Hello Sweden... Hej Sverige... (9 minute read)

After a 21-hour train journey from Amsterdam, I was completely knackered...
I didn't get much sleep after meeting up with Lars Olof (Lola) and Mikael on the train, we talked for hours and hours...

Halfway through the night, the train we took got on board a ferry!
What!?
Yes!...The whole train got on a ferry to go across from Germany to Sweden (Sassnitz to Trelleborg)

I truly had no idea that was possible, but we'd had a few beers so...anything was possible!

Going across the Baltic Sea took approx. 4-5 hours... then back on land we travelled on to Stockholm for another 7 hours through some amazing scenery...

This was my first time in Scandinavia and it looked so beautiful!

We must've arrived at Stockholm Central Station at around 5 or 6 pm...
We were all pretty tired and didn't smell great...we probably reeked of beer a bit...

As soon as we got there I tried to contact my friend from Amsterdam who had said I could stay with her for a few days but...

Surprise surprise!...

She was heading back to Amsterdam the next day because her softball coaching job was cancelled and I could not stay with her at all...
She was crying...she was devastated and sounded a bit embarrassed over the phone and I felt sorry for her but...

What about me?! … Now, what do I do?!

I didn't have a lot of cash to spend on accommodation at all, especially when the Youth Hostels were so expensive in Stockholm...

So I was in a bit of a pickle...Lola and Mikael heard me having this conversation on the phone and saw my desperation then...Lola said...
"Why don't we go to my place and eat something and then we can ask my Mum if you can stay with us for a couple of days, sounds good?"...

Really?! ...I had just met these guys on the train...and I didn't know what to say but...
Thank you so much, yes, let's do that...

He called his Mum to give her a heads up on what he was doing and about me...
We jumped on a local train and went off to Farsta, where he lived, just a quick 25 minute ride...

Lola and his Mum lived in a medium size apartment in Farsta, a friendly neighbourhood...

When we arrived she opened the door and greeted me in Swedish...
"Hej Hej... Jag heter Viva"...(Hi my name is Viva) I had learned how to say that in Swedish too... so I said, "Hej, Jag heter Hector"... she looked surprised and smiled!

Then Lola had a quick chat with her and said..."My Mum says that you can stay here for a few days, no problem!"
Seriously?! …Thank you so much...

Then she showed me to a room and said..."Here's your bedroom", she handed me a towel and said, "here's a clean towel for you...there is the bathroom"...pointing at a door in front of the spare bedroom...

"While you take a shower and get ready I'll organise a Pizza for you boys", she told us...

Wow!... This was amazing...and totally so much better than crashing with my friend with whom I was supposed to stay, more than likely sleeping on her couch...

After we showered and changed we went to the kitchen where a large pizza was waiting for us and we sat down...
Then Viva said..."Want a glass of milk?"... Sure, why not...

I learned right there and then that that's what they normally love to drink with dinner in Sweden... an interesting habit...

Then Lola was on the phone with Mikael and said that the guys had organised a welcome back get-together at a bar... "Wanna come along?" ...Sure thing...
There we met his friends Mikael and Stefan and his brother Jan Erik and his wife Birgitta.

It was Saturday night so the bar was crowded...they bought me a beer and that's all I drank...one beer...
Why?
Well, it turns out that beer and all alcoholic beverages in Sweden are highly taxed and the prices are astronomical, especially at a bar... so...I made sure that that one beer lasted for the rest of the night...

The next day we went to see the Stockholm Marathon and some sights around Stockholm...it was a great day!

Then after we got home for dinner Lola said...
"Tomorrow Monday I must go back to work, however, my brother Jan Erik has taken the day off tomorrow to show you around some other sights of the city" ...
Wow, seriously? that's excellent... I said

And then he said..."Both, I and my mum, are going out to work early in the morning and my brother will come and pick you up at around 9 am", then went on to say...
"HERE ARE YOUR KEYS" and he handed me his house keys...
What?!… I was blown away...

We had just met and they were going to leave me in their house alone and with their house keys?!

I could not believe it and didn't know what to say...I just said...Thank you...

We had a beautiful meal that night, I tasted for the first time, Viva's delicious Swedish meatballs!
Which is a famous Swedish dish and Lola wanted me to try them, they didn't disappoint at all...so uniquely delicious...

The next morning I got up and Viva and Lola were gone, they left me some breakfast stuff on the kitchen table and a note saying "Help yourself, Jan Erick will be here at 9 am"...

So I helped myself to some Swedish 'Knäckebröd' (Swedish Crispbread) and cheese and some ham and made myself a nice Swedish 'smörgås' and had a tall glass of milk...let's say it was a typical Swedish breakfast... 

There I was all by myself in their house, still in awe about the whole "here are your keys" thing...
I took a shower and got myself ready to go...

Right on the dot at 9 am the doorbell rang...I opened the door and there was Jan Erik, he said "Hej Hector, are you ready?" ...Sure am!

They are so punctual and precise about their times and appointments...
Got my stuff and the 'house keys' and left with Jan Erik for a nice tour around town...

OMG... I loved "Gamla Stan" the old city...It is so colourful and beautiful...

It was still summertime, so there were lots of people walking around in colourful summer clothing and wearing shorts and t-shirts...Swedes love their summer, although it is normally too short compared to their long winters...

We ate some lunch somewhere and at night we met up with Lola, Mikael, Stefan and some others to have our final night out...

I was going to head down to a small town called Linköping the next day, to visit a friend of mine from my kibbutz, Mike, who said I was welcome to stay at his place for a few days... 

That last night in Stockholm was fun and we promised one another we'd see each other again, I invited them to come and visit me in Mexico after I'd get back home and Lola said... "I will" …(and he did visit Mexico a year later, more on that on future posts)…

Once again the next morning Lola and Viva went to work, although I did see them off this time as it was time for me to leave...

I said bye and thank you to Viva, such a sweet lady, and to Lola, my new friend... and they said Jan Erik was picking me up again to take me to the train station to see me off...
WHAT?!
Jan Erik took the morning off again to pick me up from Viva's house and took me to Stockholm Central station, mind you, we went by train, he had no car, just as many people in Sweden... Public transport is amazing...

He walked me to the platform where my train to  Linköping would depart from and I went on to get on the train, we hugged and said goodbye, and I said, thank you so much for everything and he said...
"No, no... thank you for spending some days with us"...
What?!... again I was speechless, I got on board and waved goodbye, 'vi ses' I said in Swedish...See you later...

That first visit to Stockholm was rather memorable, as it turned out to become something totally unexpected and, it marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship, not only with Lola but with his family and friends...

When I arrived in Linköping, after a quick 1 and half hour ride, my tall friend Mike was waiting for me at the station...
He was waving and said..."Hej, Hector!...Great to see you again!" Hej, Mike! I said, how's it going?!...
We walked over to his place not far from the train station and started catching up...and I found out he was about to go up north do his military service which he didn't want to do but had to...he was not too happy about it but...

We talked for hours about our time in Neve Eitan and had a few laughs while having a couple of beers...

I stayed for a couple of days with Mike...there really wasn't much to do there and It was a bit uncomfortable crashing on his couch in his small apartment, nonetheless it was great meeting up with him again...

After a couple of days, I headed down to Eslöv to visit 2 girls from my kibbutz as well, Marie and Lotta...
They had also invited me to stay there for a few days...

I spoke with them over the phone from Stockholm and they said they'd be waiting for me!
 
Marie went to pick me up at the train station and after we had lunch with her Mum, they drove me to Lotta's farm...which is where I ended up staying...

Lotta lived on a huge and beautiful farm and there was plenty of room... 
Marie said as we were driving up..."That's Lotta's family farm"...pointing ahead
WOW!!! I was blown away...What an awesome farm?!

So beautiful...something you'd only see in some postcards or something like that...

Lotta and her family were waiting for us and after all the introductions were made Lotta took me to the upstairs spare room and said...this is your room...hope you like it...
Like it?!
It was gorgeous...immaculate and I had no idea if I was dreaming or if that was real...

It was a room with an inclined ceiling, as the shape of the roof...
It had a small window at the end of it and there was a single bed in it with a really nice goose down duvet on top that looked so inviting..
Wow...pinch me! Am I dreaming?...

I spent a few days on the farm, helping out as well with some of the farming chores...that was so much fun...

Working on a Swedish farm was definitely not on my list of things to do but I loved it!
Lotta had a wonderful family and we got on really well...

Then Saturday night came about and they said there was going to be a huge party...
GAME ON!

So, that Saturday night we went to a farm nearby, and there were a few cars parked on the grass and there were a couple of open-air marquees and the music was blearing...

There were lots of people...I don't quite recall everything that took place there, but according to my diary, it was an amazing party and we danced all night...

What a way to wrap up my stay in Sweden!

I, evidently, had a great time staying my last days in Sweden with the girls in Eslöv and had a great break from the reality that still was hanging over me...

Soon I would have to get back to the Netherlands and continue waiting for my cash funds to come from Mexico...

Then Monday came about, it was time for me to leave...
The girls took me to the train station and we said goodbye.. once again...

I got on the train for another long ride overnight back to Amsterdam...this time I was not going to stay in Zaandam...
I was only going to make a quick stop there just to pick up my mail, hopefully with good news about my money...

Then I was going to travel down to a small town called Roosendaal to stay for a few days with a friend of my brother's...Dies Tolhoek...more about that on my next story...

'Hej då Sverige'...Goodbye Sweden...'det var lagom'...It was just what I needed...
'Jag kommer tillbaka, jag lovar'...I'll be back...I promise ​

Life in Zaandam, the Netherlands... (Reading time 7-8 minutes)
​Days of financial strife, patience and personal growth and...
A realization and declaration about my future...

After arriving in Zaandam and meeting up with Arthur a brand new chapter of my life was about to unravel...

Arthur and Inge, his sister, were extremely generous and offered me shelter while I was waiting for some funds to come from Mexico, we just had no idea how long that would take...

I guess I was expecting the money that was owed to me from my previous job in Mexico would come in at the beginning of July, so in my mind, and I guess also for Arthur and Inge, I'd be at their place for a week or two tops...I arrived there mid-June 1981...

We had no idea I'd be staying there much longer than expected...

Zaandam is a small city...It is actually like a suburb of Amsterdam, only 15 minutes north by train...

There isn't much to see or do there but many people live there and commute to Amsterdam where they may work, as rents are much lower there than in Amsterdam...

Nonetheless, Zaandam has its charms...and...it was the place where the very first McDonalds opened in Europe in 1971! (pictured above)

There are some beautiful Dutch Windmills and a couple of picturesque canals and parks...and not much more after that...

Arthur lived in an apartment, part of a housing complex...(pictured above)...and although they were quite small and simple apartments they were all kept extremely tidy and their grounds were well-kept as well...
It was humble living but in a really nice and friendly complex...

My time spent living in Zaandam was sincerely a trying time for me and also rather difficult for Arthur...

Reading over my diary I realize now that times were really tough financially and if it hadn't been for Arthur and Inge and some financial support from Mexico I would have had to fly back to Mexico halfway through my intended stay in Europe...that would have been the easiest thing to do, but... I wasn't going to give up so easily...

I've just read in my diary that by the time I reached Zaandam all I had left was $350 USD...
Not enough money to survive for long without a source of income...

I tried to keep my expenses to a minimum ...I only had to pay for my breakfast stuff, cereal, yoghurt and milk, and by reading my diary I realise that breakfast for me was practically lunch, as I used to get up a bit late every day, around 11 am or midday and...most evening meals were covered by Inge...she was so generous and kind with me...

I probably just wanted to make the days as short as possible and hoped that they went by quickly...I was truly killing time while waiting for some cash...

I did try, as intended, to get a couple of jobs, I tried to get a job working with the Tulips in the Greenhouses but there were no vacancies, I learned that normally they give those jobs to students while they are on school holidays...understandable...

I tried also for a couple of jobs that Arthur's brothers tried to help me with but to no avail...
It was sincerely hard going and I was demoralised and in all honesty, I wasn't job hunting with enough hunger to get anything...

I mostly slept, read a lot and wrote a lot...
I was constantly looking out for any mail from home and from anywhere else in the world...

I got letters mostly from Mum who wrote weekly, and sometimes more often...They were beautiful letters...

Even my Dad wrote me a letter all by himself while I was at Arthur's...
The only one I got from him on his own, rather than just a footnote at the end of my Mum's letters... According to my diary, he didn't say much but brought me up to speed with the possible cash I'd get from my previous employment...which at that stage was going to be delayed for another month or so...
It was quite a surprise getting a whole letter from him, that in itself, was like a thousand words!
​
I got letters from my sisters and brothers and from some of my friends back home and I would usually write them back right away...

Oh boy...all those letters kept me alive...

They were like food for my heart and soul and I'd crave them every day...I'd sometimes go through them again and again...
In some cases trying to read between the lines...

This line of communication with my parents allowed me to let them know, safely at a distance, that I would not continue with my studies any further when I'd get back to Mexico, instead, I was thinking of working for a bit and saving money again to continue travelling...

Those conversations by mail about my future were a bit tough to write and, I guess a bit difficult for them to read, as I think my parents were expecting me to follow the steps they had lined up for all their children...

'Go to school, go to Uni, get a degree, get a job, get married, have kids'...

Only after a few months overseas, I had realised there were other possibilities and paths that I could follow to live the life I wanted to live...and I wanted to pursue a new path...and somehow I would keep on travelling around the world...

So in a sense, I made a declaration about my future life right there and then...and in my own, hardly legible, handwriting...

I read quite a few books, I was practically reading constantly...a habit I picked up in my kibbutz, and all the books were in English...this new habit helped me expand my vocabulary in English...I remember I used to have a small English to Spanish dictionary handy when I was reading to be able to understand the books I was reading...

Most of my writing was obviously in Spanish and that kept me living with my first 2 languages on a daily basis...

Over the time that I stayed with Arthur, I visited a couple of beautiful places...
I went up north with Arthur to visit a couple of friends from our Kibbutz Jan and Harm, up in Workum Friesland...
They were living on a farm and had beautiful Holstein Friesians cows...the same kind we had in our Kibbutz!

We also went down to Vlissingen, to visit a couple also from our Kibbutz, Cobie and Joel...
Vlissingen is a huge port town in the Zeeland province...

Note: At that stage, I had no idea that New Zealand was named after this province.
Dutch cartographers named NZ after the Dutch maritime province of Zeeland. Located just northwest of the Belgian city of Antwerp, Zeeland is more than 17,700 km from New Zealand. To provide some perspective on that figure, the maximum distance between any two points on Earth is about 20,000 km, so New Zealand is practically as far as you can be from Zeeland without leaving Earth...

I also went to a magical fishing village nearby Amsterdam, called Volendam, this place is absolutely incredible and the moment you arrive you feel like you are walking into a fantasy land in Disneyland, all the tiny colourful wooden houses are so beautiful, and there are lots of people walking around and working and living there still dressed in their old costumes and wearing wooded clogs...

Living in Zaandam was getting harder...
Reading my diary I can see that we were both, Arthur and I, getting tired of each other's company and had had enough...

We had a long chat about it and we came to an understanding, once everything was out in the open he said...
"Glad we talked about it" with a big smile...and I said Yeah, me too... I apologized for overstaying my visit and said that as soon as I had a chance I'd make a move...and he said kindly...
"Don't you worry about that Hector, you can stay here as long as you need"...

We were more relaxed after that so we grabbed a couple of beers, rolled up a couple of 'Samson Tobacco' cigarettes and sat on the balcony to smoke and enjoy the moment, just like what we might've done back in the kibbutz...

Then, just as I was getting close to my last $50 USD, towards the end of July my brother Mario sent me a rescue cash booster...approx. $200 USD!!

Thank you so much Mario...thank you...

This cash boost helped me leave Zaandam and Arthur for a while and go up to Sweden to visit some friends from my Kibbutz and also a friend from Amsterdam...They all said I could stay at their places for a few days...

So at the beginning of August, I started preparing for that trip and once the funds that my brother sent me were cleared in my Dutch Bank account I was able to purchase my train ticket for a 21-hour journey up to Stockholm...

I had no idea what was going to happen up there and had no idea what would come out of that, all I knew was that I was set free to move again...at least for 15 days while the funds from my old job in Mexico came through...

On August the 14th, after 2 months in Zaandam, I took that train to Stockholm at 8 pm...

I jumped on board the '2nd class wagon' and stepped into a 6 passenger cabin, there were 2 guys already in there, so I asked...
Are these seats free?...pointing at the empty seats..."Yup", they said... "come on in make yourself at home"...

I put my backpack and hand luggage up on the luggage rack above the seats and sat down and said... Hi, I'm Hector...where are you guys from?

And they said..."We are from Sweden, I'm Lars Olof, you can call me Lola, and he is Mike", one of them said...and they asked me "and where are you from?"

I said...From Mexico... "Oh, buenas noches", Lola said in Spanish..."I studied a bit of Spanish in high school"...

Oh cool, I said! what else do you know in Spanish? and he went on to say...

"Alvaro Conqueiro es un Pescador, el vive en Barcelona"... and I was staring at him not knowing what to say... then he said that that was in one of the lessons he had to memorise back in school...We cracked up!!…that totally broke the ice...

After we finished laughing he said..."Want a beer?" ...
Sure thing ...he handed me one from his bag...and that was the beginning of an amazing friendship which at that stage I didn't know how it would evolve over the years...

After hours and hours on the overnight journey by train and ferry, we arrived in Stockholm...

And my first Swedish adventure would start from that moment onwards...

So good to be back on the move again...
"Tjena Stocholm"...Hello Stockholm (more on this on my next story)

A month working in London... (illegally)...

I was 20 years old back then and was ready to do whatever it took to push forward with my plan to be abroad for a year... and it was time for me to start taking things seriously...

After having spent half of my funds I was beginning to worry about how long my money would last in the real world...

My first 5 months of having a good time and living without any financial worries in a Kibbutz in Israel had come to an end and I was ready to start bringing in some cash to replenish my wallet.

I was quite fortunate to get a job right away in the Youth Hostel working in the kitchen...even though I had no working permit, and it also was 'cash in hand'... (Pictured below)

However, I had no idea how little the pay was...and, what the job entailed, all I can remember is that I was happy to have some form of income...

The job pay included my accommodation and free Breakfast and I made sure that after each breakfast I made myself a takeaway sandwich to eat for lunch.

The main purpose of my visit to London at that time was to restore not only my funds but my confidence that I could make it until the end of the year or thereabouts before my return airfare would expire in December...

I had just arrived in London and it was the middle of May...and I truly tightened up my belt quite a bit... my only expense was food...

Two of my meals were taken care of at the Hostel, so I was left with one more meal to have...and to tell the truth there weren't many practical or economical options and I remember that many times all I ate was a Big Mac at 'Maccas' by Victoria Train Station which was only a 20-minute walk from my Hostel.

I remember clearly that I even had to eat outside the restaurant to save a few Ps (pence)...
I would take my burger out and sit on a bench near the entrance...

I learned that in London if you wanted to eat inside a McDonalds you would have to pay some extra tax, and I also learned that if you wanted some extra ketchup for your burger or fries you had to pay extra!...
What!? Got to be kidding me...Welcome to the real world...

My job in the kitchen with the breakfast crew was rather easy, all I had to do was get the breakfast stuff ready for all the guests staying at the Hostel. It was a continental breakfast so...that meant boiling lots of eggs and placing fresh bread on trays and jams and marmalades.
Then of course clearing and cleaning tables and doing the dishes...It was only a couple of us working that shift.

It was an easy job though quite boring and it paid very little...only about 40 British pounds a week!
Which at that time was around $70- $80 USD... 

I was practically working 6 hours a day, from 6 am to 12 pm roughly, 6 days a week...
My plan was to save $400 in one month and that type of income didn't quite help me reach my target, but it was enough to keep me going.

My daily expense was literally the one Big Mac or sandwich I bought each day for dinner...which was around 1 pound a day...approx. $2 USD

Every day after finishing work I'd take a 'sightseeing walk'...
I walked everywhere, most of my walking area was around the beautiful Chelsea and South Kensington area and also around Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park a few times...so pretty...and then when it was around 6 pm I'd go to get my burger for dinner and then it'd be time to go back to the Youth Hostel to chill for a while...

There was a common room where there was a TV and where you could play cards or backgammon...there were always many backpackers to meet from everywhere staying there for a few nights and then heading off in different directions. 

Later on, at night some of the guys would play some good music to dance and it was a great night just about every night!

They used to play a lot of Reggae music, which to me was rather new, I'd never heard that music in Mexico and only heard a bit while I was in my kibbutz but at this Hostel, they were really into it!

So I learned about Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and other bands and they also played music by UB40 and Dire Straits...pretty cool stuff...and at the end, I really got into that music too!

During that stay in London, I walked and walked...
I hardly ever took any public transportation to get around, it was a bit costly and an unnecessary expense if I could walk, however, I remember that I had to take 'THE TUBE'  a couple of times.

They charge you by the number of stops you travel to...a totally new concept for me, as in Mexico you just buy one inexpensive ticket and you can go anywhere you want for the same fare...

However, I must admit that the first time I got on the 'Tube' I was was quite impressed after I got on board...

I looked around at the benches along the sides, they were upholstered in velvet or something like that...Wow...velvet seats?! ...and it was super clean so I said...Well, at least I'm travelling in some kind of luxury...

Up until then, I'd only been on one underground train/metro and that was in Mexico City... a bit different in many ways.

The Trains in Mexico have a normal train shape, sort of rectangular and run on rubber tires quietly...

'The Tube', is the nickname for the Metropolitan Underground in London, has a unique shape. The trains have a curved top, sort of tubular, and the tunnels they run through are tubular too... I guess that's why they call it 'The Tube'. (Pictured above)

If you are rather tall you must stand in the middle of the car otherwise the door can chop your head off when they close...not that they would, but you get the point.

The trains run on metallic wheels which makes them a bit noisy but not too much.
The underground system in London is much older than the one in Mexico and it is huge...I believe it is the first underground system in the world dating back to 1860...
I wish I'd been able to use it more but walking was cheaper.

I think that on a daily basis I walked around for over 2 - 4 hours, maybe around 10k or more...

During my walks, I went to see the unmissable 'Changing the Guard' at Buckingham Palace, a striking display of British pageantry when the New Guard takes over from the Old Guard... (watch a short video here)

Honestly, it was all I imagined it to be and it was indeed quite impressive, however, my financial worries were rather heavy and I don't think I fully enjoyed the whole thing that much at that time...

All I truly wanted from that month in London was to get the most out of it as I could, moneywise, and then go back to the Netherlands.

Since I left Israel I had been in communication by post with my ex-roommate from my Kibbutz, Arthur. In one of his letters, he said that I should go over to see him in the Netherlands and that I would have a place to stay for as long as I wanted...
WOW! He was indeed a very kind person...

Some people in the Youth Hostel suggested I'd go to the Netherlands to work with the Tulips, it was nearly harvest season and they normally need a lot of people, so I started planning towards that...It sounded like a good idea...

So at the end of my short and rather uneventful stay in London, I headed back to the Netherlands...

I don't remember very well my crossing back over the English Channel but I must've done the same I did to go to London and used the same route through Harwich by bus and ferry onto Hoek van Holland, I was in such a hurry to get to the Netherlands that all that trip is a complete blur...

After arriving in Amsterdam I went up by train to a small town just a few minutes away called Zaandam, that's where Arthur lived...

I do remember that very well...

He went to pick me up at the train station and it was a great feeling seeing my dear roommate again...especially because he was about to give me shelter when I needed it...

We had spent 3 months or so living together in the kibbutz and it had been nearly a couple of months since I saw him last...

I remember seeing him at the station...
Hey Arthur! I said all smiles...and he said...
"Hey Hector, Welcome to the Netherlands, how was your trip?" he was smiling too so that made me feel so much better...

'There's nothing like a friendly smiling face at times of need'...

"It's good to see you," he said... Yeah, it's good to see you too! Thank you for coming to pick me up, I said...
"No problem, I don't have a car but my place is not far from here, we can walk there, you ok to walk?" 
Sure thing, I said...I was only carrying my backpack and he took my hand luggage... and we headed off to his place walking through the friendly streets of Zaandam.

He was staying with his sister at her apartment and he said his sister was ok with my staying there for as long as I needed, so generous indeed. They sort of knew my financial situation so that was very kind indeed.

We walked and talked for a good 20 minutes to his apartment building and we went up to the 12th floor in a small elevator...

Inge, his sister, was waiting for us and said...
"Welcome welcome!! Please make yourself at home"...

It was a small but cute 2 bedroom apartment with 1 bathroom, 1 separate toilet, 1 mini kitchen and 1 small living/dining room with not much furniture apart from a sofa and a coffee table and a couple of ottomans ...there was also a small TV and a sound system to play records and cassette tapes and... Arthur's beautiful guitar sat there too...

Arthur and Inge took the bedrooms and they said I could take the sofa to sleep in...
I actually took the sofa cushions off of the sofa and laid them on the floor to have more room when lying down... and put a sheet over them, they gave me a pillow and I used my sleeping bag to sleep in...it was, in a way, quite comfortable...

It was a warm apartment and it was kept very neatly...
I truly was very grateful for their letting me stay there, absolutely free of charge, it was a time to grow and learn and to be patient …(more on this on my next post)

Thank you, Arthur and Inge...
You did more than give me a place to stay...
Heel erg bedankt, Thank you so much...

Hello Amsterdam!...
After spending around 4 months in Israel and a few days in Egypt I headed back to Europe...

First I had to make a quick 2 day stop in Athens as I had a return ticket from Israel...
I didn't do much in Athens this time, I was just there to find my way north and I heard there were great deals on airfares to Amsterdam, so I went looking for one... in those days you couldn't shop around on the internet...you had to physically walk into several travel agents to get different quotes...and eventually I got a good one!

After 2 days in the same Athens hostel where I stayed my first time, I was ready to fly north...

We landed in the famous Schiphol Airport, which was exciting in itself as I wanted to see that Airport which has a famous taxiway for planes that cross over the highway over the cars passing by!
I remember seeing a poster of that before I left Mexico and I wanted to see it with my own eyes...

I thought I was going to be questioned again for a while at passport control as I was in London but the Dutch were friendlier and gave me no trouble on arrival...

I headed towards the city centre by train...and what a train!
I was so impressed by the beautiful yellow trains in the Netherlands.
This was actually the very first European train I'd ever been on...so cool.

It was just a quick 15-20 minute ride to the 'Central Station' in Amsterdam and the YHA Youth Hostel was a fairly short walk from there.

That Youth Hostel was the perfect location...
It was within walking distance of the 3 major sites that I wanted to visit; The Rijksmuseum (The National Museum), the Van Gogh Museum and the Heineken original brewery in Amsterdam's city centre.​

Amsterdam is a beautiful city and I fell in love with it from the moment I set foot on it...
It is an extremely charming and picturesque city and there is something about it and you just can't help but fall in love with it...

​Maybe it is its old narrow houses or its canals or the 'pedestrians only' streets or its trams or its amazing cycle-paths or the flower vendors at every train station...

It is hard to pinpoint what makes Amsterdam one of the most likeable cities in the world...

Here are a few things that stood out for me from this wonderful city...
1- Its charming houses...Absolutely adorable...it is like a toy city...
2- Everyone's on bicycles! ...Yes, rain or shine they get on their bikes to go places. I saw hundreds of people travelling by bicycle, umbrellas in hand if need be, and kids in a child-seat at the back or front of their bikes and only riding on their 'purpose built' cycle-paths and with no helmets!
They signal with their hands if they are going to turn and they stop at their own tiny 'bike traffic lights'...very orderly...
I had never seen anything like that in my life! 

Note: They actually built the 'cycle-path' infrastructure back in the early 70s if I'm not mistaken, due to their transport situation at that time... (something that just recently Auckland City, and other cities around NZ have been working on, probably there hasn't been a real need for that in NZ as it was in the 70s in the Netherlands...) Currently, there are more bikes in the Netherlands than people!

3- Their electric trams... They are just what one needs to move you around the city (if you don't have a bike)...
What?...They are not free?...
For a couple of days, I thought they were free as you can get on board through any of their 4 doors and no one ever charged me until I realised I should've bought a ticket at the ticket station or newsstand and put it in the machine at the door, I honestly had no idea, the system relies on people's honesty to buy their tickets and there may be an occasional inspector that may get on to check, but never saw one....
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4- Dutch Fries...There's something about their potato chips (Friet/Patat)... so delicious, and they eat them primarily with mayonnaise! 

5- The beautiful canals...I didn't know about the existence of so many canals in any city apart from Venice, Amsterdam has approx. 160 canals covering 100km. No matter where you are walking around the city you are bound to walk by or over some of the 1,500 bridges!

6- Heineken Beer... Amsterdam is the home of the Dutch most famous beer, although there are many other brands. I was lucky to be able to visit the original brewery in Amsterdam when it was still operating as a brewery, it is now only a tourist attraction. I was able to learn about the entire brewing process and then have a beer right there and, of course, buy myself a classic 'Heineken beer t-shirt'...
(Want to learn more about Heineken beer? visit their website here)

7- The Rijksmuseum.... The National Museum in Amsterdam was the very first museum I visited in Europe.
Absolutely amazing! I was blown away by Rembrandt's paintings and had the chance to look closely at the famous 'Night Watch' (pictured below)...
*You can learn more about this extraordinary painting in an amazing online show right now, view the 'Night Watch' Experience here) 

8- The Van Gogh museum... Wow, his artwork is highly renown around the world for many reasons and you simply can't help but be amazed by his works...
(*Learn more about Vincent Van Gogh here)

Frankly speaking, I had never been that interested in artistic paintings or works of art of any form before I left Mexico. I may have liked and been into music to some degree and I may have taken the "Arts workshop" in high school where I drew with pencils and charcoal and painted a couple of pastels and an oil painting...but never really was into it, per se...

I truly wished I had read or learnt something about Rembrandt and his paintings before walking in at the Rijksmuseum and, the same goes for the Van Gogh Museum... I felt a little bit lost during my visit...
TIP: Do take the time to learn more about them through the above links, I wished I'd known all that about them then...

I truly had no idea how to behave inside a museum...
I was simply looking at the paintings and walking around slowly like everyone else, pretending to know what I was doing but I sincerely was faking it...a bit embarrassing but...I figured many people in the museum were feeling the same way too...

Prior to these museums in Amsterdam and the National Museum in Cairo, the only times I had been to a museum had been when I was a kid in a 'school excursion' to a museum in Mexico, which, in retrospect,  may have been a good idea to pay attention at what we were looking at, but I was a kid doing something that was imposed on us as part of our schooling curriculum and they made us take notes and do homework about it, which made the whole experience a boring chore, tedious, and a complete nightmare...thus I never went to any museums after leaving school in Mexico...that is, until I arrived in Europe... then things started to change...

Right at that point of internalised self-embarrassment at the Rijksmuseum, I was somehow, ready to grow and build up my cultural knowledge....

I remember walking around the enormous Rijksmuseum and walking slowly and getting close to some groups which had a guided tour and I would get close to listen in for free, yes it was a bit sneaky but it was an inexpensive way of getting to learn about the things I was looking at and the groups never seemed to mind my tagging along...you have to do this kind of things when you are on a tight budget...

I did the same at the Van Gogh Museum...
I remember hearing in one of the guided tours that I got close to about his cutting off part of his ear!
What!? He cut off his ear?
That somehow made me look at his paintings more intently...
Isn't it weird the things that catch our attention?...

After my first 2 days in Amsterdam and a total induction into real art and museums, I had to have a break and that's when I went to check out the amazing Heineken Brewery and have a 'cold one', as they say...

The whole tour was actually quite interesting...
It was also interesting to learn, for the first time, that there are several kinds of beer... 
Up until then I only knew...Beer!

The Dutch are also quite proud of their beer and they are quite specific about how they must be poured and served at a PUB... It is a bit different to the UK...

It must be cold, unlike the British who like it at cellar temperature, and it must have a head (that is the frothy foam on top of beer after pouring, the perfect beer is considered to have a two-fingers thick foam layer, according to the Dutch) The brits don't really fancy any head on their beer...unless it is, Guinness.
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After ending my cultural tour I spent one more day in Amsterdam admiring the city, walking around its busy 'pedestrians only' streets. I had some delicious 'Dutch Frites', their extremely popular potato chips, traditionally served in an ingenious cardboard cone contraption, smothered in 'mayo' (Mayonnaise or Fritessaus ), and also stopped to listen to several street performers... and then... it was time to move on...

I was beginning to worry a bit about my financial situation...

I left Mexico with $2,000 USD thinking it was a substantial amount of money, but I had really no idea how much everything was going to cost overseas, I truly was so naïve about that and I had the intention to be abroad for a year or so... and so far up until that moment, I had been spending money, carefully and as strictly as I could....but nonetheless, I had spent some of my funds mostly on travel expenses on buses and planes in Europe, and trains and limo-taxis in the Middle East... and according to my notes on my diary, I was left with about half of my funds and I needed to get some money back in, otherwise I'd have to head back home soon and that was not the plan...
So far I'd been away from Mexico for nearly 5 months, it was now the beginning of May 1981...

I decided then that I would go to London and try to find a job, something that would pay 'cash in hand' and that might take me in not having a working permit...

I was also hoping to get some money that was owed to me from my previous employment in Mexico, I was expecting around $500 USD.... so according to my diary notes, I was fairly confident that if that money arrived and if I could get a job in London for a few weeks I could recoup my capital to my original $2,000 USD by June...
That did not quite happen...however, I managed with some help... more on that in my next story...

Meanwhile, it was time to head back to the UK...
So I took a bus to London, this bus went down to the port of  'Hoek van Holland' where we boarded a ferry across to Harwich, a 6-7 hour overnight nightmarish ride across the 'English Channel'.

It was raining heavily and the sea was so choppy...
We had huge swells and I could feel the boat going up and down the massive swells and could hear the splashing of the waves....It was simply quite a nasty ride!

I remember clearly I was trying to immerse myself in my music, I had my 'Sony Walkman' playing my music and I had the volume at its loudest...primarily trying not to hear the splashing but also trying not to hear the people that were making all kind of scared exclamations.

I remember a girl sitting next to me saying..."Oh my god... I'm going to puke!! ... oh, my god, I'm feeling so sick"...
And I was telling her...Enough already! Just hearing you I want to puke too...If you need to do it go to the loo and go for it....a bit rough but I just wanted to stop listening to her, even over my loud music!!
She left and never saw her again, thank goodness...

Anyway, after a few hours of that, we arrived at Harwich, and I was not quite ready to face the passport control people, dreading again that I was going to be questioned again for hours and I wasn't feeling up to it but... not this time...It was very early in the morning and probably because I had previously been given a 6-month visa they stamped my passport with a 'ONE MONTH' visitor visa (I've just checked that stamp in my very first passport).

After that, we got back on the bus and headed towards London...
Once we arrived at the bus terminal in central London I headed back to the first Youth Hostel I had stayed at in Chelsea...
It was like coming back home...I'd been there before so I knew my way around...

Then I saw a sign on the notice board...
'Kitchenhand Wanted' for the morning shift...

So I asked the guys at the reception...Hey, can I apply for that job?
"Sure", they said....When can you start?...Tomorrow, I said...
"Deal! please show up at the kitchen at 6 am" they said...
They didn't ask me any more questions...so...I took it!...
Lucky me...
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Well well well, Hello London!!
It's good to see you again...cup of tea?