Amsterdam?!?!

July 15-18, 2009

The ferry ride to Amsterdam was probably the nicest accommodation we will have our entire time in Europe. The ferry was at least 100 euros cheaper than any other mode of transportation, and probably twice as nice. We boarded the ferry to find out that we had our own cabin with a toilet and shower. We were so excited to have a shower that continually ran without having to keep restarting the shower every 20 seconds! The ferry ride took about 7 hours and we arrived 2.5 hours before it departed, which meant lots of relaxation without anybody else slamming doors and snoring. We woke up refreshed and ready to finally be in Amsterdam. Before we got there we had to first take 2 separate trains to get to the central station. Since we had just come from London, we had only pounds and no euros. The ATM machine wouldn’t work, but thankfully the conductor felt bad for Aubz and I and came up to us so we wouldn’t miss the train, and then let us ride for free.



When we arrived in Amsterdam, we had to look for a hostel since our room was “somehow” only booked for 1 person (Aubrey ;) It actually worked out for the best in the end because our hostel that we stayed at was much cheaper than the flying pig. We arrived at Bob’s Youth Hostel around 11 am to a very noisy and excited group of people in the reception area. Our hostel had one rule posted everywhere: Cannabis Yes!, Tobacco No! This pretty much sums up Amsterdam in one phrase. Aubz and I then got settled in our room and set out to explore.

Thanks to the advice from our hostel, we found a bike store that rented bikes for only 5 euro for 24 hours. We def. got what we paid for because the bikes were 2nd hand and very very uncomfortable! Next we headed to our first “coffee shop” in Amsterdam called the Grey Area. The staff was really nice and the shop was the only American coffee shop in Amsterdam, so of course we loved it here! After coffee, we were famished and wanted to try some authentic Dutch food. We found a café nearby that had outdoor seating on this little bridge, with gorgeous views of the canal on both sides. The canals all over gave Amsterdam a unique charm, and it has been my favorite place so far. For lunch, I had croquets and Aubz had a cheese sandwich, since they are known for both of these dishes.



After lunch, we biked to Vondelpark which was an absolutely huge park. We passed by this large water fountain that all the locals lay out by and bring their children to splash through the very shallow water. Everyone in the park was just enjoying the sunny day and relaxing on the grass so we decided to join them. As we were about to lay down, Aubz spotted some guys playing soccer nearby and of course had to join in. They were beyond impressed with her juggling skills and said they had never seen a girl who could play, let alone that good. One of the guys had a really really cute dog that I played with while she played soccer. We stayed there for a few hours before finally heading back to our hostel.




Our second day in Amsterdam, we stopped by the Rasta coffee shop before heading to the Hemp Museum. The Museum was very informative and gave details of everything you needed to know about Hash, Cannabis, and even how to decide what sex a plant is. At the end of the tour, there was a large room of Cannabis on display to give everyone an idea of how it is all grown.



We grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the Anne Frank Museum. It was surreal to see the Franks’ house after learning so much about them growing up. The tour was self-guided, but had excerpts from her diary written throughout the rooms, along with documentaries from those who had known Anne. The end of the tour was the most difficult to listen to as they described the last days of her life and showed pictures of those who lost their lives at Auschwitz.
Later on, we had dinner at a traditional Dutch restaurant called Bistro Bij Ons where Aubz and I split a really good dinner. That night we headed to the Red Light District because we had heard of the area, but had to see it for ourselves. Probably the weirdest and most uncomfortable area I have been in in my life. Everywhere you looked there were half naked girls in red rooms trying to lure in the men. There were also some pretty interesting stores in that area that were entertaining to browse. We quickly had enough for the night and headed back home.



The last day we checked out the Van Gogh museum, which was pretty incredible. The museum was in chronological order of his life, so you were able to see how he progressed as an artist with each year and each person that came into his life. As we were leaving the museum it began pouring on us so we found the quickest shelter we could; which was a nearby restaurant. After drying from the rain we were on to our much anticipated tour for the day: the Heineken Factory! We got to see all the vintage ads and bottles they used to use back in the day. Along the way, we each got a free beer to taste. The most entertaining part of the tour was watching these Asian women send a video email to friends where they were dancing and singing (video to come later).

After relaxing for a bit, we headed to a popular part of town where we ate dinner and attempted to go to a snoody night club. The bouncer was a complete a-hole and wouldn’t let us in because we had “flip-flops” on. Obviously he knew nothing about shoes because we actually had nice sandals on. Anyways, since Aubz has pretty much always been let in to the nicest clubs in New York, she had a hard time accepting denied entrance. The dumbest part was that the guy said we could put tennis shoes on and he would still let us in. We then went to a bar that was playing live music and was much more relaxed. Just as we thought we were done for the night, we saw a street show of a guy with some serious soccer skills. One of the most impressive was when he climbed up a pole while juggling the ball on his head. Once again, Aubz showed everyone that girls can play soccer and put a few other girls to shame. A crowd of over 30 people were all cheering for her as she blew everyone away. Then came 2 girls from the Cal Poly soccer team. I didn’t know them, but they were trying to juggle with Aubz and pretty much just embarrassed themselves. Instead of admitting that Aubz was really good, they instead blamed it on the fact that they had had a lot to drink and Aubz had only had one…typical girls! The next morning we quickly packed up and shopped for some souvenirs before getting on the train to Prague.