May 10th: Noordlicht

I loved this day. After a weekend full of friends, fiascos and fun it was back to just me and Matthias. Our first goal was to hit the flea market we'd missed the previous week due to foul weather. We were too cheap/lazy to rent a bike, so Matthias rode me halfway across Amsterdam on the handlebars of his bike. And we proceeded to travel this way for the rest of Monday.

At the Noordermarkt flea market, we scored a handful of amazing vintage postcards (mostly black and white pictures of Dutch children holding flowers with a cursive birthday greeting below), new boots for me and a vest for him. On a mission for food we cruised through the center, but ended up at a well-curated vintage shop instead. I chatted with the lady for quite a while because she had a whole shelf of deadstock fabric from the fifties! I proceeded to purchase fifty euros of meterage from her, which Matthias also carried for the rest of the day (husband material).

We ate lunch at the library (they have an awesome pasta and pizza restaurant inside) and continued across the water to Noord. I love Noord. It was cold, sparsely peopled and industrial. Apparently it's less traveled because you have to ferry across from central station to get there so most people don't bother. There were student dorms made from shipping containers, a large warehouse space with a skate park and offices for theater groups and other creative outfits, and a cozy, colorful cafe that looked like an empty airplane hanger from outside. As soon as we entered, good smells and warmth wafted out. It was packed! People were drinking hot cocoa with their dates, chatting with their colleagues and lounging with friends. Matthias read aloud the foreward to sci-fi adventure thriller we had also picked up at the flea market. On the way back home, Matthias even managed to snag a message in a bottle that I'd sighted earlier while boarding the ferry. Yep. Lying on his stomach on the concrete ferry landing, reaching with his right hand while I held the bike lock around his chest. We were so excited to get home and open it...