I have always believed that the number 23 was my lucky number. And this year, I was turning 23. Everything about my birthday had to be unforgettable. I was born on September 23, and even my name day was on August 23. I wanted to do something special to celebrate this milestone. However, when I asked my friends to come along with me, no one was keen on just randomly going somewhere. The only person who agreed to join me was my brother, Antoine.
Firstly I wanted to go to Greece but the plane tickets were just too expensive. I started to look for another destination when one just pooped out. The Netherlands. More precisely Amsterdam. I feel like everyone I know was there this summer as everything I saw on Instagram was pictures from there. It got me thinking that it has to be something unique. I called my brother, and after discussing it, we both agreed on a 4-day trip to Amsterdam.
I flew from Sweden where I was living at that time and Antoine came with a bus from Belgium. We met at the bus station after having seen each other for over 2 years. From an iced tea stand, we grabbed some free drinks and our adventure could begin. Accommodation in Amsterdam is terribly expensive. We found camping on the outskirt of the city.
Antoine and I like to walk a lot, and every time we are together, we easily walk about 20 km a day. After an hour and a half, at the camping site. To my surprise, the camping was very nice. We had a small room for ourselves with 2 beds. We wanted to take a shower but neither one of us thought of taking a towel. Fortunately, we could buy one at the camping at an awfully high price. After a nice hot shower, we headed to explore the city. We were lucky to come by the start of the afternoon so we had the day in front of us. Antoine had already been here but it was a first for me. I couldn't stop admiring the beauty of this charming city. As I was looking around being in my own world I almost got hit by a bicycle. It happened so many times during our stay that I'm lucky that I survived.
It started to get dark and our stomachs were empty. We decided to eat at Mcdonald's. I don't know why but I was craving the salad from Mcdonald's. Even though the last time I ate it was years ago but hey why not. After we were full we decided to go to a coffee shop. I'm not going to play a Saint even if it's in my name haha. I tried weed before but it was never a regular thing. Since I was here I knew I wouldn't escape it. We bought it together with a space cake. It was fu**ing amazing. Not even talking about the consistency inside.
Anyway, by the time we got to the camping, we were both pretty joyful. We sat, looked at the stars, and talked. Just imagining it back as I'm writing it is bringing me nice memories. It was 00:00 which meant I was finally 23. That long-awaited age. Antoine sang me a song and we just laughed. It was an amazing evening which I will not soon forget.
After a long night's sleep, we were ready for THE day. We just went with the flow without planning anything. However, there was one thing I wanted to do. Since my 22 birthday, I celebrate my birthday in foreign restaurants. Is my tradition. It's only 1 year old but well you need to start somewhere right? For my 22 birthday, I was in Malta celebrating with my best friends Martin and Filip. We ate at an Australian restaurant and that's where it started. I didn't have a particular cuisine in mind I just wanted it to be different.
We also wanted to see the culture so we visited the Reich Museum. My favorite painting just before The Milkmaid was Napoleon. I won't get in debt but I really admire him. Despite the wars everything that he achieved from being from a minor noble family to becoming an Emperor. You can't just not admire that. Not mentioning all the changes he made. I could talk for hours about him but that's not the topic today sooo.
After the museum, we went to Dunkin' Donuts. I love donuts and I never tried Dunkin'. When would it be a better time than for my birthday? Right? I ate so much that we had to postpone my birthday lunch to dinner. We wandered throughout the city and canals. Antoine had the genius idea of buying a bottle of vodka for after lunch. We went to sit in a park and started to drink. We admired the view of the boats on the canals, the birds, and all the crazy people riding furiously on their bicycles. As we were sitting and drinking you know there is this phase when you start thinking about life. Well, it was even worse as I just got a year older. I started to question my whole existence trying to find my purpose. Antoine slapped me saying "Stop bro". Got up and told me to move.
Did he take me to the red light district to distract me maybe? For those who don't know the red light district is an entertainment district that is a concentration of prostitution and sex establishments such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters. I can't really say why but Antoine's idea worked. DISCLAIMER I didn't pay for anything and I didn't get into any hmm activities if that is what you were thinking of. I just remembered it's my birthday, I'm in a new country and what's more, I was with my brother. Back to the red light district. I imagined it differently. I don't know why but I was expecting some action or some naked live shows. It looked more like a zoo where you can see flustrated animals in their small cages. The feminist will hate me for this comparison. I didn't mean it like that. But well they were closed in a small transparent booth. Soo.
Okay okay after this district it was finally time for my birthday dinner. We started to walk to an area with restaurants. None of us had anything in mind so we just walked and said to each other that the first one we would like we would go there. And the winner for my 23 birthday is. MEXICOOO. I ate in a Mexican restaurant only once and it was with my mom in Prague. I felt it was time to revisit and relive those fond memories. We both took burritos which were amazing and I just got so happy. Happy that I can be here with my brother. I surely mentioned it before but we always have a great time together no matter where we are and what we do. We will always have fun.
Talking about the fun we continued to drink our bottle of vodka which by now was almost empty. We also took 2 shots of tequila to blend with the culture. After dinner, Antoine got the fantastic idea again. The coffee shop. Everything was fine until Antoine looked at me and say "I'm going to sleep" and just lay down on the couch. I just looked with my mouth open thinking about what just happened. We were lucky to be in a corner where no one could see us. (Un)fortunately, after about 30 minutes the waiter came to ask if we would like something else and when he saw Antoine he asked us to leave. With my 60kg, I somehow took my 80kg brother and managed to put him on a nearby bench. He slept there for an hour or so when he finally got up and say "We're going home". I was happy as I started to freeze.
And that's how I got to celebrate my so long awaited 23 birthday with the best person I possibly could. My Brother.