European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 9, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Painted wooden shoes sit on a display shelf at Ratterman. A craftsman makes wooden shoes at Ratterman in Amstelveen a suburb of Amsterdam. Flip Tuinder a Diamond polisher at the hats Huissen Stoltie Diamond exhibition shop examines his work with a magnifying Glass. Classes Are displayed at the Flea Market in Waterloo Plein continued from Page 4 consider your Humble representative s three non hotel meals As evidence. Meal no. 1 was falafel a Middle Eastern vegetable snack served by an authentic jordanian. But he had a reggae music tape playing incongruously in the background its beat dovetailing with the sound of the bicycle Bells outside on dam Straat. Meal two Chicken Curry. You can get this Indian fare at Quot duty Nelly a Quot a robust Irish pub at Warmoes Straat 115-117. An earthy looking female Patron was asked Why does t anybody in this town eat dutch food Quot dutch food stinks Quot she said. The third meal was a big chinese style egg Roll served by an egyptian. As the egg Roll arrived piping hot a Swarthy skinned Man shuffled in from the petting rain. He held up two 10-Rupee notes from India. He Nad found them on the Street soaking wet and stained with what looked like blood. He sniffed at the stains and wondered aloud to himself where the Money came from. Then the egyptian counter clerk berated him a in English a for acting offensively in front of the rest of the clientele. Returning to dam Square following an afternoon of trinket Hunting bicycle dodging and dog dropping sidestepping Many Enjo yers found themselves confronting a Large wailing Krishna chorus next to the National Monument in nearby Kalwer Straat a plague of White faced mimes annoyed passers by. A Small time sidewalk Vendor threw big Sticky imitation Black spiders against a Wall. They went splat and then started to descend the Wall creepily end Over end. In a nearby Street a poncho Clad peruvian band huffed and puffed on pan flutes. Now i ask you where s the dutch element in All of this the Royal Palace also is on dam Square. It s one of the few trappings that allows Amsterdam to Lay claim to being the capital because the government of the Netherlands is in the Hague. After we re boarded the bus Wolfgang told us about a Blue haired woman he saw approaching the Queen s House one Day. Quot she pulled up her dress. She pulled Down her slip and urinated Down the Steps of the Royal Palace Quot he said. Quot anything is possible in Amsterdam Quot we returned to the hotel ibis to Check in. The bad part about the ibis is that it s Way the Heck out of town also there was no refrigerator in the room arid someone took the Quot do not disturb Quot sign off my door prompting the maid to Barge in Early sunday morning. And i mean Early. On the positive Side the ibis is clean and comfortable and it provides a free shuttle bus every half hour to the continued on Page 6 december 9, 1993 stripes Magazine 5
