April 21, 2012
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
Second attempt at using my new Cineville cinema pass... and again it didn't quite work out as planned. I had some shopping to do in the morning and decided that I would also already get cinema tickets for tonight while I was out and about. Sean and Mike had suggested going to see The Hunger Games tonight in Eye, the new Film Museum just north of Central Station on the other side of the IJ water (hence the name Eye, not just referring to the part of your body you use to watch but also to the way IJ is pronounced by English speakers.)
So, at around 11 in the morning I crossed the IJ by free ferry and walked over to the extremely modern looking building (the one in the picture above) to get tickets. I showed my Cineville pass, expecting to get one ticket for free but was told that free tickets are only available from 1.5hrs before starting time of the film. Sigh. OK, well never mind... I just got three paid tickets then. But I will need to start using my pass properly soon, because after this second attempt also failed, 18 euros a month suddenly seems a lot of money for an unused piece of plastic.
The weather in the morning was absolutely dreadful, as the dark clouds in the picture will tell you. It started raining not soon afterwards. But in the afternoon it all cleared up, and the early evening was actually quite sunny and pleasant. I met up with Sean and Mike as they were having a burger in a burger bar (I didn't enter because of my low carb diet and also because the air seemed so greasy that it was as if I was inhaling carbs) and together we walked to Central Station, took a ferry to Noord and walked the short distance to Eye. The interior of the cinema was also stunning, with big windows allowing wonderful vistas over the IJ, and a big bar and restaurant area. We saw The Hunger Games in the main auditorium which had a very big screen and excellent sound - it was a great film despite the sometimes annoying 'shaky camera' syndrome that so many films seem to suffer from these days. As we crossed the IJ again by ferry close before midnight, Amsterdam looked beautiful. There's something special about using those ferries, especially when it's dark. Not much later, I was back home - 30 minutes door-to-door, including the ferry ride. Not bad!
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