Amsterdam (first visit)

Sunday, June 3rd, 1990 10:05am

We left Copenhagen, and traveled all day arriving in Amsterdam at 11:15pm at night. We took a ferry that cruised the Øresund strait, which connects the Baltic sea to the North sea.

Photograph by: Håkan Dahlström

When we arrived in Amsterdam, we couldn't find a place to sleep for over an hour and half, but then "D" (Danny) hooked us up with a "nice" pad for free! Tonight was SO much fun! Hard Rock Cafe was so fricking cool! Cool music, cool people, cool sights! The bartenders were so cool and friendly. We brought along a Neville Brothers cassette tape from Tipitina's into Q's club ( I happened to have it on me in my jacket). They played it over the sickest sound system, and we were lovin' the fact that we brought a piece of New Orleans to Amsterdam and the whole bar was jamming to our cassette. Classic! This town has sooo much to see and we'll spend a bout 4 days here.

HDR photo by Trey Ratcliff, Stuck In Customs


Public transportation is free. Monorail-like trollys are free and very efficient and reliable. Outdoor cafes were everywere, but there seedy side was plain to see everywhere - this town is also pretty lewd.

HDR photo by Trey Ratcliff, Stuck In Customs



June 4th, 1990 2:25am

We went into the red light district tonight after dinner. At first witnessing what was on the streets and in the windows was an extreme shock. It's as low as low can go. Nothing classy about it, but luring at the same time because of the mystery of that way of life. Chicks stand in windows with red lights glowing around the frame - they were actually "for sale" - it was the most realistic "window shopping" experience ever. Prostitution is legal, sex to them is a business.

June 5th, 1990 1:35pm

Time has no boundaries in this town. Today seemed to be the longest day. We went to Anne Frank's house where she and her family hid from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Very moving. It's amazing and utterly insane to grasp the magnitude of 6 millions Jews were hunted and killed because they've been scapegoats through the ages. Hitler believed in Fascism and one supreme race where all other races are "subordinate" to them. I'm really glad I went - it was an eye-opening experience and affected me pretty deeply. Later that afternoon, we "coffeehoused" and went back to the Red Light District hwere my friends had to "take care of business." Late night, we hung ate at an outdoor cafe on the water, then wondered back into the Hard Rock, watched some killer old school reggae on the tv screens - so chill, comfy and cool.

Wed June 6th, 1990

What a DAY!!! At 9am this morning we got tickets to the Van Gough Museum! It was SOOOO GOOD! Since he is my absolute favorite artist and I've loved him for so long, I finally got to see his actual works. This exhibit was the premiere collection of the largest body of his work ever assembled for the 100th anniversary of his death. The collection was fabulous, extremely fulfilling. It was the first time I had experienced an audio guide and the narrator had a deep baritone soothing voice that took you on a journey through his life. Letters b/c Van Gough and his brother Theo were read and associated to the paintings in front of my eyes. It was probably the best museum exprience I had in my short museum-going life.





Everyone rides bikes here. Bikes are everywhere!

HDR photo by Trey Ratcliff, Stuck In Customs



Later, we went to the Stedlijk museum of Modern Art. It was great too, but nothing liek the Van Gough experience. Next we went to the Heinekin Brewery! The best part of the tour was drinking the freshest Heinekin at a precisely crispy 45 degrees, mmmmmmmm. We continued to tour the colorful town for our last night in the city. It was bittersweet to leave, and I enjoyed every minute here, but we were just beginning our trip and PARIS WAS NEXT!

Here's a snapshot of me as we were leaving for the train station. Amsterdam was a "colorful" town, in more ways than one, he he.

Europe Summer Tour 1990 - Copenhagan Journal Entry

The summer after graduating from Tulane in 1990, I left the country for my first tour of Europe. Traveling with a few of my good buddies from school - Alan, Danny, Marc, & Steve, and we mapped out a whirlwind 7 week back-packing adventure through all the countries in Europe. Keep in mind there were no cellphones or internet, they were not invented yet. Just something to keep in mind while you read along. I had written in a journal almost every night and took many snapshots along the way. I was 21 at the time, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed (literally, see below) and soaked up every second of the journey. I loved writing, and was a very adjective-heavy expressionist wordsmith at the time. I want to note here that the trip will always be clear in my memory - and as one of the most vivid trips I've taken at that time in my life - I wanted some of the images to reflect that wonder. So with that in mind, I am honored to be able to reference (and link back to) many of Trey Ratcliff and Klaus Herrman's HDR photographs to illuminate my journal. They create stunning visual magic with HDR imagery. By adding my snapshots from 1990 alongside their masterpieces, you'll be able to sense the contrast of then/now and esepcially how far technology has pushed the boundaries of what you can do with photography.

Packing for the journey (this was probably the longest my hair was in my entire life - can anyone say Kajagoogoo?):



After a long flight from Miami to JFK to Copenhagen, this is my first entry from my hand-written journal. I plan to recreate the trip in a multimedia format here on my blog since this is the best medium to bring all the memories together to share. I'm doing this first for myself, so I can relive that incredible 7 weeks again and again, 2nd it's for my kids so I can share bedtime adventure stories with them about the world over yonder. However, if you have found yourself on this page and have read this far, I hope you enjoy the journey...

June 2nd, 1990 Copenhagen, Denmark

It's 9:30pm in Copenhagen and it's still very light outside. Lst night we met some cool Copenhagan guys. They were unusually friendly. We were drinking beer at their place in the city till about 11p and it was still light outside! The beer is room temperature, they don't really refrigerate beer in the Northern Europe countries I'm told. Today was the coolest yet, even though this is only our 2nd day. Here's the flavor of what Copenhagen looks like.

We went to the Fredrickberg Castle in the Hilleryod. It was the first spectacular architectural wonder of the trip. Magnificent artifacts from the 1500's. Denmark Royalty. The gardens were also incredible. What a way to kick-off the trip. What I noticed immediately about this trip is the fresh northern European air. It has a cool, damp scents and the smell of lush greenery. Here in Denmark, it has a very old-world, Lord of the Rings kind of feeling. Fog is pervasive in the morning and there are a number of park and woods.

Another thing I noticed about this area of the world is the attention to detail in interior design - especially lighting. The use of materials and color, have a very modern-art approach. There are dozens of interior design and lighting stores throughout Copenhagen.
Photo by René Eriksen