Amsterdam!

Back home there's radio stations that host contests to send people to Las Vegas for 24 hours. They say that's all you really need in Vegas. 

Well I'm a long way from Vegas but Amsterdam is just a hop, skip and a jump away! So with Gabby and my sister visiting, we elected to do a quick whirlwind tour of Amsterdam. We were there for a mere 36 hours and although you could easily enjoy yourself there for much longer, it sort of is all you really need! 

Steph went before the rest of us and left early Thursday morning to do some extra tours on her own. I left work first thing on Friday the 9th of May and met Gabby and Matthew at the Southampton airport. We landed in the Schipol Airport around 930pm and set out to find Steph. She had emailed me during the day and said she could meet us in the airport at a restaurant called "Dutch and Delicious". She described it as RIGHT outside the arrival gates to the left and said she would be sitting there waiting for us. So we go through the arrival gates and look right away to the left. There was no restaurant. I looked to the right and saw tons of shops and a few restaurants but none called "Dutch and Delicious". 

Classic Steph. Feeling ready to throttle her, I pulled out my phone and connected to the airport wifi. I then pulled up my email to make sure I had read her details correctly. Yup. But we still had no idea where Dutch and Delicious was so we aimlessly walked around. We came to the many area of the airport which was large and circular, surrounded by fast food restaurants with a massive red and white checkered very unique structure in the middle. Matt pointed in awe at the big structure and said "WHY DIDNT SHE TELL US TO MEET THERE?! IT'S SO DISTINGUISHABLE!" We did eventually find the tiny little Dutch and Delicious restaurant and sure enough Steph was tucked away in there. Sigh. Let's be honest though what else did I really expect and I was just relieved she had actually manage to make it on her own in Amsterdam for two days. 

Just as a little side note: Schipol Airport is amazing. The shopping is unreal and the food is actually 'Dutch and delicious'! It has tons of bus, taxi, and train transport links to the main city as well and is very tourist friendly. 

Anyway we went outside in search of a taxi to our airport which was supposed to be a pretty short distance. When we told the taxi driver where we were going, he said "well I can take you but it will be 35 euros but there is a free bus just up ahead a bit that will take you right there." We could not believe how honest he was!! I feel like most taxi drivers would have just taken our money so it was great he let us out. I was also pretty shocked that such a short drive was going to cost 35 euros so thank goodness we found the free shuttle bus. It turns out that most hotels in Amsterdam run free shuttles to and from the airport and the pricey cab was foreshadowing how expensive the rest of Amsterdam would be. 

Our hotel was extremely unusual but very nice. It was massive and the lobby had an inexplicably luxurious and Dutch feel to it. The layout was bizarre but our room was very spacious and we had a nice patio off of it. We spent our first night sitting on the patio having some drinks and unfortunately KFC (it was RIGHT across from our hotel and the hotel restaurant was closed ok?!). 

The next day we got up and took the free shuttle to the airport where we went on the train right to the town centre. Neat tip brought to us by Steph's experiences: you don't need to pay on the trains! Well technically you're supposed to but you don't need a ticket to get through any barriers to get on the train and no one checks tickets on the trains. The train going right into the city centre is so packed that it would be impossible for anyone to check tickets even if they wanted to. We were all standing and squished like sardines. 

Two things I hadn't previously known about Amsterdam

• their weather is notoriously foggy and rainy, just like England 
• just how extensive their canal system is (I mean I knew there were canals in Amsterdam I just didn't realize that basically the entire city is 50% water)

We learnt both of those facts very early on. The weather was very cool with grey skies and a steady stream of rain. We had all brought umbrellas luckily (except poor Matthew who sought refuge with his hood). We decided to take a canal cruise right away because we knew we'd be protected from the rain inside the boat. The cruise took an hour and went all over the city. The houses in Amsterdam are beautiful and the canals are lined with trees and overpassing bridges. We learnt a lot of really cool facts: 

• Amsterdam has the world's largest bike garage that holds over 5000 bikes 
• Every year 15 000 bikes are pulled out of the canals 
• Every year about 60 bodies are pulled out of the canals
• 1-2 cars per week fall into the canals 

After the cruise we took some pics around the town centre and then quickly went to seek refuge from the pouring rain in a local pub (where else?!) We luckily stumbled into an establishment known as 'The Oldest Pub in Amsterdam' and it was very quaint with a lot of charm. Naturally we all downed as many Heineken pints as we could, trying to get buzzed enough that the rain didn't matter. After that was accomplished we headed to the Red Light District because I mean come on, it's not like we're not going to check that place out! We walked through the alleyways and canals until all of a sudden we hit it. How did we know? It's certainly not the buildings; the houses were just as stunning and the canals just as romantic and scenic. However the windows are full of mostly naked women dancing and every second building is either a "live sex show" a "sex toy shop" or a "prostitution museum". Honestly if it wasn't for all the profanity, the Red Light District would be really beautiful but it's definitely worth seeing just to say you've done it! 

We took another rain break at this point in a nearby cafe and were rewarded with bright sunlight when we came out! The skies had completely cleared and we were all jumping up and down and quickly took some pictures in the sunlight to replace the many pictures we had of us posing underneath umbrellas. 

At this point we split up from Steph who wanted to go see Ann Frank's house and Gabby, Matthew and I opted to make the trek to the Heineken Experience. It was a decent walk from the city centre but we did it anyways because we passed by a lot of beautiful landmarks for pics and the sun was shining. The Heineken experience costs 16 euros to get in but it comes included with two free pints of Heineken as well as a half pint glass to keep and take away at the end. I was a bit apprehensive of it because I thought it might be a boring brewery tour but it was definitely way more. There's rides, videos, taste testing, lots of attractions (like the chance to make your own music videos and email them to your family and friends), and a fun dance club at the end where you can get more drinks. Gabby, Matthew and I made a hilarious video while under the influence of just a few Heineken's and sent it to Gabel back home in England who received it instantly and died laughing. During an educational lecture, I answered one of the questions correctly and earned myself some free drinks! It ended up being really fun and I highly recommend it to anyone who goes to Amsterdam. 

We stayed out really late and by the time we got back to our hotel, which was quite far from the city centre, we didn't want to go back out partying again so we opted for drinks on our patio again. The next morning we were up bright and early and heading back to the airport. Short and sweet but lots of fun. 

We ended up eating one of our meals in the infamous "Dutch and Delicious" restaurant that Steph met us in. We had Heineken for breakfast and amazing eggs and crepes. It was shockingly expensive though so it's a good thing it was delicious. We honestly didn't really go to any nice restaurants there because it was too expensive so unfortunately I don't have any recommendations there. 

The only thing I would do differently is stay closer to the city next time. We opted to stay close to the airport instead because its quite a bit cheaper and convenient for a quick visit when you need to get to the airport for an early departure. Next time if it was financially doable and I could stay for longer, I would stay in the city centre for sure. 

Here's some pics of our trip: