Amsterdam - Day 1

Rising bright and early the next day to a very silver room we headed downstairs to breakfast which was included with the room . Defeitely a European breakfast

 

After we had eaten our fill we consulted the map and headed out into the numerous alleys to explore all Amsterdam had to offer, which happens to be quite a lot. Bicycles filled with cheese, pretty canals, beautiful architecture, and bridges galore

On the way to the flea market which you can find in Waterlooplein we passed a bridge covered in padlocks. Leigh and I didn't have one on us but really do we want another bridge collapsing under the weight of padlocks?! It does look pretty though.

We headed round to the flea market to look at all the bright and shiny bits and bobs on offer. The good thing about going to a market on a weekday - it's a lot quieter!

With a taste for markets we headed towards the famous floating flower market to see what all the fuss was about. There are certainly a lot of tulip seeds to be found and I couldn't resist a trip into the cheese market which flanked the side of the flowers.

We walked down some more alleys and streets working our way towards Anne Frank's House where we had a tour booked for the afternoon.

Before that we needed to grab some lunch and so we found a cute little cafe, with a jetty and a free table. The only flaw to this was that I had to fight off birds through the whole meal, which given my phobia was pretty traumatic but still I soldiered on to put away a beer and one half mozzarella and pesto and one half brie and ham toastie.

Have you ever been to Amsterdam? If you haven't been please do go and visit Anne Frank's House. Even if you haven't read her diary it is so important to remember the atrocities that were committed under Hitler's reign. You are not permitted to take any photographs as you go round the rooms so I only have one image but it is one of my favourites because it portrays her so well.

After the thought provoking visit I needed a bit of cheering up so where better than a little tiny cheese shop and museum. There were tubs everywhere of tiny cubes of cheese all there for the taking. It was my dream shop!

 

Our tummies full of cheese and with the sun going down we decided to fill them up further with dinner. Another suggestion via my friend and a tasty one at that. She sent us to 'Bird' which is situated in China Town in the Red Light District. When the Dutch want Thai, this is where they go apparently!

We had a stroll through the Red Light District after our dinner and tried not to stare at the girls as they gyrated against the windows. The whole essense of that one small section of Amsterdam is like a Disneyland for grown-ups.

Once we were back at the hostel we contemplated how we were going to spend our evening, only to then get caught up in conversation with two fellow hostelers who were also at a loss for their evening. We decided to make good of our discount beer vouchers we received on arrival and drank the night away.

This is why I love staying in hostels. You meet so many different types of people from all over the places and I just LOVE to meet new people. We eventually crawled into bed where I fell asleep hoping I wouldn't have a hang over. (read - I threw up for 15 minutes and then passed out in my bed).

C x