A night out in A'dam: Heels on Wheels

So a few of us went out last night for my upcoming birthday (thanks for a great night Paola, Emma, Hannah, Crystal, Dunny and for ALMOST showing up Frank, Andrew and Jordan!). In any event, a night out in Amsterdam is a slightly different experience. So Paola (my roomate) and I headed out at about 10:30. Normally, I would jump on a subway, car or cab--not in Amsterdam, here you get on your bike. That's right, Paloma and Paola in 3 inch stilletos jumped on their bikes and headed to other side of the city to meet up at Frank's place. So we're biking along, trying to see signs through poorly lit streets, not entirely sure where the hell we're going and all of a sudden I hear a terrible crash. Thinking the stillettos had taking vengeance on my roomate, I turned around to see a fountain of beer showering Paola. Well I may be exagerating slightly, but her feet got wet because the bag of beer we were bringing to Frank's got caught in her spokes. One bottle shattered and another one was still spraying beer because it was stuck in her wheel. A bit of a dilemma...before she managed to unwedge the bottle, we had to endure many a dirty look for the shattered glass on the path from the dutch cyclists riding by. We finally arrived at Frank's before deciding to once again jump on our cycles, this time all 9 of us, to venture once again to the other side of the city to go to the club. Half way there, we're stopped by the police who inform us that this is a pedestrian area only. WHAT? I thought bikes ruled the streets here! At this point, half of us split up and each went in different directions before finally meeting up at the club, minus Frank, Andrew and Jordan who "mysteriously" disappeared...possibly into a coffeeshop along the way. So the remaining went to a club called Sugar Factory and danced for the next few hours before (that's right) jumping back on our bikes to go home. Funnily, we were talking about how convenient it is to not have to find your way home, via cab or otherwise, at the end of the night and about how necessary a bike is in Amsterdam when upon arrival home, my other roomate Elisa, informed us that her bike had been stolen from outside our door. Terrible! Bike thefts are very frequent here, junkies steal them and sell them for 10-15 euros. I hope no one steals my bike "white lightning" --I can't afford to buy another one (unless of course I decide to buy one off a junkie...). Anyway, I had a great time last night and look forward to my next excursion.