Location: A cafe across the street from Gare du Nord train station, Paris, France - Arrival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Time: 8:30 PM-10:50PM
Sometimes things aren't what they seem. I thought right now that I's be eating a brownie somewhere in Amsterdam, but again, things aren't what they always seem to be planned as. All day was basically planned last night to the T. I mean we had this perfect plan that we thought would happen and be on a train bound for Holland tonight. However, the packed Metro delayed us, and the crowd @the Eiffel Tower stopped us from going to the top and taking the money shot. Before that we hit up La Louvre and got to see the Monalisa and other priceless pieces of art. We got the train station only to find that our Europasses were bullshit and we needed a reservation to get on the train. Rome insisted we get on the train for 101 Euros and I figured, fuck it. Upon the run back to the station I somehow dropped or left my ticket behind at the internet cafe where we reserved a hostel at in Amsterdam. This was 15 minutes before out train was scheduled to leave. I ran back to the cafe, a few blocks away, retraced my steps, but to no avail. We ended up missing the train and decided to pull an all-niter at the 24-hour cafe across the way. This was where the night began to get a little crazy.
We sat in the station for about 2 hours and moved over to McDonalds when the station closed its doors. It's bomb here. We finished up there, I took an aderol and began to wake up (I was unbelievably tired for some reason). As we sat at a table getting our bearings straight at this cafe across the street from the rail station, this guy rolls up and starts talking with Rome. I knew he was either homeless or down and out because of the dirty blazer and lack of shoes. Rome forced me into the conversation since I could speak mild French, and the adventure began. We ended up chilling with this guy, who's name I later found out was Patrique, all fucking night. He obviously had nowhere else to go. I convinced him in French to call up his parents in Marseilles. This 49 year old bum drank a beer and turkey sandwich, Rome's regurgitated sandwich he spit out into a styrofoam container and would not leave us alone. I bought the poor bastard a beer, and obviously the waiter, who looked like the Monopoly guy, was getting pissed. I finally got rid of the guy around 5:00AM after giving him Rome's number and promising we would all get in touch again.
The train station opened its doors around 5:30AM and after pissing on the wall, since there was nowhere else to go since they hadn't opened the bathrooms yet (numerous other people who had also slept around the station were also peeing and shitting on the sides of the walls that bordered the main terminal).We walked in to the sight of bums and other travelers sleeping on the floor. We waited to get the train and after grabbing our packs from the lockers and being denied at McDonalds since it opened at 7:30AM instead of 7, Rome was pissed haha, and we finally got on the train. Not to mention we thought we were on the 6:52AM train and got turned away by the ticket guy. Mind you out packs were on again and we hadn't slept all night/morning. We finally got on the right train and were headed for Amsterdam. I fell asleep on the way, but was able to take some cool pictures. We got to Amsterdam and after finding a hotel, we got on the wrong tram and it took us the other way than our destination.
By this time, we just laughed it off and finally got to our destination. The architecture of the whole area was incredible. Houses slim and long stand side by side, connected like they are in New York, but each with their own unique color and size, bordered by quiet, one lane cobble stone streets complimented by the vast canals that vein through the area. Everything is so well put together and structurally organized. We checked in, I passed out for a few hours, went and got a pizza at 15 Euros each,a nd headed off in search of a smart shop. We chilled in a crowded area where it seemed like people from all over the world had come to hang out. Headed back to the hotel around 2:00AM, got BOMB bakery food on the way (a Belgian waffle and huge water), got the hotel (Parkzicht Hotel), watched Dutch MTV where Opgezwolle's "Hoedenplank" video is blasting, and now its time to pass out. DANKE!
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