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Addendum to Bruges post: I didn’t elaborate much when discussing the bike riding in Bruges. If any of you have been in Amsterdam, it was like that minus the trams and EVERYONE being high.
1) what you have as your death vehicle are these big Dutch bikes, with high seats and handlebars, and if they were armored they’d be one-person tanks.
2) you are riding around cobblestone streets which are choppy enough, but then you have these roads where big trucks are driving on all the time as well as other bikers, hordes of tourists, fancy cars (I managed to see someone driving an Aston Martin). So, you are clinging to that 6” between the road and the high curb of the sidewalk that is meant for drainage.
3) there are moats and other hazards to avoid as well
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Back to the story. After a great day in Bruges with the ladies from New Brunswick, I decided it was time to head to Noordwijk before it got too late and I definitely didn’t want to check-in much later than 10 PM. I didn’t mention but some of the Belgian locals were VERY nice and I managed to have some short conversations with them. The scariest thing that can happen to you minus those really bad things, I need not name, is passing out. Who the hell knows what could happen to you or your stuff if you passed out somewhere. Only happened to me once in Switzerland, but it was Switzerland so I didn’t have much to worry about. Almost happened in Italy in a village at about 11 PM, that could have been pretty bad. The trains took a little while, but I don’t remember having too much trouble with the trains out of there. Maybe I have developed some kind of travel selective memory though. Anyways, got into Leiden Central and hopped aboard Bus 40 or 44 which would take me to Noordwijk which was about 50 minutes away. At 4EU it was a pretty pricey ticket, but alas Northern Europe is very expensive. Just sat there not thinking about much, just gazing out the window and remembering to look for a lighthouse and get off at whatever stop that was closest too.
At about 9 PM, I finally got to the Lighthouse Square with the very obvious lighthouse and the beach just beyond it. There it was, the Flying Pig Beach Hostel. I had booked it because the Amsterdam downtown Flying Pig Beach Hostel (one of Europe’s “Famous Hostels) was full and I figured it would have great service as well being under the same brand. Plus, I wanted some time outside the cities especially after having just been in Paris. Anyways, got to the counter and met Leo who was working the bar/reception (who Nick – a guy I met in Madrid had told me lots about during our random group’s big night out in that awesome city). There were a bunch of people in the smoke room in the back beyond the counter, smoking (joints and cigs alike, remember this is the Netherlands), and playing some drinking games.
Back to Leo, here was this 6’4” tall beach bum with dreads, he was incredibly lanky and kind of looked like a dinosaur, who had the exact personality of Leo from That 70s Show, the big hippie/stoner who “runs” the record shop. After chilling and talking to Leo who asked me about my travels thus far, I figured it was time for a big beer and to drop my stuff off in the room (a 12-bed dorm in the basement).
After dropping off my stuff and picking up my beers, I went to go mingle in the smoke room. Quickly I was pulled into the drinking game by Ari, quick talking heavily tattooed Italian-American from New York who had been living in LA studying to be a lawyer representing celebs but was now bumming around at the hostel for a few months. He was introducing me to a bunch of people including this Brazilian girl who he told to give me a kiss. Alas, that did not happen but drunk Ari decided to give me a kiss on the cheek since she didn’t. The game looked like Ring of Fire with a bunch of cards stacked on a mug of beer in the middle on which we had to stack the card that we drew from the ring around the base. It definitely was some variation of the game as I heard things like Question Master, but there were a bunch of different rules and also pretty much everyone was without some article of clothing. Anyways, within 5 minutes of playing my shirt and shorts were gone, taken by the girl from Canada who was the ‘Confiscator.’ Also gone was the dress of the blonde Australian girl sitting next to me, who was attractive but way too slutty for my tastes plus Ari was groping her which was off-putting too. 15 minutes later they were making out. After a few more rounds in the game it was my turn again and I pulled my card and did whatever you were supposed to do when you pulled and managed to put it on the pile above the mug with two edges off and not sticking it under any other cards. Someone, I swear, hit the table a few seconds later and the pile fell off the mug, thus I had to chug the thing. Kept going around meeting people, drinking, passing blunts and so forth. So, a number of drinks and joints into the night I was high and drunk. Met a bunch more characters that night, and Tom would fill me in on everyone’s backstory tomorrow. Went out to the porch for a bit to chat with the Brazilian girl about going to Carnaval. Got some more tips and it was again reinforced that I should go to Salvador Bahia for the REAL Carnaval. It started to sprinkle to see we all headed indoors. I had reserved the shuttle for 9 AM in the morning into town so I figured I should drink some water and call it a night. Went to the communal computer to check some mail as I was getting some water in me.
After I finished the glass and logged off, I was thinking fuck it, I really should check out the beach. Ran downstairs to grab my flipflops, and saw Ari coming out of the staff room which was linked to the giant dorm looking for something, probably a condom. Had seen him take the Aussie girl down a little while before. There were a few more hookups that night as was obvious in the morning. There were a couple of other easy and attractive “pulls” as Ari put it that night, but perhaps having somewhat of a conscious, I don’t think any guys went after them. Went back up after grabbing my flipflops, returned the glass to the bar and out the window I saw a small group of people heading out, so I ran off to go to the beach with them. We got acquainted on the 2-minute walk to the beach, some siblings from Ireland, a couple of Noordwijk locals, a Finnish guy, and a few others in the mix. I think between all of us we had some beers, a bottle of wine, portable speaker+iPod, and some joints, don’t really remember too well. Anyways, we sat down for a few minutes and chilled watching the waves break with a light coming from our backs from this shack that looked like it would be a bar during the day. I think we were talking about touching the Baltic Sea just to say we did? We started to hear thunder and saw lightning in the distance. It was quite an amazing scene. Anyways, before I knew what was going one of the girls had taken off her dress and bra, telling the Finnish guy to watch her stuff and was running out to the ocean. I thought she still had her panties on, but upon second look it was confirmed that would be that those would have to be some miraculous panties that could stay on without anything gripping onto the hips. It started to sprinkle again at this point and some people started to head for cover. The Irish girl kept her underwear on but headed out as well. I don’t really have any qualms with getting naked, I think having done Baker 13, gone to a number of onsens in Japan, is probably testament to that. So I went. Running into the ocean was pretty liberating, but I have got to say the way the sky looked, the way the headlight hit the beach, it was really beautiful. It started to rain pretty heavily at this point and thunder a bit more so after being out at sea I decided it was time to head back, grab my clothes, put them on and run like hell to the hostel. It was getting pretty cold out in the rain. Couldn’t find the others but headed back with the guy from Noordwijk. Probably had some conversation about life in Noordwijk or just life, but some time later made it back all soaked and with sand in my shorts.
Despite all these guys sleeping in the room, including two Indian guys (so out of place) who were in town for an academic conference at the fancy hotel in the plaza but couldn’t afford accommodations there, I am sure I made plenty of noise getting cleaned up and into bed only to get up a few hours later to go into town. Also, I laughed when I realized the bottom bunk bed that was set up that was set up like a fortress, having blankets draped all around the sides belonged to the Fremont, Cali high school grad with the hot girlfriend who was half Natalie Portman and half Katie Holmes. Dunno how that ever happened, apparently they had met while traveling.
Took a quick shower and hung my clothes on the edges of my bed to dry. Regardless, would find sand in my bed the next morning.
First night in Noordwijk.
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