My
KLM flight to Venice had a 9 and ½ hour layover in Schiphol International
Airport, the main airport of the Netherlands. Normally, intercontinental
flights coming in from outside Europe have long layover hours that gives an
ample opportunity for travellers like me to have a glimpse of this enigmatic
place called Amsterdam – a place that has earned quite a “liberal” reputation
in popular culture.
Before
hitting the tracks to Amsterdam, I stood in line to get my passport stamped.
This was that 45- second nerve racking moment where the fate of your trip is in
the hands of an officer. I handed my passport. His first question “what is the
purpose of your trip”. I replied: “leisure” and added “that, I have connecting
flight to Venice”. Seemingly satisfied, he then asked further how many days
would I be staying and do I have a return ticket. I answered and gave my KLM
ticket printout. With a few page flips and a magnifying glass on my visa, he
stamped it and I was ready to go.
My
first mission was to convert my dollars to euros since I failed to change them
in Manila. At the waiting area just beyond the immigration check lines stand exchanges machines where you just slide in your dollars and euro bills and
coins just begin dropping. I was amazed at this contraption to be honest so as
two elderly Americans at my side. With 50 euros, I then bought a 6 euro
two-trip ticket to Amsterdam Centraal at
the ticket station in main lobby of the Airport. The direction guide to the platform below is
so easy to follow.
As I
was standing on the platform, an elderly Dutch man managed to open a
conversation with me – but in Dutch. Funnily, I replied saying I only speak
English. Cordially enough, he said “oh, the trains here are always late”. He
then guided me what train to ride and there it was; my first
European-random-conversation experience.
So
with a horde of passengers, I rode the train towards Amsterdam Centraal, the
main train station in the city. The plan here was simply to walk to Damm Square
a few blocks ahead of the station and just walk eastward towards the canals,
buy some souvenirs, take some pictures, and find my way back to the station and
back to Schiphol.
I
was holding my ticket totally ignorant of what to do with it. I did not see any
validating machine or MRT-like gate. So I was just holding it all the time
until I exited Amsterdam Centraal. And still, I have no idea if it was
validated or what have you.
As I
finally breath in the chilling Dutch air, I then began to just turn 360 degrees
in where I stood at the train station plaza just mesmerizing my first encounter
with Europe. The detail of the architecture, the fashion of the pedestrians,
the chill of the air, the rings of the bicycles, the moving trains and the old
world feel was such an overwhelming sight.
From
the train station, I could already see a part of Damm Square. So walking
towards it was not as long as I imagined. Along the way, tourist souvenir shops
are just beginning to open – the rest are still closed. It was 8 am so I
figured this is what they called “European time”.
Peculiar
to Amsterdam is its brazen liberal laws. Marijuana and prostitution are legal
here so as other things that stands no chance of approval in our country. So
with this comes the markets and just look at what they offer in their friendly
souvenir shops, they offer Tons of sex toys, marijuana and marijuana-allied
gadgets (for a lack of term). It was just all over the place. And for a
Filipino like me, this was something totally new that I only saw on TV or if I
recalled it right, in movie Duce Bigalo.
Finally,
Damm Square, the civic center of Amsterdam. It was just a couple of minutes
past 8 and I stand with only 4 or so people in this huge square. Perfect, the
hoards of tourists have not arrived yet. So with a couple of selfies, I
journeyed on to the canals.
To
be continued. . .
