Amsterdam

Living Young AND wild AND free

 la la laaaaa

Blitzed Amsterdam with my cheery girls in a SURGE of loopy antics.

Day 1

Laden with our luggage – rucksacks at the ready.

Late night flight into the buzzing city followed by a meddely of wrong trains, trams and metros resulted in the two of us looking like a lost pair of ‘Dora Explorers’ in the dingy DAM ghetto.

After words of wisdom from some spaced out locals ‘look for building with the blue, green and purple glowing lights’ – EVENTUALLY we found the plush hotel with a typical flower flooded Dutch garden and spacious room to collapse in.

Day 2

Juicy, delicious strawberries for breakkie from the fresh fruit market.

Strolled around the local surroundings and took a wander through the infamous VondlePark, past the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum attempting to get our bearings. 

Manic traffic, scenic waterways, giant ducks, excessive bikes…

Carl Joined Nicole and I for the night to sample the city’s extraordinary pubs and clubs. A trip to the renowned Bulldog Coffee shop in the Leidsplein square was an experience.

Day 3

Dozey, dreamy – long lie in.

Blethering about the previous evenings escapades while moseying around the bustling streets, Dam Square, watching the dainty boats cruising, fountains, quirky squint buildings and generally soaking up the laid back European Essence.

With no less than 165 canals, I now understand why Amsterdam is noted as the ‘Venice of the North’

Pasta Salads and some hotel lounging.

Day 4

Checked out of hotel and into the ‘close for comfort’ bunk beds of the ‘Inner Amsterdam Hostel’.

Met the rest of the ladies as they trooped out of Central Station.

The city has the highest number of museums in all the cities of the world so our choice was endless but we picked the controversial option of The Sex Museum. This consisted of numerous erotic photographs and displays that highlighted the city’s nonchalant attitude towards sex. If you are a prude leave it alone but if you are open minded like me then it is worth a visit and certainly sets off the giggles.

Free ferry rides to the small islands – gigantic cruiser that dwarfed any onlookers – photographs posing on one of the infamous ‘IAMSTERDAM’ signs.

Social banter with some American lads and an Australian in the hostel – ended up trekking with them in an attempt to find the ‘ice bar’ but our navigation and timing went to pott. The twinkling bridge lights set a romantic feel and we ended up grabbing an overpriced beverage (typical thieving tactics of the city) on route back to the Hostel.

Day 5
Mcbikes – a cheap and efficient bike rental service allowed myself and the girls to resemble the VON TRAPP FAMILY as we peddled about the cycle lanes. Our little leggies spinning all day managed to cover an extensive mileage and visit some impressive sights.

The Anne Frank House – although we didn’t see the point in queuing for hours to get into the museum, it was quite a moving experience and grand dedication to her life. Hard to believe that the young diarist and her family managed to cope with living in such a cramped proximity while hiding from the Germans during World War Two.  

Bagles and Beans – Lemon cheesecake and pastries were mouth-watering.

The Red Light District – over 500 windows worked by prostitutes in the medieval part of the city. Flooding with goggling tourists and potential customers the area was such a unique sight but a little disturbing at the same time. We witnessed an array of ladies seductively offering themselves to any passers while being closely watched by the rotund pimps, one of which has a humongous dog bearing its teeth – would NOT want to mess with him. All in all quite incredible.

Brownies – Amsterdam is well known for its smoky coffee shops which dispense drugs freely and you frequently observe people chilling out, puffing away and playing a random game of chess. While in the city we felt obliged to try the Hash Brownies together in the safety of our hostel room – took a while to kick in but ahhh what a night of absolute nonsense and cackling laughter.  

Day 6

Pedaloes – Cheap and highly entertaining way of seeing the city from the water, although there were some near crashes.

Treated ourselves to pancakes – scrumptious with fruit, nutella and a dusting of icing sugar.

Sunbathing – soaking up some vitamin D resulting in an explosion of freckles.  

Schiphol Airport bound – sat on the open air terrace while eating mangos and watching the planes take off. There were some interesting factual displays to read while passing the time and I learnt to my surprise that the airport is 4 meters below sea level. A night in true traveller style, crashed out on the Starbucks coaches while waiting for our flight back to bonnie Britain.