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"Blooming Market"
What a bizzare sighting.....lots of flower stalls lining the river... From Ghent we had to get a train to Antwerp and then Change trains here to head onto Amsterdam..My god the station in Antwerp BLEW us away...It had at least 24 platforms all as new and modern as the next!!!!
We noticed the difference from the train window as soon as we arrived in Holland.Ya know that stereotypical image we have of Holland with all the flowers and the windmills, the sort ya think you'd only find on a postcard???well yes that really is exactly how we saw it from the train!!! The walk from the station to the hostel was the most painful and yet at the same time the most glorious walk ever... As we searched for the Hostel (which seriously seemed so easy to find in our head), my back and shoulders began to ache from what felt like another person i was carrying about on my back. The sun was shining so brightly upon us. Typical of our luck really though, we would happen to be walking through some of the most beautiful parks I've ever come across on this earth and have to deal with such confusion, pain and frustration at the same time.
I was shocked at how helpful everyone was as they tried to help us find our hostel (in fairness they had VERY little to work with). So then after some expensive txting went underway between us and some loved ones back home we managed to find our way here. Yes we may of walked I#d say a few circles of Amsterdam but at least we were. By now we had only got to the hostel but i felt like i had seen just about everything by now..ha ha,,the receptionist however wasn't all that friendly. Which was NOT what i really wanted after arrived cranky, tired and in an awful lot of pain!!We couldn't pay separately and she didn't even have a key to give us...Very Very irritated at this stage... No apologies or anything!!!
However it was all worth it in the end. We were blessed with the two Canadian room mates we got. These two girls were just at the end of their travels and so had enough tips, stories and memories to share with us that would soon brighten our spirits. We now realized the amazing summer we had ahead of us because they were telling us
SHOPPING
I do believe they had the best variety of shops yet....It was the first place where i really struggled to stop myself from spending my traveling money on clothes...amazing shops.... exactly what we had in store!!!
The next morning we enjoyed our free breakfast and went to the Anne Frank house. The queue outside was very long but it moves quickly. The wait was helped by the presence of one of the most inspiring person i think I've ever met. There was a lady in her fifities who introduced herself and informed us that she was traveling around the world all her own. She was even doing this COUCH SURFING. We had heard about this in Brussels but never really believed it to be so safe but she told us it's the most amaying thing she has ever done. Listening to her stories really made my day. The museum was not what i expected. Very modern looking but i guess that's to be expected as her father Otto Frank specifically asked for the house to remain unfurnished as he had always wanted. I didn't regret the visit though. It was extremely moving all the same and i never would of thought all those years ago that while i read her diary for the first time that i would one day stand in the very room she wrote it in
ANGRY
angry doesn't even come near to how mad i was.... the first place. fascinating stuff!!!
On the walk back from here we happened upon a very DIFFERENT type of museum. The sex museum. If ever you pass this in Amsterdam be sure to drop in. For 3 euro it is definitely worth it. It is possibly one of the most hilarious things i've ever done. It dealt with sex through the ages from even as far back as the romans.
We also went to the blooming market.I guess it's not as amazing as it would be in april/may but it was a still a bizzare sight of so many tulip stalls lining the river for what feels like miles. We ate down by all those infamous coffee shops. Some funny sites here, like of that random young girl trying to control her scooter round a corner while completely OUT OF IT!!!!I mean here people take a blind eye to such a thing but in Ireland i can guarantee that within a few seconds hundreds of people would be surrounding her wondering what was up, dying for a bit of news to bring back to the family..my mother included..but nope...not here...
That night i finally got see Indiana
Anne Frank House to the Right
Not what we expected but interesting all the same.. Jones, the summer blockbuster i feared I'd miss due to traveling. The "Pathe" cinema was amazing!!! The seats were like the comfortable couches you'd find at home in your front room, the sort we used to have in our old local cinema's! Then as I looked around i began to notice people drinking glasses of wine and bear. I couldn't believe it. I mean i can't even imagine the day Ireland will see young civilised people sipping wine in the cinema. the film was also about 3 euro cheaper here also. (surpise, suprise).
Oh my god Jamsie's flip-flops drove me insane today. Squeaking every time he took another step. I know it can't be helped but we spent a good hour going on about how annoying it was...ha ha... Walking through Amsterdam last night on the way back to the hostel was far greater then the walk by day!! The river and buildings were alight just like the postcards describe scattered over the city!!!! While i write this in my travel journal on the way to Berlin I'm taking note of some of the weirdest folk ever..this train ride should be entertaining!!
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