6~At Home in Holland: I Love Doorstep 32, Overtoom

Well, it is pretty clear, that I love Amsterdam. This city with a spoonful of daily  sunshine has meant that I have fallen just that little bit deeper in love. In fact I am pretty much head over heels. I particularly want to bring you to the main location that Eve and I have frequented over the last week: her doorstep.

This doorstep is pretty awesome. I sat on it day 1 when I could not work out how to get back in (the key was a little stiff). I had just collected some groceries from over the road, so I knew I would not starve and hoped Eve would eventually come and find me here. She did. But I wouldn’t have minded had she been longer. Munching an apple, this doorstep was pretty sweet; it is sheltered from any wind, has a panoramic view of the busy street and is a complete sun trap.

Capitalising on the beautiful weather, our days began to consist of yoga and doorstep living. Quite an evolution occurred over the following days. What started as perching on the step, became quite different over the following days. Leon, a friend of Eve who was doing building works next door, provided us with chairs. The following day, when I headed down with my morning porridge, I was slightly offended to find a cardboard box strewn in our sun bathing arena (the doorstep). Turning it upside down, I fashioned it into a table that we continued to use days after- it even hosted a game of scrabble. Snacks of handy pieces of fruit turned into dinner with cutlery. Bottles of water changed to a kettle and cups of tea and one afternoon to a bottle of wine and glasses.

Eve and I marveled at two little girls from the neighbouring house as they put on quite an unusual show. They played with a tennis racket and ball. This was short lived and through the basement window they fetched a football. Pretty dangerous with the traffic and cyclists so nearby. Next. A ball and string you attach to your foot and jump over. Then a skipping rope. A scooter. It was getting more extreme. We could not believe it when a pair of stilts were pulled out of this window that kept giving, like a magician’s hat. And the eldest sister hopped on and paraded up and down the street. We were impressed. Completely entertained.

 

I think we really set a trend because the following day, the neighbours beyond, were at it too. Their snacks, bench and doorstep abode looked pretty cool too. Reading and writing, chatting to passer-bys and neighbours, we felt like we had it all. On this little doorstep 32, Overtoom.

 

One day was a little weird. Fresh from yoga, we stayed in our work out gear, determined not to miss the sun. I nipped upstairs and came back to hear Eve had been called a slut by some girl. When Eve went into the house and left me later that day, I ended up chatting to a Peruvian woman for what felt like an hour. Well, I say chatting. She certainly had a lot to tell. Some difficult to understand and some dubious. I was pretty blindsided. Two days later she showed up again and I was alone again! I wanted Eve to meet her so she would not think I was making it up. Eve did and she railroaded us both. She told a lot. I was lost between the exorcism currently taking place, new rooms to rent, her family history and questions about whether or not English men made good husbands. But I felt for her, she seemed kind and just seemed like she wanted to chat.  Well, this perplexing array of topics at least had a nice closing sentiment (we had had to pack away while she was chatting to draw things to a close). Many of her stories were punctuated with a hand flourish and the comment: “This is life, you see!” So as we stood, blankets, scrabble, kettle in hand, she said, with a swing of her elbow and a stance of a bullfighter, her statement punctuated with a stamp of her foot and puffing out of her chest: “We are strong women and this is good.” A sense of camaraderie . I can get on board with that (I chose to ignore that earlier it seemed there was a lot of chat relying on men, for decent apartments, happiness, marriage and an exorcism, apparently). That closed our spell for the time being on Doorstep 32, Overtoom. The weather promises to now be cloudy. Our adventures promise to be further afield. Wonderful though, how much fun you can have, right on your doorstep.