Cycling to Oudekerk aan de Amstel

I wake up late.... but I knew I would....







today I'm going to set out on the first of (hopefully) many cycle trips around The Netherlands. There are two trips in the book suggested which can be done in a few hours from Amsterdam. The one that goes North involves ferrys and optional detours, so I decide to take the one that goes south to Oudekerk aan de Amstel....

I stick a couple of packets of nuts, some water and a smoothie in my bag and set out. This will feed me for about 6 hours, but given that I'm never going to be more than a taxi ride from home, I think I'm being a little over careful.

Oudekerk aan de Amstel means Old "Church on the Amstel", the Amstel being the river that runs through Amsterdam... this bike trip there for heads done one bank of the river, turns at a bridge and heads back up the other side...

I cycle to the Amstel as if I was heading to Diemen, but instead of crossing the river, I turn right and continue south... after a few blocks I'm in uncharted territory(for me anyway).

The weather is perfect... a little breeze, blue skies and sun beating down on my pasty white skin.

It's amaziing how quickly you can get into scnery that makes you forget you are in a European Capital city:





All the dutch cliche shots are there:







Within almost no time, I am at Oudekerk aan de Amstel, and heading back along the other side of the river... You have to be in a good mood to appreciatte this scenery... the people slowly phutting along on boats and the whole "water colour" nature of the scenery means you get the feeling of old people, beige and biscuits.... but luckily I'm in a good mood today and appreciate the peacefulness of the countryside... I'd still take violent scottish Mountains any day.... but this is about something else... and I'm trying to appreciate



Scott Weiland recently joined the supergroup Camp Freddy, so I have been revisiting the Stone Temple Pilots, and have chosen them for the bike trip:



Back in the day... Stone Temple Pilots released an album which was a watered down version of Pearl jam.. but it sounded good enough, and we listened to it repeatedly.... I start out on that album:



After that came Purple.... we accepted this with equal enthusiasm:



I was in a few bands that played interstate love song and big empty.... I know I've played creep and plush before, and vaguely remember jamming Vasoline and Crackerman.... Listening to Purple now... I hear a band struggling with their identity... They are very talented... but in terms of having their own sound, it's not really clear... By the time "Tiny Music.... Songs from the Vatican City Gift Shop" came along.....



......their sound and identity had changed so much that you can hardly recognise the band that made Core... as I listen to this album now, it's probably only the 5th time I've heard it or something.... Now my tastes have expanded a little... so I'll give it another chance... IThere's some nice songs on it... but they flirt with so many styles... that it's a really hard listen... even though some of it is lounge music... Maybe I'll finish listening to their discography and work out what happened, and whether I like it or not.....

Anyway. By the time I'm half way along the other side of the Amstel, my arse is aching.... This cycling isn't as painless as it looks... maybe the saddle on my 10 euro bike is not meant for cycle trips...

Once I'm back into familair territory... I really enjoyed my trip, but the home stretch is monotonous.....it doesn't help me get into Stone Temple Pilot songs that I don;t know, so I reward myself with a little lemonheads....



The ultimate summer music...It also feels better for meandering along at a slow pace...

I take my wearied legs home and have a quiet night in front of the telly....

Saturday: A day off in Amsterdam.....

Saturday couldn't come quick enough this week... I arrived back late on the sunday from Berlin, then worked all week and really missed my weekend long lies. By saturday... all I could do was collapse in bed.... get up late.... and catch up on washing. There's next to nothing in the house that would let me construct a decent meal, so a phone call from the Bulgarian Bride with an invite to dinner is very welcomed when it comes. It always feels like being with family when I'm over at Diemen, so it's a good place to relax.

After Berlin, I've decided that I need to see more of the Netherlands and do a bit more than sleep, drink and eat in Amsterdam. Given that Mowgli is coming over and we'll be a bit more active than my current circles of drinkers, I go shopping.

I buy..



....because the good weather has started and I want to start mixing my heallthy living with getting out and about and doing some stuff.....



......because I have spent very little time outside of Amsterdam in my four years in this country, and I want to start being a tourist at the weekends a little bit more...



..... because I'm spending 2 weeks there in July for 3 conferences I have... 2 of these will be on my own, so it will make it more enjoyable if I can do a bit of sight seeing..

Once I have a bag full of books, I take off along the Amstel to make my way to diemen.... I am jumping over speed bumps and grooving out to The Colour and the Shape:



The sun is shining and I am wearing shorts, (fake)Oaklay's and a pearl jam T-Shirt... I'm in a great mood and take some pictures of the scenery in preparation for going a bit of a road trip tomorrow...













I like the road to Diemen.. it's straight and peaceful, and I can sing as I cycle without attracting so many looks....






Diemen itself is beautiful too.... I'm in a great mood, and a heron on a tree by the river makes me stop to take some photos....










Dinner is wonderful as always and we celebrate the good weather with the usual array of Bulgarian salads.... I can't wait till I get the real thing in Bansko in a week or so....

We watch the Magdaline Sisters before it;s time to go home:



It's cool to be cycling home in shorts when it;s dark and there''s a cool summer breeze keeping you awake in the early hours of the morning...

I make it home really late.....

.....Leka Nosh......

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday passed without incident. We didn't go to the Zotte, and given that it was midweek, we stayed in and I cooked Curry:



On Thursday I was out of Amsterdam for the day, so I didn't see Paprika until late at night. Because there were very few alcohol based landmarks that I could meet her at, and I was coming from a train station, it was the Zotte with my boss:



It turned into quite a sesh. It started with an Orval:



and fuelled by spicey sausages....



...olives....



......fresh brown bread.......



.......pate..........




..........cheese...........



moved to Chimay Blue:




The music was also flowing, we had some soundgarden:



.....happy mondays....



.....Busted.....



Eventually when it was getting too busy, we decided to have a beer outside at the bar next door.This idea was soon rained off and we headed for home. Although Paprika was drunk, you'd hardly recognise the drinking constitution that arrived last friday.

It's almost June, but no one seems to have told the weather. I was really disappointed that Paprika didn't get better weather, cos Amsterdam really is wonderful in the sun.

We find ourselves cycling home through what becomes torrential rain.



We are hardly dressed for winter, and it just seems to be getting worse and worse and worse... intelligence would have dictated that we should have taken the tram, but getting an Amsterdammer to give up his bike isn't as easy as that.

On the last turn before home, I slide on a wet tram track, and we're on the ground. Luckily Paprika is unscathed, and apart from a leg that is still several shades of Blue, yellow and purple from ankle to knee, I came off okay.

From the gutter, we dust ourselves down and head for home..... Paprika's trip to Amsterdam seems to become more complete by the day.

Back in Amsterdam with Satan, Gollem and a new flat mate

So late last night I returned to home for the first time in 2 weeks, and I'm going to spend the whole week here for the first time in 5 weeks. I settle into bed looking forward to my first long lie in over a month.

I'm woken up just after 10am by a knock at the door. It's my new flatmate. My previous flat mate moved out while I was off travelling. So on a day where I thought I could be adventure free for just a few days - I now have a new flatmate to meet.

He's a banker from New Zealand, and we decide to seal the relationship by going off to Bar Gollum that night.



Bar Gollem serves hunners(Scottish for many - one, two, hunners), of Belgian beers. We seem to have opted for a beer called Satan(http://www.satanbeer.com). Maybe the tiredness had taken my common sense away, but I didn't notice that this was a bad omen.




It's my recollection that we had 4 of those babies. The problem is that when you are drinking normal crappy(But oh so standardised) beer,



you start to feel it, and decide to have a last one before the off. With Belgian beer, that last beer shouldn't be taken, cos it is liable to change you from a little tipsy to completely plastered.

Luckily being a seasoned drinker, I recognise this - make my excuses and head for home. Unfortunately there is a further problem. The best means to get around in Amsterdam is by bicycle. I often cycle home with few drinks. I would never even think about getting in a car drunk, but cycling is less of an issue, cos the only person you can harm is yourself, and the small canal streets of Amsterdam ensure that there is little fast traffic.

Most sane people(Those who think twice before drinking a beer called Satan) would have walked or got a tram, but I decide to slowly cycle. All goes well - I'm listening to the beastie boys on my iPod, when taxi pulls out in front of me. I stop suddenly - normally not a problem - swerve a little and rattle my front wheel off the kerb. This is normally results in you losing control for a second but recovering, but in this case I take a tumble. Maybe because of the beer - maybe it would have happened anyway. Nothing serious, I fall over and land on my elbow. I think it is nothing an cycle on. By the time I get home my elbow is throbbing - I've grazed my elbow.

I realise several things now. The first is that children are hard as nails - never do I remember grazing something and it stinging like this. I try many things, sure that there is a parental secret to stopping a kid's grazed elbow from stinging. I have an ice lolly - I play with some lego - nothing works. I decide to give up and go to bed, but realise I should clean my elbow.

Having been in Scotland for the best part of 3 weeks and carried my mountain first aid kit around, it was used to cover blisters, the paracetamol cured a couple of hangovers, and then there was the aftermath of the drumstick fight.

Never did I think I would need it in such a flat country. I realise that I have no plaster's, no antiseptic cream, no nothing. I have a good think - pour some whisky(Only bell's) on it give it a wipe and head off to bed.

I'm looking forward to getting to know my new flatmate - any relationship which has scars to show when it started can't be half bad.

Soma

Yes. Yes we all know. Its early 90's grunge, so we'll have the quiet bit then the loud bit then the noise guitar solo. It's a cliche, but this wrote the cliche and broke the mould. Compositionally, Orchestrationally I think Billy Corgan is a genius.

Soma - Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins



If I ever want an adrenalin hit of the extreme sport level, I have a button which gives me a direct hit. As with ost of the stuff of this period from smashing pumpkins, we start with a nice slow spacey riff. Now to call this the quiet bit would be an understatement, This isn't where the structure lies. As with most smashing pumpkins riffs, they are an intricate blend of about 5 guitars doing very similar things. Corgan is (I believe) anally retentive about orchestration. And when it works it really works. Here it works. He treats multiple guitars as an orchestra, the good thing is that the guitars aren't perfect(i.e. they are grunge, not some not perfect, sound perfect inhumane treatment.)

After a nice spacey trippy start, we get the trademark wall of sound. But this isn't the same as Mr. Cobain suddenly jumping on a distortion pedal, this really gets us off. We get(at 3:24) the quiet before the storm. Its pure aural masturbation for me, I've been listening to this album for over 10 yrs, I know what's coming, that's why I come back for the hit. At 3:24 you float, at the top of a hill (sometimes literally in the case of iCycli-podding). Then PLUNGE - wall of sound - diving into ice cold water, whatever floats your boat. Then the rock devil comes out, a wicked smile appears on your face and your heart beat feeds on the adrenaline. Then BANG, it get s better and better, BANG, big solo. Not a normal solo, this is the sound of 20 guitars dying all at once with some kind of melody being picked out of them in the studio(Think of a late turner painting, but in a kind of multi-tracked noise guitar grunge kind of way.

Then 5:04 there is one note which just rips through everything. It is pure adrenaline, if i am free to really listen to this note, no distractions, no one talking, i can float away and time doesn't exist. I often say it is my favourite recorded note. If someone bottled adrenalin for you, you would like it too.

Maybe i just like going back to being a teenager when i first discovered this music, and its impossible to turn someone onto it who didn't at least grow up to the same music. Theres other stuff i enjoyed when I was a kid, that doesn't do it for me anymore, but soma and smashing pumpkins does it for me every time. I didn't used to consider smashing Pumpkins one of my favourite bands, i listened to them religiously, but the fan base kind of put me off. It was songs for disgruntled teenagers, a bit like the goth kids in south park.



The whole "Hate myself and want to die" bit of grunge. That wasn't what it was about, but for some reason they people who needed that outlet found it in the Smashing Pumpkins. I always found those people to be spoiled little brats who couldn't moan about not getting all the my little ponies anymore. I wasn't disgruntled at being a teenager. I was disgruntled at other teenagers, cos they didn't like Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins but i loved being me. I had pearl jam and smashing pumpkins.

This said. I think that every thing after Melloncollie wwas lacklustre, and I didn't find the same power in it. I respect Billy Corgan for continuing to tray and innovate, but I don't think he really hit the button as well as he did on the first three albums.

For further iCycli-podding fun. Test your bike by listen in to Siamese dream. At 2:57 during GeekUSA, most "Non-Grunge certified" bikes will break due to adrenalin powered pedal as fast as you can part o the song.