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Photo Gallery #68- Celebrations in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
is a great party town, whatever your
pleasure. I wasn't looking for anything wild during my time
there,
just a chance to see some old friends, and to ring in the
New Year.
Click any of the thumbnails to
see a larger version in a separate window
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While
I was in Amsterdam I stayed at my friend Melanie's apartment-
she was with her family in Germany over the holidays,
and in an incredibly generous move, she simply gave
me the keys and told me to make myself at home. I did
get to see her for a few days, fortunately.
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I
was in the NL for about 10 days, and spent several of
them cruising the city with Kfir, my Israeli-American
ex-roommate from San Francisco, who's currently studying
at the University of Amsterdam, on exchange from SFSU. |
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I
happened to be in town during Chanukah, and went
along with Kfir one evening to see a few Israeli friends
of his, where we made latkes, the traditional
potato pancakes... |
And
lit the menorah, the eight-branch candelabra
sygnifying the eight days of the holiday. The center
candle is used to light the others, so despite the six
you see, it's actually only the fifth night of the holiday.
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On
New Year's Eve, I tagged along with Kfir to cruise around
the city, and enjoy the celebrations. Unlike most major
cities, Amsterdam doesn't seem to have any official fireworks
display or anything, just enthusiastic (and often drunk)
people shooting them off everywhere. |
The
big spot for fireworks was at Nieuwmarkt Square,
where thousands of firecrackers and fireworks go on all
night. |
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At
the edge of Nieuwmarkt. |
Around
10:30, I went with Kfir to a party at some international-student
friends of his. The party itself was forgettable, but
it happened to be on the top floor of an eight-story building,
and so just before midnight, we climbed the stairs to
the roof, and stood watching as Amsterdam welcomed in
2006. |
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At
the stroke of midnight fireworks were exploding in every
direction, truly an incredible sight. My apologies for the
blurriness of the photos, but it was absolutely freezing,
my hands were shaking, and photos of fireworks take a long
time to expose. |
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Suddenly
fireworks started to go off almost directly in front of
us, exploding no more than 50m away. |
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And
the aftermath- Dam Square at around 4AM. There were huge
concerts throughout the evening, but I didn't get a chance
to see them. Within a few hours, there'd be no trace of
the broken beer bottles, firework leftovers, and more. |
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at 4:00 AM the cleanup had already begun. Considering the
fact that the NL has worker-friendly policies, the guy probably
is part of a union, it's 4:00 AM, and it's a holiday, it's
scary to imagine the amount of overtime the driver must
have been making. |
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