Amsterdam is a really fascinating place to explore. After 5 days of cycling my bike around the city and feeling like I was blending in with the Dutch it is time to say goodbye. The Dutch food was FANTASTIC. We had an authentic Dutch dinner at Hap-Hmm's about 950 meters from our hostel (For all of my friends back home thats roughly .4 of a mile.) We decided that we should try only dishes known to this particular restaurant. In this case it was a beef stew with boiled potatoes (Runderlap Boterzacht) and a "super pork chop" also known as Karbo. They were delicious! Both of the meats were cooked so tenderly that they fell apart in your mouth. Combining the beef stew with German boiled potatoes was like a slice of heaven for one's palette. After stuffing my belly full I was able to meet up with a good friend from Greensboro who happened to be in Amsterdam for the day. Paul is an avid cycler so we both hopped on our bicycles and headed off to browse the coffee shops and local eateries. We came across a really lovely park situated about 30 minutes outside our central Amsterdam. We played some frisbee for a few hours and I even convinced a local skateboarder to let me use his set up for the concrete bowl that outlined the park. Pieter was a really nice guy in his 30's who had always lived in Holland until recently when he moved to Romania to meet his lovely wife. She was kind enough to snap some videos of us cruising around the park. Skateboarding has always been my middle ground when making new friends or conversation. Skater speak a very specific language called "style" and if you got it, you will have respect and mutual friends everywhere. If you lack it.... well I am sure you know how that one goes. The people of Amsterdam were far better than the ease of drug use or the food. They are the true gift within the city and I look forward to meeting more people like them along my journey.
