Chapter 3
Dani
I got a taxi to the Smith’s house, arriving at six-thirty am, still coming to terms with the fact that in the space of forty-eight hours, I had accepted a job and was about to move to Germany!
We set off at seven am and drove the four hours from Knutsford to Harwich, before catching a ferry to Holland.
Last night’s meal had gone better than I had anticipated with Olivia and I hitting it off straight away. She was a very intelligent girl, as Leo had stated, and very polite and caring. I was excited for my new adventure and was looking forward to getting to know her a little better during our two-night stay in Amsterdam.
It was dark by the time we arrived at the Hotel NH Barbizon Palace in Amsterdam city centre. Olivia was exhausted so we all opted for an early night after grabbing a sandwich from a nearby deli.
The hotel itself was a mixture of new and old. There was a historic fifteenth-century chapel situated in the hotel grounds and the foyer was awash with swirling marble floors and huge white pillars, yet the rooms, albeit immaculate, were modern and minimalist.
I rose early the following morning and drank my coffee as I sat on the balcony soaking up the atmosphere and allowing my mind to compartmentalize, closing off images and thoughts of Luke. I had slept fitfully and was raring to explore as much as possible seeing as we only had today to do so.
I met Alicia and Olivia in the foyer at nine am, as agreed, and Olivia and I headed out into the hustle and bustle of the Dutch province.
There are approximately eight hundred thousand bikes in Amsterdam and didn’t we know it! No matter where we looked, there were cyclists manoeuvring in and out of traffic with such efficiency it was mesmerizing.
“Would you like to hire a bike so that we can go and do some sightseeing, Olivia?” I asked her.
“Oh, yes please, Rebecca. I’d love that, but we must stop at a coffee shop so I can try a hot chocolate. Please… sorry, I forgot to say please. My friend, Fabian, was here last year and he swears it’s the best hot chocolate in the world. Can we go?” She asked eagerly and I smiled to myself as I pictured the conversation between the two innocent almost-teens. Caught in that bubble of childhood before the world changes and you get thrust into the world of becoming a teenager: the world where everything changes overnight. Boys that you’ve been friends with all of your life suddenly have desires on you that are frightening, parents are just majorly annoying and everything feels so confusing.
‘Of course we can, Olivia.’ I said as I smiled more to myself than to her.
We paid the six euro each for our bikes and made our way along the designated bicycle paths; paths that were lined with Elm trees, and lime trees that were laden with bunches of fresh green leaves bursting from their trunks.
I thought I might impress Leo later with a Latin version of the name.
‘Oh, we had a beautiful ride through the canal streets and I saw my first ever tilia.
‘Tilia, Rebecca?’ Oh, sorry, there I go speaking Latin. I should have said Lime tree. Sorry, Leo’. I sniggered out loud as I played the image in my head, but decided against it just in case he could actually speak Latin. That would be mortifying!
Our first stop was the Van Gogh museum at Olivia’s request. I initially agreed because I thought that this would be a good way to impress Alicia and Leo, but we ended up having a fantastic morning looking at his work. In particular, I loved his paintings of ‘The bedroom’ and ‘Sunflowers’. We were able to track his development over the years and compare his work to other artists. Olivia soaked up all of the knowledge around Van Gogh and, for once, I felt that I too was learning and enjoying something.
There were so many different canal boats resting upon the waterways as we cycled around. There were glass topped boats that looked really fancy, and small wooden ones with character that had clearly been around for a while. There were those that were encased entirely in glass, clearly for sightseeing purposes, and even a clog style boat that drew a lot of attention. Flowers were in bloom everywhere and some streets were even paved with multi-coloured bricks. Windmills with coloured arms hovered in the distance, adding to the ethereal charm of the place. Everyone seemed cheerful and relaxed, which was a refreshing change and quite unlike Knutsford.
We stopped at coffee Brazuka for a pastrami sandwich at lunchtime before continuing our mini adventure, too excited to yet feel the pull on our leg muscles.
We cycled to the famous ‘skinny bridge’, which has apparently been built by two rich sisters who lived on opposite sides of the river. It was thought that they built the wooden bridge to make it easier to visit each other. I loved the idea of that kind of extravagant loyalty, the thought that they cared enough about each other to do that. Part of me did wonder though why they did not just move closer to each other!
We worked our way around De nine stratjes (The nine streets), a maze of streets littered with vintage and designer shops and street cafés. I felt momentarily happy as I embraced the sun shining down on my face, kissing my skin lightly as I navigated the streets, the wind gently blowing through my hair.
I took a quick photograph of Olivia on her bike and a selfie of us with the multi-coloured street pavements in the background, and I sent it to Elanor with a kiss and a message saying ‘I miss you. Love from Amsterdam’.
Olivia laughed as most care-free children of her age do, and she pointed out various things that caught her attention, like the old man sat on a carved wooden seat with his crooked walking cane wearing a top hat, and the street actor playing a xylophone whilst wearing a horse head mask. It really was an amazing city full of diversity and character.
“Oh, Rebecca, look here it is! Let’s go into this café for hot chocolate and cake, but please don’t tell my parents because I’m not allowed too much sugar.”
“Call me Bex, Olivia, it’s much less formal and ok, but you owe me if I keep it quiet.” I winked and laughed jokingly. And so, we sat and watched a little of the world go by as we sipped our drinks and laughed kindly at the quirky and downright weird people that passed us by.
We returned to the hotel at five pm and agreed to meet for dinner at six-thirty. I had enjoyed my day with Olivia and felt that we would get along well. Leo, on the other hand, still made me nervous. I felt the need to impress him and I had no idea why because I certainly wasn’t attracted to him. He just had that arrogant air about him, and those steely eyes, cold and penetrating, giving me the feeling that he could see past my façade and into my soul, resulting in me not making eye contact with him for more than a few seconds at a time! He was the kind of man who I imagined rarely needed to shout. His body language and confident demeanour demanded respect and attention and I felt pretty confident that Olivia would not be able to wrap daddy around her finger as I had mine.
We met in the foyer and went for dinner at Brasserie Ambassade, a French restaurant located a few streets away. I ate homemade duck liver paté served with brioche bread and mango chutney for entrée, while I chatted quietly to Olivia.
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