Vacation Highlight: Wake Up Amsterdam

When I went to Paris, I was lucky enough to be there while the Avett Brothers were touring and was able to see a band I love, play a tiny venue, in a magical city. It was special, and such a great story.

The Avetts were on tour again while I was traveling, though I wouldn't be able to see them. I was, however, in Amsterdam while possibly my favorite band was playing -  Arcade Fire was performing in Amsterdam on my last night in the city. When I was finally able to confirm my travel arrangements, I found out the show was sold out. Boo!

I searched online, found nothing on Craigslist and couldn't figure out where Dutch people went to sell their goods online. During my OkCupid communication with one dude, he told me where to look. And magically, there were tickets!

I took a train out to a small Dutch town, met a man with the ticket, and squealed.

Yessssssss!

The show was held at the Heineken Music Hall, and housed 5000 Dutch hipsters. I grabbed a beer, settled in, found a great spot and danced my ass off.

Having seen them recently, I was familiar with their set, though Arcade Fire will always be an amazing show. They played for what seemed like a minute, but was actually a pretty long set. And they made the weird looks I was getting totally worthwhile.

My name is Iris, and even in foreign lands, I dance like a doofus.

SETLIST:
Ready to Start
Keep the Car Running
Neighbourhoods #2 (Laika)
No Cars Go
Haiti
Sprawl II
Empty Room
Rococo
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Month of May
Rebellion (Lies)
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)

Encore:
Intervention
Wake Up

So my adventure ended in the most perfect of ways: listening to Win & Regine serenade me with Wake Up. It was my idea of perfect.

Vacation Highlight: Kantjil & de Tijger

Before I left for Amsterdam I was told to explore the city's Indonesian cuisine.Since I really like food, I was stoked to do so. And about two days in, I followed a recommendation from a bartender at a lounge I really liked and strolled to Kantjil & de Tijger and thank goodness I did!

First, I was starving, as I mentioned previously, much of my time in Amsterdam was spent lost, so I had been trying to find the place for a good hour before finally spotting it. (I don't want to hear about how not smart I am. I get it. Not smart.)

Second, this was the best meal I had in Europe this trip. The food was fantastic. Simple as that. And there was a lot of it. Amazing! I had the NASI KOENING RAMES and it included more food than I thought could fit on a plate and it was delicious.

The cute bartender was totally right about this place and my first stop on my next trip to Amsterdam will be to Kantjil & de Tijger, yours should be too.

Vacation Highlight: Mooie Amsterdam

How can I put into words how much I liked Amsterdam? I don't know that I can.

Amsterdam was the impetus for this trip. For many years I've heard many people talk about how fantastic this city is, and because they aren't dumb, I trusted them.

Strolling along the canals. 

And they were right.

Amsterdam won my heart. The city is lovely, the people are fantastic, the energy is pitch perfect and it is freaking beautiful! I wandered the streets for five days, getting lost, visiting random parks, stumbling upon ballet performances, being super friendly, getting great tips from locals, and basically thinking this city is pretty special.

I have told everyone, this is not my last trip to Amsterdam, and it won't be. Amsterdam, I will be back.

Vacation Highlight: Alrighty then, Cupid!

Have I mentioned how much I hate online dating? I do - I've had only a handful of decent dates from it, and I've tried them all.

At the suggestion of my friend Erin, I signed up for OkCupid recently. While the Vancouver scene has yet to pay-off for me, the Berlin and Amsterdam scenes sure did. Before I left I lined up one definite date in Berlin and two in Amsterdam.

You read that right, three dates in ten days. HOLLA!

Anyways, the fun thing is these dudes always take you to somewhere not in the guide books. My date in Berlin took me to a funky lounge deep in the heart of old East Berlin - it was so Communist-feeling! My Amsterdam guides gave me insider tips to great restos and bars over beers.

No, none of them were love matches, but they were fun ways to spend my evenings!