This could not be more true. The minute I stepped off the tram into Amsterdam's city square, I knew I was in a different world. The smell of pot wafted out of every "coffee shop" as I made my way to my hostel. My hostel, Shelter City, looked out of place smack dab in the middle of the infamous Red Light District while also trying to rock a "Jesus Loves You" sign above the door. Ironic because literally 10 feet away, there were windows with hookers who clearly did not have Jesus on their minds at that moment or let's be honest, probably ever. Hmm what have I gotten myself into here. I met up with one of my best friends and roommmate from U Of I who was studying abroad in Norway and decided last minute to jump on the Amsterdam train with me and together we found this hostel the day before we were suppossed to leave. Spontaneity, gotta love it. We dropped our stuff off in the room and instantly went to explore the city. We were busy filling each other in on our travels when all of sudden I was startled by one of the girls in the window looking directly at me. She saw me startle back and decided it would be funny to tap on the window to freak me out even more. Thanks, bitch- and that was the first hooker I met in Amsterdam.
We randomly ran into some of my friends and we decided to head out to the one of the citiest busiest (and safest) tourist attractions- the Anne Frank House. It was really interesting becasue her book is one of my favorites and it was crazy to be in the place she lived while she wrote it.
Saurday, we went on a free walking tour of the city and our tour guide explained that there was much more to Amsterdam than just weed and hookers. And I must say that I agree with this statment. The city of Amsterdam is actually really pretty, especially once you get away form the Red Light district. The tour guide was hilarious and gave us the quote that I used to title this post.He was English and said that he came to Amsterdam on a trip one time and the beauty of the city made him stay (Yea, I'm sure "the beauty" of the city is what made him stay). We also learned that there are more bikes than people in the city, there are more canals than Venice, and there are more bikes in the canals than any where else (25,000 to be exact). Apparently a favorite Dutch past time is to find bikes that are not tied up and toss them in the canals. Hey whatever, everyone has to get their kicks somewhere right? We decided to stop off at a famous coffeehouse wheere a scene from Ocean's 12 is filmed. We ordered muffins. The muffins were good. You can fill in the blank with how special these particular muffins were. We then planned to go to the Van Gogh museum and the Heinekin factory and then we learned that the phrase "Let's eath these muffins and then go to (insert the blank)" is truly an oxymoron becasue I did not want to go anywhere. I don't know how the Dutch get anything done in life knowing these space cakes exist. Well, we ended up making in to the Heinekin Factory after getting lost for a good 45 min. The Heinekin factory was actually really cool but a waste of 15 bucks because other than the room that had comfortable couches and played Heinekin ads on a big screen for an hour straight, I couldn't tell you anything else that I saw there. Oh well.... That night we decided to lay low and go to a few cafes around Amsterdam. I did my first shot of Absinthe which not gonna lie, did not live up to my expectations but I guess it was only one shot. The next day Sarah and I hit up the Rembrandt house which is the house he used to live and work in. Honestly, it sucked. It cost me 6 euros and I think that was 5.50 euros too much. Everything in the house was a recreation and other than the fact that he once lived at that address, it was not his house. Then we went to a cafe before we left for the airport, I ate another really good muffin, and airport security will never be the same to me ever again. I was in the perfect state of mind for leaving Amsterdam and it couldn't have been a better weekend.
Update next week on Prague this weekend
Ciao for now
Mia
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