Easter in Germany is rather boring. Things are so freaking awkward. I think it is just difficult when stuff is all shut on Sundays any other week, and well on Easter Monday - everything is shut. So it's just a pain in the arse. Now add to that mix the fact we had a quick trip to Amsterdam - well it meant having to do all the shopping for the weekend because we would not be here on the Saturday.
Now of course you will be wondering why we went to Amsterdam. Well not for the weed or the sex. No, we were there to see Hurts play. Now getting to Amsterdam is pretty easy really, with a single change of train along the way. It's kinda strange being on a train and all of sudden you are another country. Anyway, German trains are great. Hardly any delays ever. Something the UK should learn to get right.
Of course the first thing we noticed on exiting the Amsterdam train station was the smell of weed. It was sort of like cliche in that respect. And of course there were so many tourists. So getting from the station to the hotel was the rather annoying march past dawdling tourists, and stoned tourists. It seems that we chose a good hotel though. It was located on the south west edge of the city centre. This being where the more authentic Amsterdam is, where all the locals go for coffee and culture.
The hotel, Esterea, was excellent. Well woth the money. Awesome service, great interior, and excellent room. And to top it off the hotel has a cat. Yes a cat. One that seems pretty free to roam the hotel. And of course is incredibly friendly and patient.
With a bit of clothes shopping done and dinner, we got ready for the gig. Amsterdam were playing at the Melkweg (Milky Way) and the venue is pretty awesome and modern. It was not a massive venue, as this was the promotional tour for the new album by Hurts.
The support at was really anything special. Not bad - but not great either.
Hurts however were epic. They really worked the crowd, and we were only few people away from the front. They played all their hits so far from the first album, and did a good many from the new album. Plus the lighting setup for their performance really worked well.
With a decent night's sleep we had a great breakfast and had a good amount of the midday to tour around the city. We went to see a good number of the more historical buildings, a short walk through the red light district, and even had a ride about the city centre by horse and carriage.
Amsterdam is a weird place really. There is a lot of good history, great architecture and some good shopping. The air is of course very clean - if you forget the weed smoke. But I find it is somewhat ruined by the commercial tourist centric aspect. Amsterdam reminded me of so many different cities, making it sort of perfect mashup of Europe.
So I think in future we may visit again for a bit longer, as it is a very nice city. But I think we found, and would like to find more of, the city that is often forgotten in favour of the sex and drugs.
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