What do you get when you mix 4 Germans, 2 Dutch and me?

A party in Amsterdam!

Quick recap: I met Carina and Florian, years ago at Oktoberfest who introduced me to Julia and Sebastian this year. Denise and I met while studying in Spain last year and just met Ioni in Argentina this March. Since I know all 6 of these incredible people I felt more than than driven to connect us all at once. Success!

We met up early in the day to wander the streets before heading out on the town. I got to take them to one of my favorite open markets!

I honestly couldn’t figure out if this was a real man. He didn’t budge or blink for the awkward moments I just stood there… I’m still not sure.

We were extremely tempted to purchase snow suits and wear them out as a huge group, next time!

Most vendors have some sort of design on the outside of their closed shed. Gotta love the one and only Bob Marley!

After snooping through bags, books, clothes, tools, posters, jewelry, plants, and still trying to figure out if that guy was alive or not… we head to Dam Square to meet up with the rest of the bunch.

While waiting, I offered to take a picture of a group of lovely ladies that ended up being so sweet! Besides the great conversation with these intelligent girls, I now have a place to stay in Indonesia!

Who took the group photo of us? Italy on my right and Spain on my left!

All right, time to dance! Amsterdam is full of bars, clubs and offers a variety of entertainment every night of the week. We didn’t have any specific plans which led us on a walk to see what we could find.

A crazy disco club? A loud sports bar? A classy cocktail lounge? Nope. An old school bar in which we were the youth by a solid 35 years… priceless! All eyes peered over in curiosity as we bounced through the entry way. I wonder what they were all thinking?

After only minutes I saw this woman ever so slightly shaking her hips to the tunes and that was my cue… That girl wants to dance!

…and this was the beginning to our self-made dance party with new friends. I hope the locals will look back and smile remembering the enthusiasm we brought and the energy we left with.

The first photo is the owner playing bottles of liquor with two sticks making them chime to some crazy Dutch song. Then naturally Carina and I end up behind the bar pouring drinks. We both agree that these taps poor differently than back home.

As the evening wrapped up, we handed my camera to one of our new pals for a group photo.
Judging from the pictures, he wasn’t sober. Here’s what we ended up with! (In the exact order they were taken).

The closing to the night was finding a solution to the growling tummy’s of my dear buddy’s.

What’s this? For those of you in the dark like I was, this is a form of fast food vending machine style! Instead of a bag of nuts or skittles, you have your choice of hamburgers, chicken strips, friend cheese, hotdogs and so on. This smile says it all!

Carina, Florian, Julia, Sebastian, Denise and Ioni… I hope you stay connected as this evening should be the first of many! I’ve got to be the luckiest “tourist” around these parts, thanks for joining me! Doei and Tschuss!