Adventure to Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam ecstatic; we had FINALLY made it through the volcano. Flying during the day was a super cool experience I got to see how the Farmlands in Southern Bohemia in Germany are set up and even better I got to see the Amsterdam area from the plane which has so many canals that almost everyone gets to live on the water, people would boat to get their groceries. I am also big on water, and water sports so I thought this was super interesting. After we arrived we also got lucky as with the Volcano we had to cancel our Hostel (and lose 85 euros frustrating) but because we had to cancel our hostel we got to stay in the best hostel in Amsterdam, the Flying Pig Downtown (as everyone else was cancelling their hostel too). This Hostel was definitely a cool hostel, ideal for the traveler looking to socialize and meet new people. That night I stayed up late and watch the Canucks game with a die hard LA fan, it was awesome because I got to rag on him after we won for the whole next day.

All the Streets look like thus

The next day we enjoyed our free breakfast, checked into a cheaper room, and then headed for our to the Ann Frank House and the Van Goeg Museum. Ann Frank Museum I would recommend, Van Goeg Museum I wouldn’t. After this we explored for a bit checking out the I AMsterdam sign and a tulip market. That night we just chilled out in the hostel, and walked through the red light district which was definitely very different from Vancouver, these girls were self employed entrepreneurs.....

The next day we had the check out of the downtown hostel and find a different hostel, luckily we were able to check into The flying Pigs other hostel in the Uptown area, a totally different area of the city which we hadn’t explored yet. That day we rented biked and biked around the city and this cool park the whole day. That night we were soo tired from the all the biking that we just chilled out in the hostel and had some of the hostels 9 euro pitcher beer.

The famous I amsterdam sign

The final day Mirko, Tim, and I checked out the Free walking Tour which was run by the same company as the one I did in Berlin and Munich. The tour was cool and I learnt about how rich the Dutch used to be, and I found out that with the Dutch East Indian Trading Company we were very close to them conquering the whole world instead of the English! After the tour me and Tim hit up a delicious burger joint with fresh made burgers at a place called Burger Bar they were very tasty but a little pricy. After this I caught the tram to the hostel, grabbed my Luggage and headed to the airport.

All and all Amsterdam was an incredibly beautiful city, I loved how there was almost as many water streets as there were road streets. The houses were all gorgeous (I liked this style of houses (tall and skinny) much better than the style of house I have seen throughout Prague and the rest of Europe). Also get bikes; they are a great way to see the city. Also if you are traveling there BOOK your accommodation early, Amsterdam needs 8000 more beds each night to meet the demand and I know people that have booked late and gotten stuck in crappie hostels.

The Flying Pig (I Recommend this Hostel for sure)