Amsterdam

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After leaving Brugge I headed up to Amsterdam. This should have been a nice easy jump on a train and go. I did not need a reservation or anything. Well I ended up jumping on the wrong train and I went to Antwerpen instead of Amsterdam. That wasn't too bad because Antwerpen has a beatiful old looking train station. They also had frequent trains running too and from Amsterdam so I just jumped on the next train and was in the real city of sin in no time.

I was plenty forewarned about Amsterdam so I knew all the scams and what to stay away from, but there is a little bit of uneasyness when the first guy comes up from behind you and whispers in your ear "Coke? Ecstacy?" Um, no thanks. I don't want any of your fake drugs. Then you walk past your first coffeeshop. Can you guess what you smell coming from there?

The hostel I was staying in was in probably the worst part of the city. But it wasn´t a bad place. The only problem was that everyone was in there small little groups and stag parties so it made it a tough place to socialize in. They had a good bar though and 2 for 1 beers until 11 pm every night.

I got a tip from a couple girls that were leaving that day to go on the Free walking tour of Amsterdam. When you are on a budget, anything free is good. So I got up nice and early and went on the tour. This was fun because I got to learn a lot of the history of the city and too see stuff I may not have had a chance to see otherwise. After that I did a little walking around and had some dinner, my First Kebab of the trip. I am sure I will e eating more of these.

That night I walked around the Red Light District. I can not describe to you what this place is like. It is the ultimate window shopping, lets say. Well after walking around for a while I ended up down a side street I probably shouldn't have been, a very shady area. Some guy started to sing very loudly in some type of carribean accent, "Lonely Man, In an Unknown Land" I could have just been paranoind from something or other 😊 but I could have sworn I was being followed. Good thing I left my backpack and all my valuables at the Hostel I was thinking. The worst they would get was 20 Euro's. So I walked faster, and turn down a few streets and suddenly I was back in the redlight district and in the crowds. That was enough excitement for me for one night so I returned to my hostel and hid under my covers. No more AK-47 for me that night.

The next day I went and walked around the city trying to find the Turture Museam. I had no luck with this but I did find the Heineken Museam. It isn't a brewery anymore but it was a pretty cool tour and you get free beer. I also went to the Dutch Resistance Museam which was also very interesting. It had a lot of information on the Dutch resistance during World War 2.

My last day in Amsterdam I was ready to go. I just needed to wait for my first night train. So to kill a bit of time I went to the Sex Museam and Cannabis College. A good time killer but if I missed them it would have been no worries. I also walked around trying once again to find the Turture Museam, but at about 6:30 PM I gave up and started heading back to pick up my Bags and catch my 8:00 PM train. Wouldn't you know it on the way back to pick up my bags I walked right past the Torture Museam. Unfortunately I had a train to catch and was more then ready to get out of Amsterdam. Next stop...Interlacken Switzerland.

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