Amsterdam…what a trip!!

I guess for some people this title could be two fold in meaning…for me there’s only one. Amsterdam was just ok for me. Nothing spectacular and I won’t be rushing to go back anytime soon, if ever in my life. I have always been told about the drug and sex scene in this Dutch city but I can say, without a doubt, I had no idea how much it would all be! Of course, it was not a good sign when we walked into our hostel at 6:30PM to check in and everyone in the room was high except the girl behind the counter (and I’m not so sure she wasn’t as well…). The place was recommended to us by a friend of a girl who went with me and I can say without a doubt I’ve never stayed anywhere else quite so nasty. If I’d been alone I’d have left immediately…and I’ll venture to say if we could have found another place to stay we’d have moved hostels but apparently everywhere in the city was booked out. I’m sure that being sick didn’t help our situation very much either. It seems that when one person was feeling better another was not feeling well in return. It turns out that I had a 24 (more like 48) hour stomach virus of sorts and Megz and Manda their own respective troubles…ick…


I can’t completely bash Amsterdam though…this city is famous for having more museums per square meter than any other city in the world. We went to the Van Gogh Museum (to see the Van Gogh’s obviously…) and also to the Rijksmuseum to see the Rembrandts (as it was the 400 year celebration) and they were spectacular. We witnessed the chaos with all the bicycles...saw two people get run over by them...you have to be more aware of them than of cars. (As a side note and some useless trivia, I read somewhere that around 25,000 bicycles end up in the canals every year there...) We also visited the Anne Frank house and I was completely moved by the experience. As a child we were required to read the book but being there put all that into perspective for me. Probably the best thing we saw was the Heineken Experience. This is housed in the original brewery, dating back to 1867, which is no longer used for production. It was relaxing and fun. I definitely recommend it if you are planning a trip to Amsterdam. Additionally, we took a stroll through the flower market and it was absolutely beautiful and fascinating how many different kinds of tulips are sold there. I can’t even imagine how much more lovely it would be during the spring months!!

I’m sure you’re all wondering so I will say we did take a walk one night through the heart of the red-light district. I found this all to be quite eye opening and sad. It deeply troubles me that for whatever reason some men and women feel the need to sell themselves in that manner. Between the drugs, sex, and all around trash (both people and objects) on the streets this city was not impressive to me. Perhaps I’m not the target audience anyway so no loss for any party. (Despite all this please know that I never in any way, at any time, felt unsafe on this trip. As disgusting as I found the place safety wasn’t something that bothered me!)


All in all we had a nice time being together, just the three girls, and we just kind of goofed off and were basically lazy for almost 4 days so that was great. I’ve added some of the nicer pics for your enjoyment and as usual I’ve updated my photo site so just click the link on the left of this page and select the Amsterdam folder for all my pictures of the trip.

Gute Nacht!!

LuLu