Day Off

Last week was a tough week for many of my friends, so we decided to get our of town yesterday. Just north of Amsterdam, about a half hour by bus, is the fishing/tourist town of Volendam. Elena, Carlitos, and I got there at about 1PM and wandered by the harbor, watching the sun shine on the IJsselmer and having a beer at a local bar. This bar was about 100m from the main tourist area, but a world away. It looked like a 1970's basement with wood paneled walls, crocheted curtains, and a pinball machine (actually, it sounds like I'm describing Hilary's basement now that I think of it, just like that but darker and will a bar).

After the beer we met Alejandro and Maria, who took a later train than us, and proceeded to our main activity of the day. The photo session. More specifically, the Dutch photo session. The photo below was entitled by Elena as "Primos Politicos Hollandse" (which can roughly be translated from Spanish and Dutch as "Dutch Cousin-in-Laws").


The scariest part of the photo is how Dutch I look. I mean, how Dutch we look. Ale looks a bit drunk already with his bottle of Bols, Carlitos is way too happy to have a basket of fish, Maria looks like she is about to throw the cheese at the photographer, Elena is jealous that I am holding the flowers and she got stuck with the accordion, and I just look Dutch.

After a lunch of fried fish, we wandered through the town again, drank some coffee in the sun, and watched the clouds by the sea. The day was beautiful and sunny, though a bit windy. As evening approached we took the bus back to Amsterdam, without much of a plan.

When we arrived in Amsterdam, I had the idea to go visit an art exhibit, but it was almost 7PM and already closed. So Plan B was to have a drink. There is a bar that a friend of Alejandro's had told us about six months ago. When my brother and I tried to find it, it was closed. When Alejandro and I looked for it a few weeks later, we arrived at last call. This time we made it in for a drink.

The bar is called Wynand Fockink (yes, you are allowed to laugh at the name) and has been distilling its own liquors since 1679. It's a tasting room too. So, the bartender, our "doctor" asked us our ailments and prescribed some tasty remedies that did not resemble cough syrup (except for the raspberry one). After filling the delicate shot glasses to the brim, the tradition is to slurp off the top before lifting your glass. I tried some rose liquor, as well as a combination of orange, vanilla, and bitter almond, while Elena had a lovely mix of lemon and ginger. Alejandro enjoyed the jenever (Dutch Gin), while Maria and Carlitos stuck to the fruit flavored liquors. It was a great experience, and a really fun end to our day off.