The Flying Pig News Amsterdam No.3
Winter 2004/2005 |
The First Amsterdam backpacker newspaper!
 Page 3 - Interviews  |
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“Hi my name is Barnaby Arnott.
I’m from England but living in the US, split between LA and Seattle (some people are just born to be travellers).
I stayed at the Beach hostel for about six nights to find some good winds to go Kite surfing.”
What made you decide to go travelling?
“Get a break from my previous life-style - putting too many hours in for too little pay at a high-tech firm. Also, I specifically aim to kitesurf as much as possible, climb the Matterhorn (we made it half-way before weather pushed us back), and otherwise to soak up other cultures and experience the little details that identify each.”
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Hi Corine, tell me, what is your Pig connection?
“I am receptionist at the Flying Pig Downtownhostel, also known as ‘the Chinese girl with an Irish accent who speaks Dutch’, ha ha.” |
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So where do Flying piggies go to party and drink in Amsterdam?
“My evening usually starts at the Irish pub the Tara, because of the warm feeling of the place or in beer cafe the Beiaard, a student cafe full of young people.” Corine thinks for a second and then continues; “I always go dancing at Dansen bij Jansen or Meander. Both are student disco’s with really cheap beer (0.60 & 0.80) and good party music. Think golden oldies like Aretha Franklin and Madonna mixed with new hits. These student hangouts become real party places in the early morning hours and the Meander occasionally has live (new) bands playing before twelve.”
What is your Amsterdam must do tip of the month?
“Go eat a ‘rookworst’ at the HEMA!!” Okay Corine, I’m afraid you’ll need to explain this one. “The Hema is a big, typical Dutch warehouse, you’ll not find anywhere else on this planet”. (think useful, soberly styled design, cheap but good quality products selling almost anything). “It’s a Dutch tradition to consume their rookworst (sausage) while out shopping. I know I know, sounds quite grose but hey you don’t know what you’re missing!” And what about the vegetarians amongst us? “Easy, if you don’t want to miss out on a good, really Dutch, eatable treat than try the Stroopwafel. No meat involved with this one. It’s a sweet cookie which you can eat warm or cold, crumbled or whole...”
But what booze to choose??
It doesn’t take Corine long to answer this one. “My drinking tip? Definitely Jenever!!! Jenever is a Dutch shot that will get you really drunk! You can either drink it straight or you can mix it with apple juice or lemonade. However,” she remarks while pointing at my notes, “make sure you include a warning about this drink, it’s crucial to know to take it easy on the Jenever. This stuff is lethal...lethal!” We both look at each other and smile… don’t say we didn’t warn you! |
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Do you have any handy tips, anecdotes or a good travel philosophy for your fellow backpackers out there?
“Don’t try to see everything at once. If you find somewhere you like, stay there and fully experience it. Only move on once you’re bored. Throw away the checklist - what is more interesting: having pictures of places everyone else has also seen or having a series of interesting stories from a little place in the world that none of your friends have ever heard of?” |
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“Amsterdam
is not a bad place to be” says Alvaro from Seville, Spain. I catch up with him while he is writing in his travel journal. Taking a seat next to him I start firing of all the questions I have prepared.
Where have you been, what have you seen? which coffee shop? did you go out last night?’
No response at all… After some contemplation on my Spanish companion’s site, the only thing he can tell me is that he wondered around all day not knowing where he was. “I was walking by myself, really stoned and smiling all day”. |
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I’m Cassie Millette, coming from St Augus-tine, Florida and partied at the Beach hostel for nine days.
What made you decide to go travelling?
To broaden my horizon, meet new and in-teresting people and get to know different places and how the local people interact with each other and with strangers.
Do you have any handy tips, anecdotes or a good travel philosophy for your fellow backpackers out there?
There are two types of travellers. The ones who wish to go and see all the cities and experience every thing they can. |
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Right. Well, how about food? Where did you go for food?
I’m thinking everyone has to eat, he must have been somewhere! “We just stayed in the hostel and made pasta for the whole hostel”. Okay, I’m officially getting desperate here. What am I going to write about a guy who forgot everything and has absolutely nothing to say. . . |
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In the meantime more people join us at our table and they all seem to know Alvaro. While I’m still on the verge of a writers block, he starts to ex-plain to me his thoughts on the Dutch people. “They are not very friendly, the Dutch. They’re not like Latin people you know. We are friendlier, warmer. We kiss each other and we hug, while you just shake hands”.
I must admit, he has a point… Suddenly I can imagine him walking around the city, big smile and as friendly to everyone as he has been to me and the other people at the table. Than I picture him cooking for the whole hostel in the evening. As I sat there next to him I slowly started to realize how great it is to be in this hostel and to meet people from all over the world. Maybe Alvaro didn’t provide me with the answers I was looking for, but he made me see it’s great to talk to people with different cultures and different perspectives on life. . . |
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George
It’s George’ her fourth night and last night in the Downtown hostel. She had a good time up here so far and tomorrow she and her |
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Then there are those who want to go to certain places just to see the different ways that people live.
It is nice to spend time in one place and just notice the simple differences in the land, architecture, culture, fashion, art, mode of transportation, music etc.
No two places are the same and the way of life is the most interesting thing to me. |
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friendswill move to check out the Palace hostel. “It’s a good hostel to stay, Great DJ’s, cheap Happy hour and it’s safe to get drunk in the bar and than go to bed, or to go down to the kitchen and eat”.....
When I Ask about her day she explains to me she has wandered all around town; “Not just in the city center but also to the Albert Cuyp market, and the suburbs. It was interesting to see the houses up there. We just wandered
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around, checked our map once in a while to orientate ourselves and continued walking” Their hike also lead them to the notorious Red Light District. “Very fascinating,” according to George, “we saw a peepshow, but thought it was boring and than they let us watch a video”. After Paris Hilton showing her thing on screen they longed for something of a somewhat higher cultural standing. So they took off to check out Van Gogh, but since the price scared them off, they went for the Sex museum instead. (oh yes girls, much higher culture levels!)
George continues; “I came to Europe to work and it’s amazing to be here. First I worked on the Edinburgh festival and now I’m travelling around with a theatre company. When I finish working I plan to visit Italy, Morocco, Spain and Slovakia. On my way home to Oz I’m going to stop in South East Asia to travel up there for a bit. It’s unbelievable sometimes, too good to be true almost”… |
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The Flying Pig News will be published twice a year by The Flying Pig Backpacker Hostels Amsterdam, Holland >> Number 3 >> Winter 2004/2005 >> Circulation ± 50.000 >> Advertising Flying Pig Headoffice +31 (0)20 428 49 34 >> Editor Linda Peperkoorn >> Writers Marike Knaapen, Sander Breggeman, Inge Kuijper and backpackers >> Photgraphy Joyce van Tienen, Marike Knaapen, Sander Breggeman, Jos Groenendijk, Ronald Selter >> Graphic design and lay out AzimDezign&Communication, Haastrecht >> Printed by Drukkerij Verhagen bv
Your opinion, great ideas, travelstories, Amsterdam experience, travel pigtures, etc. >> All interesting material for this newspaper e-mail to >> pignews@flyingpig.nl
Hostel reservation and information: www.flyingpig.nl >> info@flyingpig.nl >> tel. +31 (0)20 428 49 34 >> fax +31 (0)20 421 08 02
Things can only be copied from this newspaper after having received a written confirmation of the Flying Pig editors. This version of the Flying Pig News Amsterdam is strictly informative and no rights can be derived from the content of the articles. |
