Blogs from Amsterdam Zuidoost, Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 6

With an introduction like that, we could only be in Amsterdam. And yes, there is plenty of all three! We absolutely loved Amsterdam, although only tried two of the three main options of the city - we decided that hiring bikes was not going to be the romantic option it sounds like. To be honest, the traffic was quite an effort to get through, crossing the road involved looking first for pedestrians, then bikes, then cars, then trams... and once you made it to the middle, the pattern started again, look for trams, then cars, then bikes, then pedestrians. Phewf! We had originally thought that it was time for us to have a quiet and relaxed couple of days... which quickly turned into us being out all night and then sleeping late - but when in ... read more

Arrived in Manchester and had 5 hours before my flight to Amsterdam. Did the usual tourist things, Greggs for a pasty, bookies for a quick bet, and the pub for a pint. Productive day. My bags were too heavy again for check-in. The guy on the check in desk was a spaz too. He thought Ghana was in Asia. Excess baggage would have been another 120 quid, so about $200. Didn't want to pay that, so said I would go get rid of some stuff. Went away, and switched up some stuff from my suitcase to my hand luggage. On the way back to check in I bumped into Scotty!! I have a feeling he planned all this to give me a final goodbye, the old romantic. I went to a new check-in person and they ... read more

Hello All! Jet lag has taken a hold of me tenfold and hence why my first post took so long! Any who, we arrived at Schipol airport in Amsterdam at 11:30 am (Amsterdam time) and immediately started our trek to the apartment. After 11 plus hours in planes and airports, the first thing I wanted was a shower! Our apartment is incredible! Dubbed the "Hollywood" apartment, it's name says everything about the accommodations. There is nostalgic Hollywood paraphernalia covering almost every square inch. We have a gorgeous view of a canal right outside our window, along with some storybook architecture. Canal houses and the old world buildings create quite the time travel experience. By the way, it is true what they say; watch out for the bicyclists! I have seen so many people almost get completely ... read more

I was up bright and early at 5 am to leave for our tour. I was upset because my hair straightener didn’t work in the outlets. I had specifically asked before I left if it would work and was told it would. I hoped it would work in mainland Europe. For now I’d just have to suffer with wild and curly hair. We all met in the courtyard of the Royal National and got our bags weighed. Soon enough we were getting on our purple coach. I sat in the front seat with Emily (USA), opposite from Melissa and Candice. As we left London I got some good views of the River Thames and the London Eye, some things I had not seen during my pitiful sightseeing attempt yesterday. Filippo got up front and gave us ... read more