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

Amsterdam - Arrival

I have a very good friend who I have known for a good few years and every so often I like to see her. You see my friend is Dutch and thus what better reason is there to book a little jaunt to Amsterdam!

Leigh and I booked our flights for a few days in the half term break (the pain of working at a school!) just for 3 nights, but we know from experience that with a city break that's all you really need.

We hopped on a plane from Gatwick early afternoon...

...and 50 minutes later we were at Amsterdam airport where we were met with lots of hugs and kisses by my friend. I haven't seen in her in over 2 years so you can imagine the shrieks of excitement.

After jumping on the very large double decker train we pulled into the gorgeous main station building in the city center to commence our 3 days of exploring.

We stayed at the St Christopher Inn on Warmoesstraat, literally in the middle of the red light district. We figured what the hell, and we wanted to be in the center of town as it made a good base. The hostel in itself was very nice, we opted for a private room and we had our own bathroom, a very comfy bed, and fresh linen and towels daily. The decor was a little unusual - our room was spray painted silver with a Crystal Maze type theme but as we were only there to sleep it wasn't really an issue and made for some laughs when we first walked in.

Dropping our stuff off we headed out to find somewhere for dinner. My friend had to leave us at this point but not before she had handed over some instructions on where we should eat. I have to say when I saw the recommendation I had my doubts but it turns out that you really shouldn't judge a book my it's cover or a restaurant by it's name. Cannibale Royal. Does that fill you with joy? It should. If you are ever in Amsterdam go here, you can find it tucked down a little street called Handboogstraat. The burger was one of the  best I've ever eaten. As for the service, they weren't quick to seat us and so when we decided to seat ourselves we got a bit told off. But the food more than made up for it. I wish I had been able to take a better picture of my meal but lighting was nightmare, the dark, macabre atmosphere not making for well lit pictures!

Strolling back to our hostel we walked through some very pretty streets before stopping in the bar attached to our hostel for a couple of drinks and proceeded to eavesdrop on all the other conversations around us. After flirting with the idea of heading out to a nightclub we realised that we were far too old and far too tired to do anything of the sort and so we went to bed to build our strength for the following day's exploring!

C x