Thank you drunken opera singer

Hi y'all,

Woot woot for summer vacation's first weekend. And on that note: remember as you read along we are talking SUNDAY MORNING. Okay so here it is. Me and the love of my life have both been living in Amsterdam out entire lives. We were born here as were our parents. So we can honestly call ourselves the real deal when we say we're Amsterdammers. Now living in the city has it's pro's and cons. A few pro's ofcourse is the wide variety of cultural things to enjoy, the many many restaurants, bars. coffee places and such that are open almost 24/7 and the well stocked and not too expensive supermarkets that are scattered around through town. Cons? Oooo that list is growing by each passing year and since I'm 42 ...well...one of the cons is the endless noise of people that do not come from around here and are under the distinct and unfortunately shamefully wrong impression that everything can and therefore should be done in our beautiful city. let me shatter that misconception right now! It should NOT! Use your brain. We live here too you know. You are guests and we like you but please....you are our guests.

BAck to that sunday morning thing. It has been a sticky and hot night and I slept soundly until at 05:30hrs something scared the crap out of me and got me to shoot up from my bed like a rocket being launched at NASA. NOT COOL. So my man, already out of bed, told me it was some drunken guy returning from what appeared to be some serious binge drinking night with what he felt was the right key to sing an opera aria while trying to ride his bike. I called some really bad names and got out of bed. Now ask anyone that knows me how I feel about early and they will probably tell you to run for cover because I am no friend of early. However today I stand corrected. You see this opera singing drunken person might just have changed my opinion about early and about my city during the peak of tourist season in which I normally do not even venture into it's most famous parts.Today I had an 11km run scheduled and I decided to make the most out of this non-human waking hour and go for that run through the heart of my city.

And this was the route I took using runkeeper to track it

After breakfast and coffee I ran out from my home, over to Bloemgracht where I watched the first and already pretty long line of tourists waiting in front of the Anne Frank House (we're talking 07:50'ish hrs), passed by the Westerkerk, turned right on the Keizersgracht, ran the stairs of the church I spent my youth every sunday when I was a still a kid living at home, ran the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat and straight under the Rijksmuseum over the Museum square passing the Concert Gebouw and than on to the Cornelis Schuytstraat where you can find some really good designer stores and food heavens, on to Vondelpark, out by way of Jan Pieter Heijestraat straight to what is now a popular part of town Kinkerstraat and than via Bilderdijkkade back to my place.

The run totalled exactly 11km and I had blast. Seriously.I thought the true locals all left the city because of the ongoing 'Manhattanizing'. I thought there were no true Amsterdammers left. Today I felt I was wrong. And this run ....well I am very gratefull to that horrible drunken opera singing dude. He just made me smile and see that the real Amsterdam is still there. You just have to get up freakishly early to see it. But trust me...you will not regret it once you do because the locals are up when the tourists are not and they (we) can be coarse but not that early. Than we smile and say MOGGUH and tip our caps and go about our business. And you wanna know how incredibly beautiful my city is? Check out these sights (in random order) you encounter once you start tracing my steps.