One day... I'm moving to Amsterdam
I’m going to keep my post on Amsterdam short and sweet because unfortunately I was there for a very short two days. I did however manage to jam pack those 48 hours, starting with an amazing canal boat tour. The canals in Amsterdam are the true gems of the city in my opinion. I find that loads of cities have pretty areas that make all the tourist guidebooks, but Amsterdam was picturesque everywhere we went. We went after our ski Contiki, so it was early January, the trees were bare and the temperature was between 4 and 8 degrees. A nice change from the negative degrees we had become accustomed to. The canal tour was a great way to quickly get a feel for the city’s vibe.
MUSEUMS
After our boat tour we visited the Rijksmuseum. The mini lake in front of the museum was frozen over and had become a very popular ice rink. The museum was great, I’m not gong to claim to be an art critique, however there were some really interesting exhibitions on whilst we were there. After one look at the Anne Frank Museum line, since we were limited for time, we decided one museum was enough.
THE FOODHALLEN
Slowly our day came to an end, the sun began to set, and Amsterdam really only properly began to wake up. I’m not only referring to the huge sex trade and marijuana trade the city is famous for; rather to the energy of the city’s inhabitants as they simultaneously exhale after long days in the office. We were lucky enough to have a friend as a local guide who took us to a massive food court called the Foodhallen; in indoor food market located in the De Hallen cultural complex in Amsterdam's young, vibey Oud-West neighborhood. It felt like most people there were locals, meeting up with their mates for tapas and classy cocktails. After trying out a variety of fried balls and sweet treats we made our way to an amazing gin bar and had all sorts of exotic mixtures. Juniper berries, litchis, black peppercorn, grapefruit, and mint were just several of the ingredients floating in some of our local craft gins. Warning- although delicious, these drinks are not cheap, as a student they will break your budget, however they are totally worth it.
THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT
The next day was more about exploring and shopping and stopping at cute pavement cafes for open sandwiches and salads that fit into our budget. Once again the sun began to set, and just because it’s pretty obligatory (and curiosity killed the cat) we headed to the Red Light District. People say you should go see a live sex show while you’re there, but we couldn’t fathom wasting 50 euros on such. We told this to the tenth person on the sidewalk that tried to harry us into their show, and they lowered the price to 20.
So in we went.
If you haven’t been to one in Thailand or some other Asian country- don’t expect great things. I promise you the ‘actors’ are larger, older, and far flabbier than you would expect.
Charming.
Anyways, when in Rome right? We got a drink included, so not all was lost. After the show we roamed around looking for the legendary dwarf street (to no avail), walked in and out of a weed bar (fast, not my scene), and then headed elsewhere for another drink. The Red Light District is a huge tourist trap and you will pay accordingly. Our Dutch friend said she’d only been to the area once in her life. That should give you an idea of the crowd. Personally, I like searching for authentic local spots where you know you are going to get what you pay for, so I would recommend avoiding all restaurants and cafes in that area.
Thus ended our time in Amsterdam. I fell in love with the city; out of the many cities I’ve visited I think Amsterdam is definitely top 3. I would happily settle down there (one day) with a cute little flat overlooking the canals, a local baker down the road and canal side cafes lingering in my view. Sigh.
