Amsterdam In A Word… or Two

Every city has a word you can associate with it.

Or so it said in a book I read.

A word, that once you understand exactly what it means for you, you’ll start to feel right at home.

And I wondered, as I arrived in Amsterdam, what that word would be…for me at least. I hear sometimes it’s different for every person.

But I only had a few days in the city anyway, so did it matter?

Especially since a delayed  flight in and a blotched hotel room booking marked my first night, so I was ready to expect the worst.

But instead, I found myself becoming fast friends with the night hotel manager who quite promptly arranged for another room.

Easy open conversations followed on life, family, love …over free beers and “Genova”.  A lovely deadly drink that kept me warm in the chilly night air.

Wasn’t what I had thought I’d be doing right then and there, but it felt right somehow.

What I expected to do was go to the touristy places  - but things get mix up at one point or another and I found myself separated from my group and sitting next to a couple from Madrid. A place I was to visit a few days after.

A one hour drive to where we were supposed to go and already I’ve made new friends. Not what I expected, again, but how wonderful to listen to their stories.

Flowers and Windmills, truly beautiful sights like no other.  And as I was walking down a narrow quiet alley lined with flowering trees, I came upon another surprise as I turned a corner and found myself in a harbor. Boats of all shapes and sizes. Such a magnificent view. So I just had to sit down for a beer and drink it all in.

Sights, sounds, smells.

As day turned into night, I went out with some people to try out the night scene. This time I expected nothing.

Expecting nothing though also meant being open to anything.

And anything turned out to be such an adventure into the mind of someone who lived a life completely opposite from mine. Intensely seductive in its unfamiliarity and strangeness.

In Amsterdam it seemed, plans are just plans.  A planned visit to the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank’s House for a taste of some culture turned out to a visit to Heineken Browery instead – a real taste of local culture.  Sex museums instead of art galleries and unexpected friendly warnings from people riding in the prettiest of bikes but who won’t hesitate to run you over.

Things just happen when they happen. A city of contrasts.

So,  what’s the word then…

Freedom?

Spontaneity?

Openness?

Didn’t seem to capture the essence of how I felt about my experiences.

And then I realized, as I was leaving, that I could consider living there.  Because it’s a place where every thing just flows.  You just have to go with it.  Go with the Flow.

That would have been my  Choice.