Three Days in Amsterdam
In November of 2015 at the not-so-tender age of 21, my flatmate and I decided on a whim to book a 4-day trip to Amsterdam two weeks beforehand. This was the first time I'd leave the country without one of my parents, and needless to say I was both nervous and excited.
When we touched down in Amsterdam we were enveloped in a thick fog that meant navigation to our hostel was just a tad tricky. Not being able to see very far ahead of you coupled with it being nighttime and being crap at using google maps it took us a while and the help of strangers to get to where we needed to be. Our hostel was called WOWAmsterdam - an artistically inclined hostel housed in a building that looked like one of the high schools I'd gone to many moons ago.
Each floor of the hostel was colour-coordinated, and we got a room on the red floor. I couldn't help but feel like we were in some kind of modern spin-off of The Shining... luckily the Grady twins never showed up while we were here.
Situated in the Bos En Lommer disctrict of Amsterdam it was just a 25 minute tram ride to the city centre.
On our first day we hopped on the tram to the centre and wandered round in the hunt for breakfast. This came in the form of sweet baked goodness at a little bakery down a back alley just off of Damrak, one of the main streets in Amsterdam. Then it was straight back out to head to Body Worlds, the museum of plasticised and dissected human bodies made by Dr. Gunther von Hagens.
This was followed up by the Sex Museum just a few doors down and at only €3 a ticket, a must see for anyone interested in a mash up of different cultural artefacts through the ages - there's even a Toulouse Lautrec scene set up with moving lifesize human models, so there's bound to be something to tickle your fancy!
The rest of the day was spent wandering through the maze of alleys and sidestreets that led us through the Red Light District and south past De Waag and towards Rembrandt's House, eventually leading us to a very tourist-oriented area of restaurants where we grabbed a quick dinner before walking back to Dam Square to get the tram back to the hostel.
On day 2 it was back to the city centre, getting off a few stops early to walk some of the way. We stopped by Anne Frank's House, moving quickly on after seeing the queue.
This time we headed south towards the Nine Streets, a cute shopping area filled with independent boutiques, cafés and vintage clothing stores. We ended up at Pancakes Amsterdam for breakfast where we had - you guessed it - pancakes!
Their portion sizes of both American or Dutch pancakes had me defeated which is something that rarely happens, trust me!
We then weaved our way down the canals to head for the Tulip market and on towards the Van Gogh museum, Kelly losing her phone in the process. (What's a good trip without a little drama?)
I have to say, if there's one thing you shouldn't miss while you're in Amsterdam then the Van Gogh museum is it. It houses the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings alongside those of his contemporaries and is unquestionably worth the price of €17 for an adult ticket.
The rest of the day was spent simply wandering the city and dipping in and out of various shops before grabbing a not-so-great dinner at Dim Sum Court and wandering through the Red Light District at night.
All I can say about the latter is that it's true when people say the city changes at night. Seeing swarms of men crowd down tiny alleys and ogle the working women in their doorways is something which you can't help feel uncomfortable about. The profession itself doesn't offend whatsoever, the customers on the other hand...
On our third and last day we headed back to the Red Light District and the Oude Kirk to see it in morning light and we were surprised to find that there were still women working so early in the morning. We then headed to renaissance painter Rembrandt's House grabbing breakfast in the form of waffles en route.
Seeing Rembrandt's House was really interesting having studied his paintings in high school. To see his home and studio in the attic of the building was really fantastic and surreal. There was even a guy demonstrating how Rembrandt would have mixed pigments to make paint as well as a room of all his still life props including animal skulls and shells.
The rest of the day was spent wandering back to our favourite spots in the city and trawling through the vintage stores to hunt down bits and pieces that had caught our eye. (Nearly two years on and I'm still heartbroken at not buying a green suede bomber jacket when I had the chance...)
With all our souvenirs purchased and our feet sore from endless walking we headed to the China Sichuan Restaurant on Zeedijk for dinner. Just two doors down from Dim Sum Court and a million miles better for food - if you're in this area then this is one restaurant I can recommend!
We then headed all the way back to our hostel for our last night only for Kelly to discover she'd left some of her purchases in the restaurant... (Remember what I said about a little drama making a trip good? I take it back...)
So off we were again after phoning the restaurant - back on the tram, back into town and through the crowds in the Red Light District to go back and pick up her stuff. What did she leave you ask? Two boxes of incense and a lucky cat from one of the chinese supply stores a few doors down... Some things you just couldn't script if you tried!
So we had our final wander seeing as we were in the thick of it again before heading back to the hostel again and the next morning we were headed off back to the train station to go back to the airport for our flight.
Needless to say it was a very memorable trip with just a dash of drama here and there as well as waffles and pancakes that I still find myself dreaming of two years later. Perhaps it's time to make another trip...
- Melissa