Hello! It’s taken me a while to get the motivation to write this one and I’m not totally sure why. I initially thought that I didn’t really like Amsterdam but perhaps that’s because it was in the middle of our two month trip and I was a bit tired at this point! One too many night time bus journeys I think but actually, while writing this Blavel I’ve come to realise that I do have some great memories from there so keep reading...
As you know, marijuana is legal in The Netherlands and it doesn’t take you long to smell the stuff as soon as you get into town. In fact I’m convinced that the whole staff at our hostel were on it 24/7! as the guy was showing me where to sleep he was like ‘ok man, you can’t smoke in here ok but everywhere else is cool’ and for some reason that cracked him up and he walked away laughing his head off!
Don’t worry to those people who are now screaming at me that Amsterdam is more than just a place that has legalised marijuana... I know! The museums are world class and there are so so so many of them and the architecture is really stunning, I loved the canals and all the places to drink/eat beside them the best!
But anyway, our hostel was a fair way from town because the reviews of the hostels close to town were the worst I’d ever read (!) so because we were so far from town we only went into the centre on two occasions. The first time was at the end of a day one that had included a 12 hour bus ride from Copenhagen with an arrival time of 5am. We got dropped off at one of the major train stations and it was raining and very cold and off course, nothing was open! We did however get to wait with the local homeless group who were no trouble at all but who also smelt like bad feet! So anyway, once the trains started working we made our way to the station that the hostel shuttle picks you up from. We had to wait some more time for the shuttle and then when it did come the driver was the iciest ice queen in the history of ice queens! Oh yeah, apart from the trippy guy who showed me my room, we were about to experience the coldest service we’d ever experienced in our lives! There were heaps of staff at this place but they never really did anything apart from hang out together and smoke and cook all their meals together taking up all the room in the so called ‘backpackers kitchen’! Ever felt like you were an uninvited guest at a private party?... well we did! Anyway, when we finally got settled and went back into town for food we were so tired that we just weren’t prepared for the hordes of people in the city! Heaps and heaps of tourists and the place was just jumping with noise and people and mess everywhere and it would’ve been cool except that I just felt like a grumpy old nanna!!!
But the second time we went in we’d actually had some sleep and it was heaps better! We checked out one of their many museums which was very cool I have to say and we walked heaps looking at all the notable buildings and canals. We also went through Anne Frank’s house which was another sobering experience (we had previously been to visit Drachu Concentration Camp near Munich) and very worth doing! I was very very moved at this one and had a lot of trouble keeping the tears in because it was so much more personal than the overwhelming experience of the concentration camp.
So other than that we actually spent a lot of time near the hostel because it was situated near a massive man-made lake so we hired bikes and checked out the lake and the country roads all around the area. That was actually, for me, one of the highlights of the whole trip so far! It was so very wonderful to cruise down a country lane which followed a canal on one side and cow fields the other. There were typical Dutch farm houses to check out as well as floating houses and dykes/draw bridges and boats galore! Actually, the drawbridges were great because the boats had to moor up beside them and ring a bell - then a person comes out of the nearest house, takes their money and lifts the bridge for them to pass! Just like the old days! So cool!
One other thing to mention and for those of you who know me well you know what I’m about to say... OH MY GOSH... THE FLOWERS!!!! Yep, the flowers were just beautiful! Unfortunately I never got to see the famous tulip fields (wrong season) but there was a big flower market beside a canal in the city and the flowers in the gardens that we saw while on our bike ride were just stunning!
Travel tip... buy a bug swatter thingy, I have never been accosted by soooooo many wasps in my life before! Luckily they didn’t seem to want to bite but they did find me fascinating... the feeling wasn’t mutual!
That’s about all. See ya next time!
x
