Reset, Restart, Regroup, and Relax

Have you ever just wanted to cast aside your corporate identity and simply see the world in all its glory? We found one lucky soul who has. Introducing a brand new travel section here at the Brophisticate chronicling the wanderings of one man across Europe. We give you, Marveling Brando…

Nothing says “welcome to Amsterdam” more than a big, red bong.

Ya know, its time where life kicks you in the balls and you are trying to get off the floor that have to make a conscious decision how many times you can take it. Life has certainly kicked me pretty hard as of late. When you think you have your future figured out and life moving in the right direction that you are most tried. So, with that, a cancelled engagement and a lot of Delta dollars to spend, I find myself in Amsterdam, Holland (or Netherlands depending on which side of the bed you wake up on). As the title goes, its the Restart of trying to clear my head. I bought an open ticket to return to the US at my leisure, so…..while I’m gone on this Reset of the gaming system known as my life, I am going to try and enjoy my life instead of stressing so damn much. First stop, the city of over 600,000 bikes and thousands of tourist here to enjoy good beer, good weed and a relaxed walk amongst the canals.

After I landed at Amsterdam Schipol, I grabbed my bags and hopped the train to the city, but not before I grabbed the right ticket for the train! See, last time I was here, I had a little mix up that if were an attractive woman, then I wouldn’t have had the problem of a mixed up ticket. The Cab driver, whom I will call “Mo” (because he is arabic and that is actually his name), had a peculiar way of driving… not to the left or right of the yellow lines, but anywhere he damn well pleased. On the sidewalk, in the bike lane, over the median, in the cable car lane. I guess its ok since I arrived at my hotel safe! He definitely took a crazy round about way, but since I couldn’t remember where anything was from a previous visit, I just went with it.

First stop, my favorite coffee shop…Happy Feelings! I mean, if you’re going to start off and try and reset, a place called “Happy Feelings” should do the trick, right? 45 minutes later, a vaporizer and some Sour Lemon Drop appears and I definitely feel “Happy.” Of course my first meal would have to be something that screams Dutch…like some crusty bread, herb butter, mussels in white wine sauce, tuna salad and “Bruskettttta” (the spit shower was free as he confirmed my order). Pretty sure I haven’t eaten that much in a sittig this year, but maybe there was something to Happy Times. I opted out of the dessert at L’Arco Ristorante Pizzeria, and instead went down a block towards the next canal and opted for the low marquis “Ice Bakery”. Intrigued at how exactly they were able to bake ice, I found myself eating a scoop of my favorite gelato Stracciatella and ordering a Nutella (Europe’s solution to anything) and chocolate donut. Not to be outdone by these, I made yet another stop 2 more blocks away to get what was essentially an apple turnover, but for their sake, we will call it what they do, pancake. Not really sure if I needed it, but maybe Happy Times meant to show off that I could be American and relish in the stuffing my face with everything in my way! Ok..enough with all the eating because I don’t have all day!

What better could the day end than by sitting on the banks of the canal, reading a book and watching the bicycles ride by, only to hear the ever so frequent “ring ring” of the bells on those very bicycles. Tomorrow is a busy day so I think I am going to take my Happy Times to the hotel and take a nap! Not before I check out a few more things to prep for the busy day tomorrow…Canal tour (not C-Anal) and heading to the countryside so I can check out the end of tulip season. There was a taster at the Rijks Museum lawn.

Few things are lovelier than meandering along the canals of Amsterdam.