Home > On Tour > Jungle Adventures > The Europe Tour 2000-2001 > Den Haag, The Netherlands
	Den Haag, The Netherlands Paris, France <<<   Den Bosch, The Netherlands >>>   We left Paris bound for Den Haag on a bus with possibly the smallest space between seats that was physically possible. Now, I am not a tall guy, but even I could not sit straight in the seat because my knees dug into the seat in front of me. I had to sit slightly sideways. I imagine that the taller people had to sit straight sideways! Anyway, we were told the trip would last 8 hours. I had made this trip before two years ago and was told the same thing, and the trip was less than 6 hours. Well this time it was less than 5. A big relief over 8 hours!! Either way, I knew that once we got there, I only had a small amount of time before load-in began again! This loadin was the worst to date. It just started horribly and went downhill from there. Our main skater local was out again, so that slowed us down a great deal as all his activities needed to be covered, and no one really knew what he did! Also, not having a forklift meant that lights couldn't be unstacked. And lazy locals didn't help much either. By the time we had worked 6 hours (at which point the grid should be off the ground and moving lights hung and tested), we just got off the ground. By the time this day was over, I was questioning my sanity! So I went home, and got a little sleep before continuing the next day. The next day went just as badly as the day before. Even though we started at 10am, we barely made it in time for the show at 7pm (or maybe it was 8pm). This meant that our loadin had lasted 15 hours, rather than the usual 10-12. At the end of the show, I hightailed it out of there and went home! The next two days, Saturday and Sunday were 3 and 2 shows days, so nothing much happened worth talking about. I'm not quite sure why, but Sunday night I was in a really bad mood, but a phone call from a friend cheered me up and made me smile for a while. Monday, I decided to go to check out Amsterdam with Renee. When I met her in the lobby I found that another guy named Ariel would be joining us, along with a crew guy named Tim. Going with Ariel was fine with me. I can't say the same for our other companion, just a little too much grating on my nerves there!! So we got to Amsterdam around 1pm and immediately started shopping around in a bunch of little shops (that's just what we do usually). Well, our one companion did not want to stop and look, he was determined to get to a coffeeshop and smoke up. I didn't say it, but I was thinking, "You have feet, go right the hell ahead. Don't rush us!!" We were (at least I was) having a good time and didn't like being rushed out of the shops in pursuit of weed. Our next stop in Amsterdam was the Sex Museum. And that's what it is, a museum about sex...in every way shape and form you could ever imagine...from normal 1930's posed nudes to amazon chicks in full body leather pissing on their partner as they suck off a dog. It was truly a sight to see. From there we did a bit more shopping around before giving in to the request to stop at a coffeeshop for a toke. Of the four of us, only one smoked, so the rest of us just sat there and waited. After that we went in search of food (hey, contact highs make one hungry!). We found a really good Italian restaurant and chomped down on some delicious food. After that, it was a trip into the red light district...the REAL part of Amsterdam. We walked around for quite a while looking in the various windows at the hookers and checking out the deals on the live shows. Seeing one of these shows is just something you have to do while you're here! Well, we ran in to no one else but our company manager and his girlfriend going into one, and decided to join them. Inside, we saw a few more people from the show, so it was kind of like a little party. Now, these sex shows are really just nothing more than a laugh. If anyone even gets remotely turned on by these things, then they have some problems. The shows consist of several acts which just run back to back all night long. They go from just straight sex on stage to really bizarre acts using fruit and other paraphernalia. However, the poeple who do them are just gross, and since they do this multiple times a night every night, it's like nothing to them. So it's not like a porno where people have sex and are bouncing around and screaming and whatever. No, these poeple look like they are planning dinner for the family throughout the act...no expression or noise at all (except for the incessant Enigma music). At various points, they drag audience members onto the stage to help with the act, such as holding any of the various objects of affection or eating the banana (use your imagination). While one of our group did get dragged up, I made damn sure I was not (been there, done that 2 years ago...NOT again!!!). After the show, we walked around a bit more before heading back to the train station to go home. On the way to the train station, however, we spotted a really happening bar called Babes and Beers or something to that effect. It kind of resembled a Hooters on heroine. They played loud dance music, and many of the wiatresses (dressed in tight red leathery bras and short skirts) were dancing on tables. Here we settled in for a few drinks, and the two other guys in our group went for some body shots. Not wanting to pay $18 for a shot, I backed out. But after I saw how THESE body shots worked, I thought twice (but still didn't do it). If you don't know what a body shot is, here is the normal description: a person (normally a member of the opposite sex), puts salt or sugar (depending on the shot) on their neck, and a lemon or lime in their mouth, and I think you just drink the shot, although the alternative is for a girl to hold it between her breasts. Here, they smeared the salt all over their breasts (they were still wearng their bras..not QUITE as bad as it sounds), tucked the shot neatly in the cleavage, and had the lime ready in their mouths. So the guys licked thier breasts for a while to get the salt, pulled the shot right out of the cleavage, then sucked the lime out of their mouths...for a long time! And damn, those girls were fine! When they finally closed we got on the train and headed back home, with conversations covering the gamut of relationships and other personal relations (the leader of these conversations was a bit tipsy). By the time we got home, I was exhausted and went straight to bed! Tuesday and Wednesday were both show days, and I worked most of each day. Wednesday night, we had our first crew party in a long time. In order to keep with something we were familiar with, we had our party at a nearby Applebees. I got the rib and chicken platter and a starter of wings, and I must say, "Yummy!" It's been a while since I've had some real wings! When I got home from the party I decided to stop in the hotel bar to see who was around. There were a few people in there, so istopped in for a little chat. And from there it was back to bed! Thursday was a day off and busy day at that! Since I had not yet done any Christmas shopping, and Christmas was right around the corner, I figured I had better get a move on! Renee called me early and we headed into town to do some shopping. As son as we got there, we split up and did our own thing for a while. We are playing a game at work called Secret Santa, where everyone draws a name and buys some gifts for that person, never letting on who they are. I drew a girl with endless possibilities, since she has plenty of bad habits to satisfy and a funky wardrobe and attitude. I'm SO glad I didn't draw some guy with no personality or interests, like one of my friends did. So I walked around town for a while and found the perfect shop for my giftee, called Funkie House. Really crazy clothes and other paraphernalia. I couldn't decide exactly what to get, although I had a few choices picked out. So when Renee and I met back up, I dragged her there to help me decide, and we picked out a great combo of shirt and hat. For the rest of the day until well into the evening, we wandered around looking in half the stores in the downtown. The hardest thing to find was Christmas wrapping paper!! We ended up just getting some neautral paper suitable for anything from Christmas to death of a pet. By the time we got home, we were each exhausted and I went to bed early! On Friday, I woke up early in the afternoon and decided I would head to the beach nearby. I was here two years ago, and it was the last day in this city before i even realized the city was on the ocean and that there was a beach! The beach was beautiful, albeit a bit cold, so no one was there! On my way back I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few things to get me through the last few days. Since I had to wrap all the presents from the day before, I went into work quite early because all my wrapping stuff was in my crate. And what did I find when I got there? A huge stash of goodies from MY secret santa! Woo-hoo! I started munching chocolates right away! Friday night didn't bring much in the way of excitement. I don't even remember it! Saturday was a three show day, and Sunday followed with two shows. But what happens Sunday? Snow. BIG snow. No not like a lot of snow, but BIG flakes. It looked like kleenexes falling from the sky, they were so big. Sunday night was our Christmas dinner, and I must say it was amazing. They brought out a turkey that was as big as a small refridgerator. It was huge. The leg along looked like a whiffle-ball bat! I sat at a table with a good group of people, so we were able to enjoy ourselves all night. When the party was over, I went to a party in the room of a girl who had gotten a gigantic bottle of Heineken from her secret santa. We all split up the bottle and had a grand time. After a little while, I had to make a phone call, so I left. Monday, Christmas Day, brought two shows. You would think that no one would be at a morning show on Christmas Day, but think again. That show and the afternoon one were completely sold out. Not a seat remaining anywhere! Monday night was a bit strange, but I'm not going into details. Tuesday was our final day in Den Haag, and was another two show day with a loadout. I had hoped that loadout would be a bit better than loadin. Nope. It was slow and miserable, and the locals were of very little help. After giving up on them, we finally finished loading the trucks pretty much on our own. And 6 1/2 hours later we were done. Blah. When I got back to the hotel at 5am, it ws too late for me to travel to Den Bosch with the rest of the crew, because I had to be in Amsterdam at 9am to pick up Kandice. So I got the hotel to give me a room for a few hours so I could take a shower and just chill out and watch TV until 7am. When that time rolled around I headed to the train station and boarded a train to the Amsterdam airport. Well, I don't know what happened, but the train did not stop at the Amsterdam airport, unless I somehow slept through that stop, but I don't think so! So I ended up at Amsterdam Central station, and had to turn around and catch another train back to the airport. By the time I got there, her plane was landing. Just in time! Knowing it would be a while before Kandice cleared immigration and made it out, I beelined for the florist and bought her a nice bouquet of tulips and other assorted flowers. She finally showed up at the door, and my face glowed. I gave her a big hug then we proceeded to find a way back to Den Bosch. While at the train ticket counter, I ran into a friend of mine from the show picking up her fiancee, so that was kinda cool. After a call home to say she was safe, Kandice and I boarded our train to Den Bosch, The Netherlands.