Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam has been a city that we've been wanting to visit since before even moving overseas to the UK.  With it being not so far from the UK and the extreme low prices of Megabus, we were able to make it happen!  Though it is possible to catch a short, direct flight from Stansted Airport, instead we were first in line at the bus station in London (that's right, we were FIRST in line.  We've learned the hard way to not show up last minute if you are travelling abroad.... remember when we got stuck in Bari, Italy last summer because we missed our ferry?  Haha, we've definitely learned a few things about the do's and don'ts of travelling).  There we were, eager and ready to endure a ten hour bus ride.  On the  bright side, we got the best seats in the house (top level, front) where we could see everything as we made our way through France, Belgium, and finally the Netherlands.  Sounds cool, but the ride itself really wasn't that exciting.... mostly highway driving in the spitting rain.  Better yet, because of the waiting time at the English Channel, we slowly but surely fell behind schedule.  Finally, at 11pm, the bus rolled into the Amsterdam station.  

The first thing I'd like to share about our time there, was the awesome hostel we stayed at.  Lucky Lake.  Though it is situated fifteen minutes outside the city, it was such a colourful little oasis to come back to after our long days of strolling around the city.  The  hostel is more like a campground, consisting of brightly coloured trailers and cabins to sleep in.  You can take a pathway down to the lake, and the staff also offer a free shuttle into the city regularly throughout the day.  This place was set up so creatively!  I loved the 4 bed cabin we slept in and we thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor kitchen (though in the evenings it does get quite chilly... we were there just a couple weeks after they opened for the season).  We ate breakfast each morning in an old bus that had been transformed into a breakfast bar, and they even supplied us with all the ingredients and instructions on how to cook our own Dutch pancakes!  I also can't forget to mention the white chocolate and hazelnut spread that was available to us each morning.  We used the excuse to indulge each morning that we'd be walking pretty much all day.  Worth it, I'd say :)

Okay, so now that I've spent so much time going on just about the hostel, let's cut to the chase.  Amsterdam is such a cool city.  We spent our time there strolling the never ending weave of canals that form the city centre, taste testing cheese (SO good.  Definitely competes with the chocolate spread we had at breakfast), and taking in all the interesting quirks of Amsterdam.  The city is jam packed of old slanted row housing which line the canals, and has a rich and interesting history.  We took part in a walking tour the first morning we were there which brought us to some major sights of the city, ending at the Anne Frank house.  Our tour guide told a moving story of the Frank family who lived in hiding during the Second World War.  We had thought about going through the house (which is a museum now) until we saw the never ending line.  (Quick tip:  If you go to Amsterdam and want to go through the Anne Frank house, make reservations to bypass the line!) Though we didn't have the chance to go in, it is still quite something to walk the streets that Anne and her family members walked every day, living in fear of the Nazi's.  I'm sure there are many other untold stories of the corruption that went on during that time.  It was moving to hear and learn about how the people of Amsterdam stood firm during that time, attempting to continue with their every day lives through thick and thin.  

Floating Flower Market

The above photo captures the massive pillow fight that we came across in the Dam Square in the city centre.  All that fluff you see on the ground are feathers and fluff from pillows!  We never figured out how/why this was happening. haha.

I cannot leave out of this post two things that stand out in this city that is unlike any other city we've visited:  the Red Light District and the "legalization" of the use of marijuana (if you are not aware, a "Coffee Shop" in Amsterdam is somewhere where you can go to casually buy and smoke a joint.  If you want coffee, you go to a cafe).  Somehow, Amsterdam has a way of allowing these otherwise unaccepted activites in a way that just... works for them?  It is no doubt that these things go on in other cites, however here in Amsterdam it is out in the open, in clear view, for everyone to see.  I wasn't sure what to expect of the Red Light District, but I can say I was surprised at just how obvious it was.  There is no way you can walk through the streets of the Red Light District without knowing it.  Even so, it did not make me uncomfortable or on edge.  I think maybe it was because of how obvious things were.  I'd rather not get into a moral discussion here, but as we wandered through the streets of the Red Light District, I wondered what kind of story these girls would have to share.  I wondered if we would have anything in common or if we'd be friends in another scenario.

Red Light District.

Aside from exploring the city centre streets, we enjoyed a walk through Vondelpark (pronounced "Fondelpark"... lol Zack and I loved fine tuning our Dutch accents while we were there.  Our favourite tram line to say was, "Isolatorweg".  Love it. haha).  Vondelpark consisted of beautiful gardens and pathways with loads of walkers and joggers (though we were just a bit too early for the pretty flowers... I bet they're all in bloom now though!).  On our last day, we rented bikes from the hostel and rode out into the countryside, passing through some adorable Dutch towns.  We ate herring and onions for lunch at a bustling road side food truck, which was a nice treat (and cheaper than the herring we saw in Amsterdam)!  All in all, we loved our time in the Netherlands and would go back any day.