(I Am)sterdam

Last weekend I went to Amsterdam! It was incredible! Despite the fact that I adore the UK and Scotland, I fell in love with that city. The way my travels worked out included taking an 8 am flight back to Scotland on Monday morning, so I had the Monday from hell and didn’t have time to write about it last weekend. (Seriously my Monday involved quietly getting out of the hostel at 4:30 am and then taking a train, plane, and a bus back to Glasgow in time for class where I had to act like my life was together enough to be dissecting a cadaver in anatomy. It was the longest Monday I think I’ve ever had.)

Anyways so I got to Amsterdam on Friday night, and it was an incredible first impression. I got a little lost in the Red Light District, but surprisingly enough no one bothered me at all. And it was interesting to see that side of the city as well. I eventually made it to De Oude Kerk, and then from there to the National Monument and Royal Palace. From there it was pretty easy to find my hostel. After checking in, I decided to check out the nightlife. Turns out that where I was staying (Amsterdam Hostel Orfeo) is right in the middle of a pretty bustling area since it’s next to the Liedseplein, a square with a bunch of shops in it. There’s a really cool jazz club, Jazz Café Alto, right down the road that I’d recommend.

Oh yes and the coffeeshops. That’s where you can buy marijuana really easily. You can get pre-rolled joints or by the gram. If you go for the pre-rolled, then there’s either ones with tobacco or a “pure weed” joint. Be careful, weed there is stronger than in the states. There’s also space cakes, pro tip, don’t eat the whole damn thing, those take a few hours to go through your system and you don’t want to overdo it. It’s a pretty cool atmosphere inside the coffeeshops though, maybe check one out just for that.

Another pro tip: bikers are everywhere, watch out while you’re walking! (Especially after visiting a coffeeshop.)

Then on Saturday I started off my going to the Max Euplein square, which also has some nifty shops. Afterwards I walked to Begijnhof, which is this tiny square that dates from the 18^th century and is a great place to get away from the bustle of the city. It’s also free to walk around in! Then I headed to the Bloemenmarkt, a floating flower market! There weren’t any flowers in bloom, since it’s November, but it was still a pretty sight. After that I walked to the Hotel Droog, this quirky interior design store. From what I understand, there are Droogs all over Amsterdam where you can look at the furniture, they’re pretty cool. Another market in the area is the Waterlooplein market. This one is mostly clothes, objects, and food, a great place to wander around. One other tourist destination is the Magere Brug, or the skinny bridge. I didn’t think it was that special, the canals and bridges look gorgeous all over the city. Finally there’s the Albert Cryup market, in the southern part of the city. Also clothes and food, this one seemed a bit more lively than the Waterlooplein market, but they’re both excellent really. And that’s just down the road from Vondelpark, a gorgeous and huge park that’s wonderful to walk around in.

Sunday then started off with the Anne Frank Huis. You have to pay for all of the museums in Amsterdam, so I decided to just go for one. (The Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum look excellent as well.) Get there early as the queue can get very long. Other than that, it’s a wonderful museum, really brings a different perspective to Anne Frank and her story. The Anne Frank Huis is just next door to the Jordaan district, which is filled with interesting little artsy shops and beautiful houses. I then spent the afternoon in Noord Amsterdam, since taking the ferry behind Centraal Station is free! There’s not much in Noord Amsterdam besides the Eye film museum, but still nice to see a more residential area. Also they say that you have to pay to get into the Eye museum, but if you walk in and go downstairs you don’t need to pay to see their 360 degree theater and video pods down there.

Then Monday was just get up and go, so that was my weekend in Amsterdam.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the food though. The Dutch cheese is amazing, seriously if you need a snack walk into a cheese shop and sample a few. I mean, if you’re spending a ton of time there then buy something, but it’s cool to just walk in and sample a few and then leave. The pancakes are also amazing! Buy a ton of their mini pancakes, poffertjes, since they are the best thing I ate all weekend. And raw herring is a bit of a specialty, so grab some of that in a market. Stroofwaffles are also a specialty, they’re two waffles with caramel between them and sometimes chocolate spread on top. There are also these stores called FEBO all over the city. It’s similar to a vending machine, and most of the options are basically fried gravy. It’s an interesting experience, if nothing else.

I would definitely 2195678463% recommend visiting Amsterdam, it was an amazing weekend for me and I fell in love with the canals, people, and food there. Ugh, I want to go back so badly, but on to the next adventure!