Amsterdam - The city of free (Pictures)

Typical street divider in Amsterdam. Canals everywhere. Loves it

Everyone and their aunt's cats ride a bicycle in Amsterdam no joke. There are more bicycles than there are cars.

I loved and will forever love Amsterdam. That was the first city that I visited on my mini eurotrip, in April. It was epic, to underestimate my satisfaction derived from the trip. 

Before going, I had looked up myths, stories and guides to exploring Amsterdam in 2 days. Many people go there to smoke the legendary weed or visit the Red Light District, where prostitution is legalized and done in broad daylight. What I didn't know was that Amsterdam is an 'archipelago' of canals, bicycles, and free thinkers. Dutch is the native language but almost everyone in Amsterdam speaks English too, because it's a tourist destination.

I went to Amsterdam with a fellow London study-abroader and her friend that flew in from Madrid. It was nice trio of young black girls set to live the Amstel way. 

Most streets in Amsterdam are divided by canals, not roads. Bliss. Imagine this view, every morning

When I got there, I flew into Eindhoven airport, two hours away from Amsterdam because it was cheaper than flying into Schipol, Amsterdam airport. I actually liked my two-hour train ride through the Hague and Eindhoven. By the way, Amsterdam is in Holland, which is also referred to as the Netherlands. Two names for the same country. o_O

On the way to Anne Frank Haus (Haus = House in German)

Of course, my ignorant self knew nothing about Anne Frank, until my buddies mentioned her house in Amsterdam. From the knowledge that I gathered, Anne Frank was a daughter of a German family that sought refuge in Amsterdam during the German war or something like Hitler or Nazi regime. My bad, I suck at history and knowing these things. I should though. She kept a diary of her life, hiding away in the Anne Frank haus (named after her), until they were found in the 1940s or 50s. Her diary has been turned into a popular book in different langauges. Please google her story.

queue to get into Anne Frank Haus

Anne Frank Haus guide booklet

There are kiosks everywhere that sell fries in these cone-like wraps. 

If you ever go to amsterdam, you have to try these fries. They are everywhere and they have also sorts of sauces available, from ketchup to masala.

Boat cruise along the Amstel

My girls and I decided to take a personal cruise, across the river Amstel. I guess this is where the famous Amstel Malta drink is named after. 

These are boat-houses, floating on water. They look like houses built on water but they have boat foundations. I saw many houses like these. 

Children left by themselves in a boat

Famous Skinny Bridge

Amsterdam is small city. We literally walked across the city, three times during our 2-day stay. You can use a bicycle to get from end to end in 25 mins. On a lower note, it is expensive though. More expensive than Paris but not as much as expensive as London, from my experience.

Club sign in the Red Light District. Prostitutes everywhere

Of course, we visited the Red Light District. It was a nothing short of a wowzer. A future post will be dedicated to that. Teaser: One of the female prostitutes winked at me. #shocks I find it funny that a majority of the patronisers are English men. C'mon, coming all the way from the UK to bang a prostitute in Amsterdam, that's serious.

Drinks made from weed. Cannabis merchandise in coffee shop window

Just to clarify a common misconception, weed is actually illegal in Amsterdam but it's tolerated, as long as it is not commercialized openly. That means you cannot explicitly have 'Weed for sale' on your shop sign. Weed shops are referred to as coffeeshops. My advice to you is that you should not joke with Amsterdam weed. Their stuff is hella potent. One joint is enough to take you there. A weed novice should only attempt a few puffs. Don't harm yourself!

Weed lolli-pops

I didn't try the weed derivatives because the weed content was ambiguous. We heard stories of tourists who went nuts from trying weed cakes, weed cans and stuff because they underestimated the weed content. I had to caution myself. Imagine passing out in the first city of my eurotrip. No bueno.

Main structure for Amsterdam's chinatow

Wooden Tulips at Flea Market

Human-size Chess board.

I saw this chess game and was amazed. I don't know jack about Chess. Sadly, whenever it comes up in general trivia questions, I feel like a dummy. I presume Chess is assumed to be of universal knowledge now.

Sign, in front of Van Gogh museum

It is was a nice trip. These pictures do the experience no justice. I did a couple of activities not in the photos like going to a club, to the dock, the brewery and many other stuff. I will do similar posts for the other cities visited. Amsterdam is now my second favorite city in the world, after Paris. She took the position away from London LOL.

On another note, why is there so much ruckus about a calculated end-of-the-world date on May 21st. I don't care what's happening then, all is know is that I'll be eating some crêpes and sipping orangina in Paris, this weekend. Yes, I'm going again. Can't get enough of that city.

I really should have not changed my mind from Paris to London, for studying abroad. Nonetheless, my London experience has been amazing non-stop. I just cannot have it all, can I? I have finished my exams. So, I have about three weeks left in London for chilling/travelling/being a fool and making love to Londontown. Suggestions of non-touristy London spots are very welcome. I need to see it all, before I leave.

Till next time,
Yinkuslolo.

PS: My two-year blogaversary is coming up in June. For the two-year hall mark, I will accept 20 questions. So feel free to leave the question in the comment box or email me at yinkuslolo@gmail.com

A letter from London

Dear followers lovers,

Once again, I've tried to satisfy my curious self by travelling to another acclaimed city. This time around, it is London. I have been here for only a few days and one thought that keeps recurring is '1 USD is not = 1 GBP'. By the side of that, every pence counts too and is not as negligible as the cent.

I'm staying with my cousin, an LLM student, and she works the night shift at her workplace. So, she creeps back into the house at the crack of dawn, then sleeps all-day. I kept wondering how many people in London are actually nocturnal workers until I read the free 'London Evening Standard' that stated over 100, 000 workers use the night bus service. Basically, nothing in London is free. I was glancing through a Vibe mag, at a train mini bookstore but the attendant told me to stop unless I was buying it. I thought one could read any unsealed book in a bookstore. Oh well, I just told him that I'm used to American bookstores, where one can camp at Barnes and Noble lol,  and that he should pardon me.

One other thing that my cousin told me to assume is to think every Black person in London is Yoruba, until he/she proves otherwise. Like seriously tho, I have heard more Yoruba spoken than English by black folks around here. Last Sunday, I was in Blackheath and it seemed like the road was invaded by ankara-clad humans. Oh well, Nigerians were coming from the church.

Silly me, I should be a tourist in London but I can't help practicing my number 1 hobby, people watching, full-time. Just in case, you catch a juicey babe, wearing glasses(after 18mths of contacts) and extra-extra-long braids, appreciating the awesomeness of London folks, that's Yinkuslolo!

oh, I have a one-well all-access travel card and I should not be wasting almost 40 pounds. Funny how my Jand friends are vacaying in Naija and I just left them behind there to come to this upgraded Lagos. So, I need places to go but oh well, folks be busy working and crashing all-day lol.

Let's make a sandwich.

Where the hell did that fit into Gaga's telephone video? yes, I'll just come back from a 4wk-hiatus and complain about the eccentric lady's video. Just because something was done by Gaga doesn't mean that it should be applauded. After wasting my three good minutes, the audio was introduced and I was lost trying to follow the craze-line of the video. she could have made 4 diff vids from just that one, I'm talking about length-wise but storyline-wise. yet, I go to FB and I see statuses proclaiming the video as 'epic' and 'off the shizzle'. Yeye notu! pls, go and make a sandwich. Yes, that did not fit into my rant as much it did not fit into Gaga's video. It was nicely acted tho.

So, I got a Mac, when I came to college. 18 mths in, the damn thing crashed. I sent her to the Apple hospital but she's not back yet. I hope I don't lose all my docs cos I'm gonna die. literally. That being said, go back your sh*t up on the internet/hard-rive cos you never know how precious your essays, pictures, and other random files are until you lose them. using other folks' laptops has been so weird cos everyone customizes hir laptop functions to hir taste. I just cannot wait for my mac.

Well, I did not allow my mac's going into coma to make me sad before embarking on my 2-week spring brk. yes, two good weeks. I went to the DC-metro area and Los Angeles. Yo, the DC metro area is like Bollywood, lots of Indian folks and LA has a lot of Mexicans.They should just make Spanish an official language in Cali. LA was fun with the girls,so much talking and girl-to-girl drama. I can only take those girls in doses.

On another foot, The Game ( a show) is going to be back on BET this fall. Shit, I cannot wait. too much mehn, too much. Don't front, you know you like the show. If you've not watched it before, get on the first three seasons. that's like the best African-Ame TV series that I've ever watched.

I'll be back, *as I run to start my writing my Bio Lab report*

Jos on mind. Naija is almost 50 and there are still internal crises going on. A fool at 40 50 is a fool for....

Je t'embarasse.

Paris va etre desert

Sorry, if you just got sold cos my French got better during my stay in Paris.

So, im currently in the plane flying home(Budapest) back from paris. There are only 11 passenger in this 150-seater plane. Is that a sign of the economic recession?

Onto correct gist, Paris is popping. Get the right host, goog company and there is shit to be done. I visited the eiffel tower, the louvre blah blah, got my nails done, and spoke bad French. I stayed with my friend and her folks try to speak English but it sounds funny cos it’s bad but comprehensible and whenever I speak French, they laugh at me also.

I realized that I’m not polite enough for the French. And this period is ’soldes’ ie is sales in France. Damn! every time I spoke to a salesperson there, they frowned or complained. My friend had to explain to them that I was not a good French speaker cos I didn’t add a superficial please, thank you and ’vous’. At the same time, the French can be polite but they are not necessarily respectful.

A few things that I noticed in Paris:

• There is a metro station everywhere literally cos I never entered a bus all through my five-day stay but the metro and I went out like a delivery-guy. There are 14 different metro lines and the city is not like very huge.
• There are orchestra bands/instrumentalists in almost every train station playing good music.
• The French seem romantic but not PDA-ish (unlike Budapest folks) cos I saw quite a few folks with fresh bouquets on the train.
• Cheese can never be too much. Dude! My friend organized a dinner and they were like 5 types of cheese and all other dairy ish

One of the trips I made, in Paris, was to the northern part, where there are major black/arab/other minorities neighborhoods and I fixed acrylic nails for the first time. I can't remove my contacts or type regularly now. Btw, the black French guys (and girls) are pretty good looking on the average. I pointed this out to my girlfriends, when I saw a ‘Derwin’ in The Game look-alike. Yum! Umm, did I just give away my type?

I def cannot do a description of my trip justice in my post but do go to Paris sometime. I am a fast-life but chill-mode kinda person and paris def has the I-want-to-live-here kinda feeling.

Oh, we’re preparing for descent now! This is a short flight. Will publish this post on ground.

Visit Paris sometime, s’il vous plait!

Title is from the tagline of an ad, all over Paris. I don't get it myself.

PS: my internet situation is still crappy, ill get on replying to comments soon.
PPS: I am starting another blog. Hint: that's why i have 'photo-less' posts

I may go in oh-Ten, let me start with Milano

Happy New Year. Mine started on a blah note with expected annoying grades, the mum and me squabble, a fierce stomach upset. It’s gone uphill since then. I got a new blog layout. so, you're not on a wrong page.

unto better shit, i’ve been in Milano for a couple of days and the mum is sleeping away beside me zzzZZZ. It’s cool here. Not the I-will-like-to-live-here effect but I’ll-def-like-to-pass-thru-here again. The city so far has its posh side and razz realness. Its in fucking Italia anyway. sadly, the mediocre hotel I’m lodged at has a krackhead internet service. for 21st century’s sake, why shud the internet only open facebook and google for someone? I had to go to a cyber cafe to check up some stuff, for example my personal school email for 4.50 euros per hr, ie is like 6 dollars. i saved some 15 mins for tomorrow lol. Considering the fact that I understand some French and I’m colonized by some pale folk fluent in English, I’ve been able to navigate this perfecto-panini-aqua world, duh?  My mum is still learning how to say ‘ciao’. pronounced ‘cha-wu’

Today, I went to Duomo, a tourist/commercial/massive center in Milano and I went to designer shops that I’ve only seen their products in Vogue, from Burberry’s to Louis Vuitton’s So, mum wanted to buy a bag and told a saleslady to keep it for her while we go check out something in another booth. before 10 mins, we came back and the bag was sold. My mum vexed but calmly pulled the race card. Shit was real lol. but now that i think of it, I had not seen any black in that huge convoluted mall. She ended up buying 3 bags. I don’t even know why. haha, she def wanted to show that African folks cop good stuffs too. I hope that was not her pt tho. I really wanted to enter a Louboutin shop and just ogle those pumps. Maybe if I went to the 4th floor. By the way, my fave shop for this break is Mango, used to be Zara. I can def walk in there confidently and buy something worth my kudi. Things are def expensive in Milano but if you know where to look, you’ll get some very good stuffs at affordable price. And folks here can druss, they can driss, they can dress!

In terms of demographics, Milano is diverse with black folks even coming up on their news lol and pple speaking diff languages around you. Y’all may not know that when I’m home in Budapest, I may not see any other black folk when I go out with even public transport. That place is effing transparent with only white folk. oh! mum just woke up. earlier today, I told her that Lagos may look like Milano in 2050 and she begged to differ cos some ridiculous ish cannot be undone in Gidi. We have to step up our game in Naija, for reals.

I was also in Rome for a few hrs and visited the Vatican City. In a few days, I’m off to Paris solo. I know someone thinks that  Imma be on some Illuminati tracking tour soon. btw, why is jay Z getting pple on mad nerves with that his new vid.

Yup I’m on some real waka-dugbe before the craze of college starts.
So, on that note oh-Ten is gonna be a good year and I hope this post is actually published. Else, this hotel’s internet is racist selective.

in this year, I want to

• Be successful with my undisclosed career project
  
• Be productive with my photography-ego
  
• Be more careful with my belongings
  
• Find good balls
  
• Use more water

Je t’embarasse