Karneval and Amsterdam-A Novel by Harrison Emery

While many of my peers seemed to have a great weekend in Amsterdam, I decided to stay in the Rhineland and enjoy Karneval to the full extent.  The atmosphere around Bonn and Cologne very much reminded me of tailgating before a football game with everyone being super inviting and cheerful (read: intoxicated).  There were parades for the entire weekend, people wearing costumes on public transportation, and confetti all over the streets.  The parades were particularly enjoyable because you just get to stand around in a ridiculous costume drinking beer while people throw candy at you.  Another interesting note about the parades were the scavengers (typically middle-aged adults) who would walk around and snatch up all the candy off the ground if you didn't catch it on the first try.  I'm kind of curious what they ended up doing with all the candy they got because they would manage to pick up pounds of it.

I took a train to Cologne on Saturday and Rose Monday to #party with all the Germans.  The city was really busy, and we met people from all over Europe, plus a couple of Americans.  We happened upon a group of drummers performing outside of a McDonald's and they were actually quite good.  A bit later, we managed to find a group of old men dressed as pirates playing steel drums which might have been the most cultural experience I have had to date.  For Rose Monday, we went back to Cologne for the massive parade that goes through the city.  It was quite a spectacle, but we ended up leaving before it actually ended because it was extremely long, and there's only so much candy hitting me in the face that I can handle.  Regardless, I would consider Karneval 2015 to be a success, and I am glad I got to witness it.

The following weekend, a few of us traveled to Amsterdam.  Finding our apartment the first night in the rain was a bit of an adventure, but we eventually found our Airbnb hosts who were very welcoming.  On Saturday, we arrived at the city center early to try and see the Anne Frank House.  Upon arriving at the Anne Frank House, we found a huge line to get in to the museum, so we called an audible and headed to the van Gogh Museum instead.  I was of course familiar with van Gogh prior to going to this museum, but I really had no grasp of how prolific of an artist he was until I saw all of his paintings.  Honestly, the van Gogh Museum was probably the best art museum I have ever visited-perfect size, beautiful paintings, and I did not feel rushed when viewing the art.

After walking around Amsterdam for a bit, we decided to go off the beaten path and visit a lesser-known museum, the Fluorescent Art Museum.  The museum visit took place as follows.  We walked into a small building filled with fluorescent paintings cluttering the room.  A friendly old hippie lady greeted us and quickly urged us to take off our shoes.  She then ushered us down a ladder into a dark basement already filled with about 15 other museum-goers.  Here we were greeted by the museum's curator, an old hippie man (the hippie woman's husband) complete with long hair, full beard, faded jeans, a vest with patches, and a habit of ending every sentence with the word "man."  Hippie curator turned off all the lights in the basement, switched on a late 90's CD player softly playing some Jimi Hendrix, and illuminated a fluorescent art display in the rear of the room with some UV light.  At this point, a British girl said what we were all thinking, "I'm getting quite claustrophobic and need to get out," and left.  The rest of us powered through for the sake of art.  Our curator showed us some phosphorescent minerals, various fluorescent paintings, and, of course, the fluorescent tattoo on his forearm.  To sum it up, I spent 5 euros to go into an old hippie's basement in Amsterdam.  10/10 would do again.

Following the Fluorescent Museum, we returned to being normal tourists and waited in line for about an hour to see the Anne Frank House.  Since we all know the story of Anne Frank very well, it was really powerful to experience a part of history and see the actual rooms where these people had to hide in fear of capture.  To wrap up Saturday, we walked around Amsterdam some more, including the Red Light District which is unlike anything I have ever seen in the US.  The next morning, we started the day by going to the Heineken Factory for the Heineken Experience.  You know that the Heineken Experience is good when you realize that you are being inundated with Heineken marketing at all times but still have a lot of fun.  One side effect, though, is that you walk out of the experience wanting to solely drink Heineken for the rest of your life.  I finished my Amsterdam excursion by going to the Rijksmuseum to tour their massive collection.  My favorite (cliche) piece from this art museum was Rembrandt's "The Night Watch," a huge oil painting full of incredible detail.

I had a fantastic time in Amsterdam, and I really felt like I got to see everything I wanted to see.  The canals and townhomes along the water were beautiful, the museums were fascinating, and there were lots of fun things to do.  If I ever get the chance, then I will most definitely return to the Dutch capital.