Amsterdam Day 1 (AM): Competing for the Ugliest City in Europe

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We arrived an hour ahead of schedule, 5AM local time due to a very strong tailwind on our A330-300. We didn't get our upgrade to World Business Class but the seats I had gotten for us were as good as you could get and had about 7 feet of legroom since we were next to the main cabin door. Everytime we went to the bathroom and saw the rest of the cabin, or reclined our seats, we remembered how miserable those other people had it and we thankfully did not. One thing that could be improved was the food, it was absolutely lousy and barely edible. It has gotten so bad they should really offer to sell you better food.

Possibly the Worst City in Europe

Not having seen all of them, we have to be careful making that claim but Amsterdam is definitely an unappealing city. Maybe it was because we saw it on a Sunday morning after what appeared to have been quite a rowdy Saturday night. Maybe it's because at the ungodly hour we were out and about there were no people in the streets save for over-testosteroned young men returning from a night out in the bars and Red Light District. In any event, we got to do a little walking tour that showed us all of what the town is known for - the canals, the Red Light District, the pot smoking, the quaint streets. Maybe someone can explain to us what we missed here but I don't believe we will ever be returning for a stay in Amsterdam.

Getting to Amsterdam from Schiphol Airport is so easy it would be silly not to do it if you are ever on a layover of more than 3 hours there. The train station is literally right inside the airport and there is a train that takes you to Amsterdam Centraal via two stops within 20 minutes time. The tickets cost about 7 Euros roundtrip. We were never controlled, nor did I see any spot where we were supposed to validate the stubs, it seems the Dutch are just pretty easygoing about everything which is awesome but yields some unsavory side effects.

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Photos

Amsterdam's Shopping District
Not much shopping going on at 6AM, not much of anything going on actually, except for in the Red Light District . . .

Cool Cat Store
Oh really?

Royal Palace on The Dam
The Dam is the historic square in Amsterdam. Not a Dam thing going on at this hour of the morning.

Lions on Dam Square
In front of the National Monument.

Red Light District
I least we thought it was, there were red lights and they had some porno store nearby and a bunch of drunk guys acting stupid.

Train to the Airport
Very easy connection to Schithol Airport, sorry Schiphol. I had to jump on those very tracks as my lens shield fell off and rolled right onto them.