  T-Pain woulda loved it.  It was also kinda funny to manually push ourselves down the canal.  

Boats (and people) on the canal, having to lay down to fit under the bridge

Pushing ourselves under a bridge

It's hard to see, but there are tons of boats on the canal

I'm still not quite sure if Dutch food is any good (or what Dutch food is).  But one night we went to a nice outdoor restaurant, and ate some really good steak. 

Really good steak!

Afterwards, we went to a house party for some PwC people. I ran into one of my friends from Chicago, who lives in Switzerland. Add that to the list of things that don't make sense. She doesn't believe me, but I was very happy to see her (just very surprised!).

Me and Ashley

House party in Amsterdam

We also went to the Heineken "experience". I didn't quite realize that Heineken was Dutch, and I think it's because the glass bottles are green...not orange. To me, the color makes no sense.  It feels more German to me for some reason.  On this trip, I sure learned a lot about Heinie (i like saying it that way, cuz it's like saying "butt" - hee hee), from the "smiling" e's in the name, the brewing process (the tour "ride" is FUN!), and that the largest beer you can buy in Amsterdam is the same size as the smallest beer you can buy in Poland. Really, the tour is a lot of fun. More fun than the Guinness tour in Dublin (although the beer isn't as good). Patty and I even made our music video debut.

I really need to see this city on a normal weekend.  "Queen's night" was the Friday, and everyone was out on the streets partying. I didn't last too long, but it was still a fun night. The streets were PACKED on both Friday nights and Saturday in the day...with both people and trash.

What's the saying about "take only memories, leave only footprints"?

On Sunday the cleanup effort was in full force, but the mess was unbelievable. The strangest part was the completely different feel. The streets were empty, people wore non-orange, and everything seemed normal. The city seems like a real fun, nice city when it isn't Queen's Day (when the population of the city doubles with tourists and people looking for a good party).

Empty canal the day after Queen's day

Is it just me, or is the middle apartment crooked?

Another crooked house

Overall, it was a great weekend.  Ryan was a great host (he has a great apartment), and we got to catch up with a lot of friends.  I will definitely go back on a regular weekend to see what it's really like. (I seem to say "I will definitely go back" to all the places I've been...when will I have the time????)