I AMsterdam

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after having an awesome night out in London, I was so sad to leave the city and my new friends. But it was time to travel on and start the next adventure…

I met back up with Kristina and we headed towards inland Europe. We took the underwater train to France. She was a little freaked out by being underwater, but I think my countless trips to Canada from using the underwater tunnel prepared me. Once we got to France we headed towards Amsterdam!

We made a quick pit stop in Belgium and of course picked up some chocolate!



We got to Amsterdam just as the sun was setting and the red lights were going on. The Red Light District is just a couple alleys of the fairly large city. It actually was interesting to see and experience but we decided to spend our night out elsewhere… After rolling back to the hostel at 6 in the morning, there are no words to describe how crazy that city is. I’ve been to Vegas and that doesn’t even compare. Despite the wild atmosphere of the city, we felt very safe walking around at night. Amsterdam has a very high population of undercover cops which causes people to avoid making a scene.

The next morning we experienced the more traditional side of Holland. We went and saw the Windmills and saw a wooden shoe making demonstration Fun fact: there are only 13 windmills left standing today. After that, we went and saw the tulips They are only in bloom 3 weeks out of the entire year and we were lucky enough to be here for it!





we then went back into the city and spent the day there. Our first stop was this little place called “Wien Faulking”. The shop created its own flavor of liquors served in specialty glasses. The trick is, you have to leave your glasses on the table and slurp the drink. It was definitely a fun and unique experience!



we then went to the Heineken factory! It was a neat experience and they really made it worth your while by allowing you to pour your own draft beer at the end. The trick was, you had to have the right amount of foam on the top which was measured by the Heineken star placed on the pint. I got mine perfect the first try!

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After the factory, we went to the huge IAMSTERDAM sign and then to the Anne Frank house. We didn’t go inside because the line was terribly long, but it was very emotional to just stand outside it.



After having two late night/early morning days in a row, we decided to come to the hostel at 11 instead of staying out tonight. I’ll probably regret it, but if I plan to go beer for beer with the Germans in Berlin tomorrow, a good nights rest might do me good

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