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RE: Going Home
Got into Amsterdam Schiphol at 8 PM and strolled over to the ultra-convenient CitizenM hotel, or as I like to call it, The DenizenO. Crawled into the giant comfy bed, played with the MoodPad (TM) control panel a bit and fell into a deep and well earned sleep.
Woke around 6, set the MoodPad to BBC and the random shifting coloured lighting. With a few hours to kill before hotel checkout and airport checkin, hopped a train to Centraal to have a last poke around and to spend my last 60 eurodollars.
Stopped in for a final purchase at the coffee shop. Rolled two thin ones of a cultivar called The Cheese. Strolled along the canal and burned one down. Sweet and mild flavor, not too strong. An excellent morning smoke.
Turned down a few propositions in the Red Light District and walked down by the Jewish Museum and then through Waterlooplein. Took some nice photos in the slanty morning light.
Near Dam square stopped at a bakery thronged with Monday morning commuters. Busy places are usually the best! Sausicjen Broodje for breakfast, a flaky and delicious sausage pastry.
Happy to see my favorite flop hotel one more time, the Groenendael. Just beyond it is the mellow coffee shop Rokery where I sit on the porch to soak up some more sun and finish the stash. Two young French guys beside me are shocked it is a 10-hour flight to the US but even more shocked by the price. I describe my trip to one of the regulars and he admires its execution and I feel quite a bit pleased with myself as I say goodbye.
Sun is shining, commuters have begun to give way to tourists. It is "check out time" and I make my way back to platform 15, for the last train ride to Schiphol.
Looking out the window and it feels like I have been on a 10-day carnival ride. And I am tired, but it is the good kind of tired you get from doing something to the hilt.
Final score: 12 nights, 8 of live music in 5 different cities. 4 countries visiting 2 for the first time. A lot of bang for a lot of bucks. And so it goes.
Thank you and good night.
HarryO, citizen 311
per the cubicle hotel room number
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