Recounting and Adding to...Day 7

I arrived at the Amsterdam Central train station around 11PM on Wednesday evening. It was a long train journey from Berlin (~7hrs). This, for those who know me, gave me time for reflection, catching up on podcasts and even got through a third of a great movie (About Time).  In addition to which, I had a great conversation with a gentleman in his 50's who was a resident of eastern Germany.

What surprises me is that to this very day, the citizens of Germany still associate themselves with either the East or the West, even though it's been so long since the wall came down.

Goes to show how big of a divide Germany experienced when the wall was around. He even told me that the children in the schools of Eastern Germany were required to learn Russian after grade 5. The influence and power of the Soviets during the Cold War Era was absolute. His wife, who I found out while conversing, was a Russian-German. This was interesting to me, so as I probed further, I found out that she belonged to a group of German people that immigrated to Russia almost a century ago and she had returned with her family in the late 60's in the search of a better life, back to Germany.

So far, every time I've entered a new city, one question pops up: "Will I find people that I can connect with?". The answer to that question always leaves me feeling very nervous because I can never know what comes next. To seek the answer, it pushes me to "just do".

The irony is, of course, I have found people in every city. Amsterdam, was no different, because Lo and Behold' after dropping off my stuff at the hostel I'm staying at now, within 30 seconds of stepping onto the street I was chatting with a local. The conversation barely lasted a minute before she offered to show me around Amsterdam. (In my head: "Holy Sh*T, how does this even happen?)

Fast forward half an hour and I find myself not only having connected with her, but in a student party (that I wasn't allowed in), sharing a pitcher of beer with Aussie's and locals that was a measly 5 euros. WIN! It was , by all accounts, one of the best nights I've had so far!

I'm going to wrap this post up here because in the next one, I'll be going into greater detail around what my impressions of the city are so far. 

The best welcome I've had to a city yet...Go Amsterdam!

In the morning, after waking up later than I wanted to, I had a final chance to explore the city. I had a chance to grab some souvenirs, see a museum and grab a kebab from one of the finest places in the city 

I wanted to specifically talk about the museum though. It was called the Topography of Terrror and is an open air museum in the middle of the city. Within it's walls are written the words that explain everything that led up to World War 2. Specifically looking at Hitler's rise to power and how he chose his top lieutenants. 

I won't go into the history here, because that is something that can be found online. What was overwhelming was having it all be displayed so clearly. The Germans work with facts, and did not inject their opinions into anything that was on display. This is both amazing and very sad. Amazing because the country so openly acknowledges everything but sad because of how a few men destroyed the lives of so many. It was so systematically done, that you cant help but just be horrified by the efficiency of the massacre.

Before I go into Amsterdam and how it's been, I wanted to talk about the beauty of finding like minded people and realizing that you have such a short period of time with them while travelling. Yesterday, I had the chance to connect with someone so amazingly well, it sucks to say bye in the morning. I didn't know whether to say "see you around" or "have a nice life" as I checked out. The biggest difference, this person who was a complete stranger just a few hours ago is now someone that I know a lot about and vice versa. I guess that's part of the package when you travel, not getting overly attached is key to forging ahead to new cities.

Amsterdam though, omg what an amazing first night. I arrived at 11PM on a train from Berlin and immediately felt energized by the city's vibrant people and culture. Everybody is young, looking to have a good time, and willing to connect with others!! I won't go into too many details yet, because I want to get a fair assessment of the city + people first before I form a real opinion. So far, it's EXTREMELY positive!