More Than Just Red Lights

me by the "a" of the I (am)sterdam sign

Well, I finally have some down time to write about my weekend in Amsterdam. What a weekend it was! I had so much fun and saw a lot. I know, I know...typical stories about Amsterdam deal with the Red Light District and legal marijuana, but it is so much more than that. Trista, Ashley, and I headed off on Friday morning. It was funny because I woke up and a few of my friends were on Facebook. It still amazes me how when I wake up, my friends are just getting home and when I am done with my day, my friends are just getting started with theirs.

the canals were everywhere and so pretty

Our flight was delayed for unknown reasons so we sat in the airport and on the plane for an hour and a half. I fell asleep once we boarded and I woke up and we didn't even move. We finally took off and made it to Amsterdam. We were a little lost but made our way through the airport and train station. Trista was very happy to see Starbucks. We took a cab to our hotel which was BEAUTIFUL! Amsterdam is similar to Venice, Italy in the sense that there a canals every other street. Our hotel faced a hotel and our room was huge. Typical European hotel rooms are very tiny, smaller than my dorm room here. After we settled in, we made the 5 minute walk to Anne Frank's house. This was probably one of my favorite things we did. It was so amazing and inspiring, I loved it and Trista even cried. Anne Frank was such a strong girl, it is too bad that she couldn't live to see the success of her diary. After the house we headed to the Red Light District for dinner. Amsterdam is very Dutch and it was always nice walking down the streets but you had to be careful of the bikers. They were crazy! I was more scared to get hit by a bike then a car. We finally decided to eat at this little pub called 'Heffers'. There we got burgers and boy do I miss a nice juicy burger! The beef in Amsterdam is better than the beef here in England, but trust me, J Alexanders will be one of the first places I go when I get back! After dinner we walked through the RLD and it wasn't as trashy as I expected. The main strips had shops, food places, and coffee shops and the little alleys were where the "girls" were. Of course we had to see what that was like and it was very awkward and disappointing. The alleys we went down didn't have too many girls and they were all very unattractive. What a sad job though.

Saturday we woke up and headed to the Van Gogh museum. On our way we stopped at a pub for breakfast/lunch. I had french onion soup and boy to I miss my mom's! The Van Gogh museum was a site to see. It opened my eyes to a new art. I have seen his works before, but seeing them up close in person was breathtaking, I wish I could have taken pictures. Unfortunately "Starry Night" is in New York so we didn't get to see that. After the museum we took a canal cruise. I wish I could say how beautiful everything was, however I fell asleep :/ whoops! Ashley and I headed to the Heineken Brewery after the cruise and I loved it! It was a lot of fun and very interesting. We got to see how the beer is made, where it is made, got a taste testing, and then we got 2 beers. It was worth the money for sure. After the brewery we headed back to warm up and get ready for the night. It was a very cold weekend in Amsterdam. I envy all the people going there in the spring because it will be gorgeous with all of the flowers and the sun shinning and reflecting off of the canals.

Beer tasting at Heineken Brewery 

Saturday night we went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner which was fun. After we tried to find a infamous pub called Molly Malones. We got lost many times and 8 different people sent us in the wrong direction. We finally found it down this little alley. There was a live band which was actually pretty good. We watched as the drunk 40 year olds danced along. After we went to an Irish pub on the way back to our hotel. We were sad that we just missed karaoke! At the pub these old guys were creeping on Ashley, but that turned out good for us because these younger guys from northern England came to our rescue. Everyone in Amsterdam is very friendly, it made everything so much better and more welcoming. I love meeting different people, everyone has such interesting stories that just fascinate me. 

We passed this door every time we walked back to the hotel.
I was in love with it, it was known as "my door".

We headed back to the hotel room and went to sleep after a very long day. We got up Sunday, went back to the pub from the first night for lunch and then headed to the airport. All in all, it was a very good weekend and I am glad I got to experience Amsterdam for myself and not go along with all the stereotypes everyone puts on it.

I hope everyone is doing well. Miss you guys everyday!

-Cheerio!