Five Hours in Amsterdam

“Would you like to join us for karaoke?” the young woman standing nearby asked me. As I looked at the list of available songs (all of which were in Dutch), there was one that caught my eye: “Tulpen uit Amsterdam”. With a slight twinkle in my eye, I looked at her and said, “I’ll give it a try”.

What I later found out was that she didn’t know there was an English-language version of the song, which I knew almost by heart thanks to a fondly remembered episode of “The Goodies”. What she also didn’t know was that I had some previous experience singing karaoke in Dutch. As I’ve blogged previously, back in 2008…

In a bar that comprised only two Dutch bartenders, two Dutch customers, five Spanish customers, and one Australian, it was time for a karaoke sing-along (in Dutch). As it turns out, it was the final night of residency at the bar for Jason and Kylie, and we were encouraged to sing them a farewell serenade.

The words (in Dutch) appeared on the television screen, and without even thinking twice, we all burst into song. I can’t begin to imagine how hilarious it must have been for the locals to watch the Spanish guys and the Australian bloke sing along to a Dutch-language pop song. “I’m singing in Dutch”, I kept thinking to myself in between moments of laughter. So funny.

My attempt at singing “Tulpen uit Amsterdam” in the original Dutch resulted in a combination of laughter and admiration. “You didn’t know many of the words, but you knew the tune”, one of the group said to me. That’s when I told her about the English-language version. “You should sing it in English for us too”, she said.

With just five hours in Amsterdam as I waited for my overnight train to Copenhagen, I decided a visit to “Amstel 54” was how I would best pass the time. Having considered the tourist options of a canal cruise or a visit to a gallery or museum, I decided it would be more fun to hang out with some locals.

So I grabbed a map and made my way to a bar I fondly remembered from my last time in Amsterdam. It’s a predominantly gay bar that plays a great combination of pop music and where I remembered a friendly vibe towards travellers.

The bar staff may have changed since 2008, but the friendly vibe was still there. I chatted with a staff member briefly before his shift. He had observed that a woman sitting in the corner (along with a male friend, probably her partner) was doing a line drawing of the scene outside. “She’s a good artist”, I said. “And she’s got a great rack”, he responded with a smile. “As two gay men, we can be objective about these things”, he added.

And then there was an Australian guy in his early 30s whom I also chatted with for a while. With that distinctive accent we all know without resorting to cliché, I’d overheard him telling the barman he was travelling independently for a month, revisiting some of the places he had been to while backpacking ten years earlier. He was a nice guy who told me he was originally from Adelaide, but now lives in Darwin. Within a few minutes of chatting, I quickly realised he didn’t know he was in a gay bar—or at least, not until the main group left later in the afternoon.

The main group was there for the 39th birthday of a lovely woman called Amanda. When she and her friends began packing their bags, I wished her a happy birthday and thanked them for inviting me into their group. They all responded kindly with a hug and a wish for safe travels.

Minutes later, it was time for me to leave. With the departure of the main group and my own departure shortly afterwards, I wondered how long it would be before the bloke from Darwin realised he had stumbled into one of the most fantastic gay bars in the world.