Tuesday 2nd of July 2002 – Amsterdam
So, we’ve been to Amsterdam and had a really good time, and Brazil is 5 times world cup champion! R. and I had a good time over there but I’m sure things will soon be back to normal, especially now I will lose my job for sure and things will become very difficult. You and I have been swimming again today and I feel very tired. I have also given up drinking coffee, and the first day was awful, I had a headache and slept for ½ of the day… I’m ok now, drinking herbal tea.
Our flight to Amsterdam was delayed by 4 hours and we spent all that time at the airport, waiting. The plane’s door had fallen off and they had to get a new one! This is what you get for cheap flights. We got to Amsterdam eventually and went to the Winston hotel, right in the middle of the red light district. We were expecting an amazing room (it was called ‘The Dream Room’, and the whole hotel has rooms commissioned by artists), but we just got a normal room with a mad picture on the wall! We had to laugh.
We wondered around the area on the first night and I found the windows with women on display pretty disturbing and degrading but, hey, at least they are earning an honest living, still, I didn’t particularly want to watch. Needless to say we went to a coffee shop and we ended up in the club next door to the hotel (everything else was closed by 1 a.m. as it was a Tuesday), I was really getting into the music and dancing away and R. was just stood there, looking angry and complaining about everything.
We just went upstairs earlyish, and I read a book (by Paulo Coelho, very good – The Devil and Miss Prym) until about 4 am. We woke up the next day at 12. Haven’t done that for a while!, wondered around the streets and watched Brazil x Turkey (I watched it, R. was reading a book). Brazil won, and we hired two bikes. People were cheering and shouting Brazil (I was wearing my Brazil top, of course). The bikes had pedal breaks and I kept having little mishaps whenever I turned the pedals backwards (which I’ve always done when going downhill). I crashed into a man, but he was too stoned to be angry and was very nice about it. We were cycling for about 4 hours but it was scary as the traffic is going the opposite way, there are trams everywhere, people everywhere, and bikes (thousands!) everywhere. A guy was shouting at us because we were in the wrong cycle lane… Tourists!
I was exhausted and needed a rest, I finished reading the book (I hadn’t read a book like that for a long time, I used to love reading a book in a day when I used to have time) and R. went for another ride. Later on we went out again, had a really good talk about us, and ended up in the same club. That night the D.J. was a nutter, he played the weirdest, cheesiest songs ever, but managed to make it funny, as he was passionately miming to all the songs (Born to be Alive, I had the time of my life, It’s raining men, some obscure stuff which must have been Dutch, Prince…) The guy must have been stoned out of his head, but so was everyone else. It was our best night out in Amsterdam!
On our last night we were too tired so we just stayed out until about 11. Our plane on the way back was also delayed by over an hour so I only saw you on Saturday morning, although we got home on Friday night, you were already asleep. Linda said you were wonderful, and she took you to the Circus, amongst other places. She said your mouth was wide open and you loved it (although you always say you didn’t like it whatever it is that you’ve done). Francesca was selfish as always and barely helped Linda, even though Linda felt sick after taking you to the circus and asked my mum to stay the night, just in case, and my mum said no, as she had things to do.
The sad thing was that Linda paid for my mum to go to the circus with you and her, then made my mum something to eat. My mum thinks people are her servants. When my mum’s neighbour committed suicide a couple of weeks ago and she had to give a statement to the police, she actually complained that it had interfered with her jogging! And that was probably all she had to do the next day, go jogging, because she doesn’t work. I never met anybody so bloody selfish in my life. My revenge is that you keep saying Linda is your favourite grandma! That’s what you get for being selfish and criticising everyone all the time and complaining about everything. I rather die than end up like her. That is my worst fear. I have to stop as I’ve promised to take you to the library.