This morning was finally my first day ever to explore the city of Amsterdam. Somehow it has not yet made any of my previous European itineraries, even though I have always wanted to come here, but I've finally gotten my chance to see it!
I woke up earlier than my alarm because I was pretty hot, which sucked but at least I woke up naturally I guess. I woke up Kelly (much to her dismay) and we got ready to go on another free walking tour! I don't think that's Kelly's first choice of activity, but I think it's the best way to get an idea of a city you have never been to and know very little about.
So we ventured out into the city, first stopping to get Kelly a coffee, and met up with the Sandeman's New Amsterdam tour. Our tour guide was a Swede named David and he was pretty cool. He actually lived in the bay area for about six years, so we chatted a bit about that and about our recent midsommar experiences. So, we saw a bunch of cool places in the city, including the famous red light district, which was nothing like I anticipated. The girls are all shapes and sizes (and I do mean ALL) and are wearing nothing but a thong and bra in most cases. It is quite interesting. Only a few were in their window doorways during the day, but our tour guide told us to go back and explore at night. There is also a Huge church in the middle of the district and is the oldest church in Amsterdam. It apparently was able to be built so big in the past thanks to sailors indulgences for their sins after drinking and taking full advantage of the plethora of prostitutes in the area.
We saw a lot of other cool things in the city and heard some neat stories. Molly, you would love/hate this one street. It was the old Jewish area that had been devastated in the 1940's due partly to the war, and partly to a particularly harsh winter that caused residents to use anything they could to keep warm, including doors, stairs, wood beams, etc. The area stayed in dismay for years, until the 1960's when architecture students redesigned the street. Now you can imagine how lovely this sixties architecture is. Bright colors, cubism, and general ugliness is what occurred, but it leaves kind of an interesting story at least (you have to find some good in it somewhere right?).
After the tour we joined a few people and our guide at a local bar to hang out for a bit (and to find a useable restroom and some wifi!). Sitting after walking for a few hours was quite amazing so we stayed for a while just relaxing. We eventually got up and ventured back towards the main part of the city to find a charm for Kelly.
Once again charm hunting was no easy task. We couldn't find a jewelry store, and the first one we did find had nothing. We eventually gave up and started walking back to the hostel when I saw a small store that looked like it had charms! Kelly had almost walked right by it, but we had finally found a shop that sold good 14k gold charms that symbolized the city and country we were in. It's amazing how difficult those are to find! Once he was happy with a pretty tulip, we headed back to the hostel for some down time.
Around 7pm we met up with my friend Rachel who is from the general Amsterdam area. I met her through synchro years ago and hadn't seen her since her and her twin sister Esme were in NYC a few years back when I loved there. The three of us went to a cool area of Amsterdam where locals hang out and hung out for a while before she had to get home. It was great to catch up! She suggested we got to an Italian place for dinner near-ish to our hostel and she dropped is off there.
The restaurant was really good, though my portion was quite small. I would still eat there again for sure. I had a stack of tomato, eggplant, mozzarella, and basil (warm ad meaty of course) and it was super yummy. We were so happy to finally have dinner that everything seemed extra awesome as well!
After dinner we went back to the hostel to hang out in the lobby for a bit. On the way back we took a detour back through the red light district. It was definitely Mee interesting at night! There were a ton of girls (a lot of windows with the curtains drawn as well), and actual red lights showing they were open for business. It was quite an experience to see them hitting on men and to see how it all really was.
We eventually got back to the hostel and started watching the Spain-Portugal game and checking email and such. Kelly had a headache so we decided to call it an early night. I finished watching the game, which of course went to overtime and penalty kicks, and then joined her back in the room. We are now going to go to bed ad tomorrow is a no alarm day! Sleep in is definitely necessary, I just hope I dot wake up sweating again! The party is still sounding like it's in our room, but my earplugs are great! Night!
I woke up earlier than my alarm because I was pretty hot, which sucked but at least I woke up naturally I guess. I woke up Kelly (much to her dismay) and we got ready to go on another free walking tour! I don't think that's Kelly's first choice of activity, but I think it's the best way to get an idea of a city you have never been to and know very little about.
So we ventured out into the city, first stopping to get Kelly a coffee, and met up with the Sandeman's New Amsterdam tour. Our tour guide was a Swede named David and he was pretty cool. He actually lived in the bay area for about six years, so we chatted a bit about that and about our recent midsommar experiences. So, we saw a bunch of cool places in the city, including the famous red light district, which was nothing like I anticipated. The girls are all shapes and sizes (and I do mean ALL) and are wearing nothing but a thong and bra in most cases. It is quite interesting. Only a few were in their window doorways during the day, but our tour guide told us to go back and explore at night. There is also a Huge church in the middle of the district and is the oldest church in Amsterdam. It apparently was able to be built so big in the past thanks to sailors indulgences for their sins after drinking and taking full advantage of the plethora of prostitutes in the area.
We saw a lot of other cool things in the city and heard some neat stories. Molly, you would love/hate this one street. It was the old Jewish area that had been devastated in the 1940's due partly to the war, and partly to a particularly harsh winter that caused residents to use anything they could to keep warm, including doors, stairs, wood beams, etc. The area stayed in dismay for years, until the 1960's when architecture students redesigned the street. Now you can imagine how lovely this sixties architecture is. Bright colors, cubism, and general ugliness is what occurred, but it leaves kind of an interesting story at least (you have to find some good in it somewhere right?).
After the tour we joined a few people and our guide at a local bar to hang out for a bit (and to find a useable restroom and some wifi!). Sitting after walking for a few hours was quite amazing so we stayed for a while just relaxing. We eventually got up and ventured back towards the main part of the city to find a charm for Kelly.
Once again charm hunting was no easy task. We couldn't find a jewelry store, and the first one we did find had nothing. We eventually gave up and started walking back to the hostel when I saw a small store that looked like it had charms! Kelly had almost walked right by it, but we had finally found a shop that sold good 14k gold charms that symbolized the city and country we were in. It's amazing how difficult those are to find! Once he was happy with a pretty tulip, we headed back to the hostel for some down time.
Around 7pm we met up with my friend Rachel who is from the general Amsterdam area. I met her through synchro years ago and hadn't seen her since her and her twin sister Esme were in NYC a few years back when I loved there. The three of us went to a cool area of Amsterdam where locals hang out and hung out for a while before she had to get home. It was great to catch up! She suggested we got to an Italian place for dinner near-ish to our hostel and she dropped is off there.
The restaurant was really good, though my portion was quite small. I would still eat there again for sure. I had a stack of tomato, eggplant, mozzarella, and basil (warm ad meaty of course) and it was super yummy. We were so happy to finally have dinner that everything seemed extra awesome as well!
After dinner we went back to the hostel to hang out in the lobby for a bit. On the way back we took a detour back through the red light district. It was definitely Mee interesting at night! There were a ton of girls (a lot of windows with the curtains drawn as well), and actual red lights showing they were open for business. It was quite an experience to see them hitting on men and to see how it all really was.
We eventually got back to the hostel and started watching the Spain-Portugal game and checking email and such. Kelly had a headache so we decided to call it an early night. I finished watching the game, which of course went to overtime and penalty kicks, and then joined her back in the room. We are now going to go to bed ad tomorrow is a no alarm day! Sleep in is definitely necessary, I just hope I dot wake up sweating again! The party is still sounding like it's in our room, but my earplugs are great! Night!
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| A beautiful canal in Amsterdam |
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| The small version of the famous sign (we never saw the big one) |
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| The skinniest house in Amsterdam |
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