to people who travel alone:

[moominmolly]

What do you do when you're in a big city at night? I've always had some sort of project, before, or some means of meeting people who also had nothing to do at night. Or I've been in the middle of nowhere, where clubs and such are patently not an option. I love wandering around alone during the day, but somehow, a Saturday night just has more baggage than a Thursday afternoon. I feel like I should be doing something more than just wandering the canals.

Don't get me wrong -- this is a gorgeous city, and I'm happy to be wandering the canals. The air is perfect for it, and since it rained today, everything's all shiny. I'm just wondering what *else* I should be doing.

Comments

[veek.livejournal.com]

I go to coffee shops, or pubs if they're not too noisy and smoky, pretend to read, and people-watch over my book. Yay people-watching!

This activity is also acceptable in groups, rather than solo. You just don't read. :)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I do like doing this. :) Hey! When you're here, we should rove the city and watch the people. There's a rather wide variety of folks to see in this town.

I saw a guy pretending to read in Diesel a few weeks ago, only he wasn't very good at the pretending part. He'd parked himself in the corner booth, a perfect spot to watch people walk by, play pool, scavenge tables, etc... and he was so clearly just people-watching that he might as well have had his book upside-down. It was completely charming. For a little while, he was watching us whenever I looked up. I was convinced that he was just keeping score of our pool game. Then, I realized he was looking at everyone in the room with that same intensity, which just seemed very cool to me.

Walk toward situations

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

I was lucky that I knew two people in Boston when i moved here. Everything sprang from that. When I travel, however, I let evening events find me.

First I give myself an assignment, such as "find an all-night laundromat or at least the one open the latest" or "what's it like at the far terminus of this tram line?" You're in Amsterdam, so either of these could occupy a couple of evenings.

Then load your pocket with change and start walking. If a street catches your eye, walk down it. If you catch a whiff of a funky food vendor, buy a nosh. Pretend you're baked (oh wait, you needn't fake that there... still, it can be more fun when you're faking) and let yourself get hung up on things you see. This applies the most to architecture.

Being hung up on anything but people will let you see situations instead of looking for humans. My favorite case of this, other than how I met Maggie of course, was the time I arrived in Montreal on a Monday night in March.

Mondays are dead in Montreal. I walked into the Old Dublin Pub, ordered a Double Diamond, and sat a couple stools from the only other patron as he and the bartender spoke in French. They seemed to be talking about the hockey game on the tube, so I sipped and vaped.

At some point I asked the bartender something and was shocked to find he was actually an Anglo. Mind you, the other patron stopped talking to him as soon as he spoke English. I told the bartender how I had just arrived from a couple days in New York City and blah.

"American?" he inquired. "You're the luckiest people in the world. I'd give my eye teeth to be an American." He then used his index and pinky fingers in a hail-Satan posture to point at his canines. Until that very moment, I'd assumed "eye teeth" was just a phrase old men said and it meant nothing.

He told me he was a ballet dancer. "The best ballets to get into are in America. There's this one in Houston I want to be in. Problem is, eh, to get the spot I've gotta get a recommendation in writing that says I'm essentially more talented than any American so that I'm worth granting a visa. Pretty tough way to sell myself at a job interview."

I was stunned and captivated. I could see how this guy was straining inside his skin to do something bigger with himself. I could see, for the first time in my life, what an opportunity our vicious, pungent capitalism can be. It's shit, but we're flies.

So get out there. Do things with yourself. Wander and find random events. Don't hope to make permanent contacts -- just make moments that you'll never forget.

-I had a better day after I ditched the computers for several hours, Dante

Re: Walk toward situations

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

This is essentially what I did. I'm great at finding random moments and enjoying them for what they are, but I just had this little spell where I kept thinking I should be somehow involved in "night life". Instead, I kept wandering the canals and watching people, plopping down in late night cafes and bars when they struck me. Didn't meet any dancers, but I had a good time anyway. :)

Amsterdam tips from Jake

[(Anonymous)]

Spreekt u Engels?

I have a few tips for you, based on things I did during my vacation in March.

• An Indonesian banquet is a great way to spend an evening, if you have some people to bring with you. I know you're there alone, but you might make some friends. There is a place called Long Pura that was recommended to me, at Rozengracht 46-48, in Jordaan west of the old city
• The Resistance Museum (http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/english/indexE.html) and the Jewish Historical Museum (http://www.channels.nl/amsterdam/joods.html) are both very good. The Anne Frank House is more popular, of course, but also less comprehensive. (I didn't actually make it to the Jewish Museum or the Anne Frank House, but I'm telling you the consensus among people on the trip.)
• For leatherware and accessories, my friend Peg (http://mechaieh.diaryland.com/index.html) (whom I met on the trip) recommends Absolute Danny, in the red light district (Oudezijds Achterburgwal 78). She says "(Female and Partners on Spuistraat was also recommended to me, but I thought the staff and selection was better at AD.) There's a good confectioner's not too far from there (Leonidas) with superb chocolate and gumdrops."
• There is an improv comedy club called Boom Chicago! (http://www.boomchicago.nl/) in Leidesplein. It is run by Americans, for English-speaking tourists. It's not as good as it's namesake (Second City), or maybe I'm just getting old and crotchedy. But they publish a free tourist guide that is worth picking up.
• If you like shopping for used records (i.e. LPs, vinyl), the Record Palace at Weteringschans 33 may have some buried treasures for you. I was incredibly lucky to find three pre-1980 works by Fred Frith (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B9l5m963o3epc), all a bargain.

Best of luck with your work and adventures!
Jake.