Amsterdam

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Just a couple of weeks after our Easter trip to Manchester and Liverpool it was time for another long weekend with the May Day Bank Holiday. For this long weekend we had organised a trip to Amsterdam with a few friends. It was another early start to get to Heathrow for an early flight to Amsterdam so as to get as much time in Amsterdam as we could. The flight over the English Channel to Amsterdam’s Shipol Airport was another straight up and down affair, and we found ourselves on the train into the centre of the city in no time. Mind you it was the wrong train. We’d tried our best to guess the right train to get on, but ended up just getting on the first train that looked like it might be going in the general direction of the city. A couple of stops into the journey we came to the realisation that the train we were on wasn’t going where we wanted it to, so we got off and hoped on the next train heading back in the other direction and ended up back at the Airport ready to try again. Take 2 was much more successful and we even made the right connection to our tram and managed to get off at the right stop, thanks to the very helpful Tram lady.

So it wasn’t the best start to the trip but we were all still in good spirits. Moods darkened slightly however when we got to our hostel. We were early so weren’t expecting to be able to get into our room and had instead planned to just store our luggage and head out sightseeing. Sure enough the room wasn’t ready yet so they offered to watch our luggage for us. Unfortunately the tiny storage cupboard was already full so we had to make do with leaving our packs on the tables in the communal dining/reception area. Far from ideal but better than lugging it all around Amsterdam. As there were eight of us on the trip we had booked an eight room dorm so that we could all stay together and didn’t have to put up with strangers (and they didn’t have to put up with us). This booking had been confirmed but when we checked in we found that they had in fact split us up so that two of us had to sleep in a 6 bed dorm with 3 other strangers and the other 6 shared a six bed dorm with one other poor girl. Whatsmore when we came back later that day to check in the rooms still hadn’t been prepared so we had to wait even longer. We were not happy.

We started our Amsterdam experience with a walk around the central city to find a little café to have brunch in. After brunch we continued to wander through the city and through the flower markets, where we were chased by angry shop keeper after a disagreement over Ingrid trying on some novelty sunglasses. We still don’t know exactly what it was that upset the dude so much. We than grabbed some beers and headed down to a park area beside one of the canals for a few mid afternoon drinks while we watched the Amsterdam world go by. One of the first impressions of Amsterdam was that it was an absolute mess. There was rubbish everywhere. We soon realised that the amount of rubbish must have been the result of some sort of parade or festival etc, and later found out that there had been a massive Queen’s Day celebration in the city a couple of days earlier.

After a few drinks we headed back to town and arranged a cycle tour of the city. Bicycles are the main mode of transport in the centre of Amsterdam. They are everywhere with all sorts of people riding them. Young kids, elderly people, businessmen, tourists, mothers with babies and toddlers, everyone. So when you’re in Amsterdam you can’t help but have a go. We had a blast riding round the city for a couple of hours, being shown some of the interesting sites and buildings. Its got to be one of the most relaxing ways to get round city and is a great way to soak up the chilled out vibe of Amsterdam.

That night we headed into the Red Light District. That was an interesting place. It was crowded with people, mainly tourists like us, just wandering round gawking at all the ladies and ladyboys on display. And they really are on display. As in shop window display, doing their best to entice passersby in to purchasing their services. The majority of the people there were just there to have a bit of a laugh and have a look at something that they don’t see everyday, but there were one or two keen punters negotiating with the ladies and the odd one even going in. After doing a bit of a circuit of the area we settled in upstairs at a nearby pub where we had a great view of the window displays on the other side of the canal. It provided plenty of entertainment as we had a few drinks, watching the prostitutes work their moves and negotiating with the punters. Occasionally they’d open their windows and go out on the street to talk with interested customers, who would then follow the girl back inside the window and close the curtain behind them, emerging 15mins later with a big grin and no doubt a much lighter wallet. We even saw a couple come out of one window. Unfortunately we couldn’t get any photos as apparently the ladies get very upset with people taking photos of them and often spaz out. Fair enough. Eventually we headed back to the hostel and tried to get some sleep, which was easier said than done. It was another one of those horrible hostel experiences with annoying loud drunk people disturbing everybody else.

Next day we left the hostel around mid morning and headed to Anne Frank’s house. Anne wasn’t home but there were plenty of people wanting to get in to see her house. So we joined the back of the queue which stretched half way round the block and waited for an hour and a half in the rain to get in. Once in we walked through a display giving the background of Anne and her family and the Holocaust. We then walked up the stairs and into the secret annex where the family hid from the Nazis for two years. The hide out looked more comfortable than what I had expected, if a little cramped. Still it is amazing that they could manage living cooped up in that small space for two years without getting caught. It is a fascinating but very sad story. The only one to survive the Holocaust was Frank’s father Otto who lived to the grand old age of ninety and published his daughter’s diary. It was quite a sobering visit and certainly helped clear up the hangover from the previous night.

From the Anne Frank house we walked across the city to the Van Gogh Museum. I’m not an art fan by any means, so I was quietly pleased when we arrived to find a queue about two hours long to get in. After the long wait earlier that morning nobody could really handle standing inline for another two hours. Instead we found a pub and sat down for a feed. After lunch we wandered around and went and had look at a couple of the Coffee Shops for which Amsterdam is so well known. Again, very interesting places to visit. Eventually we found our way to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. This tour was similar in set up to the Guinness tour we did in Dublin, but its always interesting to hear the stories behind the different brands, and the tasters at the end are always a pleasure.

After the Heineken tour we mulled around a while, got some food and waited for the evening’s entertainment to start. We had booked a table at Boom Chicago, an improvisation and sketch comedy show put on by four hilarious American comedians. After a couple of hours of laughing ourselves silly, we ended the night with a few more drinks then headed back to the hostel where they had finally put us into the eight bed dorm that we had originally booked.

After a good nights sleep we were all feeling nice and fresh for a trip to the country side and a stroll through the tulips. We checked out of the horrible hostel then made our way into town to get the train from the main station to the airport where we stored our luggage then got the bus to Keukenhof Gardens . Keukenhof is the world’s largest flower garden and is located just out of Lisse, south west of Amsterdam. I’m not a flower lover but thought it would be grand to see the fields of tulips that the Netherlands is famous for. The gardens weren’t quite what we were after but were very pleasant nonetheless and we enjoyed walking around them for a couple of hours, and were very impressed with the display of colour. With still a few hours until we had to be at the airport, and having enjoyed the riding from two days before, we decided to hire some bikes and head off into the surrounding farmland to see if we could find the fields of tulips we’d hoped to see. This time we decided to step things up a level and got tandems. After some initial difficulties we managed to get the hang of things and set off, all the lads up the front doing the hard work and leading the way, while the slacker women sat at the back pretending to peddle. Of course, we got seriously lost and found ourselves way off the track on the map we’d been given, but we did manage to find some pretty fields of tulips and got some great photos. After a couple of hours the wind began to pick up making riding pretty tough, and all our butts were crying for an end to the torture they were enduring via the hard seats of the bikes. We finally found where we were on the map and headed for home. It was a pleasant way to finish what was a very fun weekend. Amsterdam is quite a unique place, and we definitely saw some things that were new to us. It’s a very pretty place with a very chilled out, happy vibe, and we’d definitely love to go back there one day.

Over and out.

Gaz and Emma

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Photos

Amsterdam
The boys getting ready for the bike tour

Amsterdam
The girls on their bikes; Anna, Ingrid and Amy

Amsterdam
Cruising through Amsterdam

Amsterdam
Emma on her bike

Amsterdam
Waiting for a boat to pass under the opened bridge

Amsterdam
Mark looking at something interesting

Amsterdam
Rijksmuseum - Dutch National Museum

Amsterdam
Centre of town

Amsterdam
The National Monuement in Dam Square

Amsterdam
Royal Palace - Dam Square

Amsterdam
sinking foundations causes alot of lopsided buildings

Amsterdam
House leaning forward