I AMSTERDAM ( I - AM - STERDAM )

i just got back from amsterdam ! the best city in the world !

friday:

so today i got back from amsterdam. we woke up this morning early to catch our flight home. we took easy jet - so we pretty much had to run on the tarmack to get on the plain. the amsterdam weather wasnt much help. it could be sunny one second and pouring rain another, not much different from vancouver weather. well had to get on the train (double decker train) from amsterdam city where our hostel and the main city center and "the red light district was to the airport which was about a 30 minute train ride. got through security with easy only to find out, our plane was delayed and then when we got on the plain delayed again because one of the passengers lost there passports ( that was stupid it took them 30 minutes to decide to kick the guy off the plane and to catch another one ) well an hour plane ride back and or i guess a 0 hour plane ride back due to the time difference. anyway got back to liverpool where we left at and got a bus to the train station and then had to go (indian train style) back to preston where i then crashed until deciding to write this.

Thursday:

after a busy night last night we decided to take a canal tour first thing in the morning. we used our i am|sterdam cards as the tour was then free. we got to go on an hour and a bit tour of the canals and take photos from a different angle then biking or walking or traming. you really get to see amsterdam in a different view. the houseboats in the canal are really cool all though i dont think i would ever consider living in one. i would be scared i would go out one morning and miss the first step and land in the water, (the canal water isnt that clean as it is all murky). from the canal boats you can see that alot of the houses are leaning and slanted due to the fact that they were built on woden poles supporting underneath. i kept on wondering if you put either a watermelon or orange on a table in the house it would roll off! i wonder if there best utensil is a saw to cut the legs down on one side of the table? along the way we also saw "nemo" which is the science world of amsterdam. which actually looks like the captin nemo ship from the movies :) we did not have time to go in an see it. :( we also ran out of time to go see the dutch resistence musuem which i was sadly disapointed by but we had seen so many musuems this week, we were kind of musuemed out.

after the canal tour ( i have lots of pictures on facebook ) we went to breakfast / lunch / dinner. :) (only some one on a low budget can do that) then we went to the anne frank house. i have pictures of outside of the house but non from within as alot of the museums would not allow you to take photographs on the art or items inside the buildings. but all the same the anne frank house was excellent and it really fills in all the pictures from when you read the diary (book). and also hit of the flower market which had interestering varity of flowers although there wasnt much actual flowers on display just bulbs. as it was our last night in amsterdam and we wanted to just enjoy the city for once and not go wandering to museums and events. so we met up with mikes friend brett who has been living in amsterdam for 3 months and knows the city more that we do. so we went to a couple places ( some i wish not to mention ) and then headed for some bars of the locals and that added more than the touristy places. and i had an early night as i wanted to be fresh for the trip back. although there was still a few people in our 10 bed hostel dorm that kept we awake with their snoring.

wednesday:

wednesday was a busy day. we woke up late after hardly getting enough sleep due to the fact that people snored very load. part of the experience of traveling cheap and staying hostels. the bathrooms were okay though so that was a surprise. and alot of americans traveling around. probably doing the same as us before school starts. we first travelled to the train station to get our i am|sterdam cards as they were 45 euros and gave you free transport for 3 days and free musuems and discounts all over the city. after that we hit up the musuem district where we wend to the diamond museum took some interesting photos there (see on facebook) and then right across the street to the rijksmuseum amsterdam. where we saw paintings buy rembrandt (sorry pictures not allowed) in this big park across from the musuem is what i think is the bigest tourist attraction which is the big I AM|STERDAM sign ( just by the way if you dont get why i put | in the amsterdam you will if you look at the pictures) took loads of pictures there. i also got a number of pictures of people using bikes and mopeds as they are the quickest way around the city besides using the trams. and everyone has a bike as they have there own path and are always given the right of way even by pedestrians apparently very few crashes occur and with all the bike in amsterdam i was wanting to ask the question why have they not one many tour de france? i kept quiet and got some really nice action photos. the van gogh museum was next on our list ( again no photos ) but they didnt have alot of his more famous work anyway. but some of his lesser known work was still amazing. the house of bols was amazing which was our next place of visit. because we got 25% entry and then got 3 free highly alcoholic drinks by the end i was hammered. bols is the original creater of gin (the english created gin) the dutch created the better and more powerful version of genever, which my god is it strong. and they also create many different time of liquers their newest one is natural yogurt. ( how cool is that ) by the way it was awesome. so i picked up some different stuff there because hey it said amsterdam and it is alcohol. i also took a video of the bartender (there is actually a bartending school at bols) of hime making the drinks. what did we do next... we had dinner and strolled the street of amsterdam for a bit an then went back to bretts house in another district which we hadnt been too for so good conversation and to meet some of his room mates (rick). brett also played us some of his music as that is what he does and he has been playing some local gigs while he was here in amsterdam for the 3 months. it was awesome although a late night we didnt get back to a snorring hostel until 3.

tuesday:

tuesday was a busy day. as we were flying out that day. 9 am we had to be on the train from preston to liverpool to catch a bus to the airport ( john lennon airport is so crappy ) a shack in the middle of a field would have been nicer. well anyway. we got on the plane it was half empty which made it nice we could spread. and headed for a fun 3 days in amsterdam. got to amsterdams airport which is outside the city center and then had to find a train to the city. thank god people in amsterdam no how to speak english. it made everything so easy. and they bike which is awesome if one of the bikers wants you to move out of the way, they ring this cute bell to let you know. our first night we just want to get to the hostel and check it out. it was called the white tulip hostel and it was about 22 euro a night which wasnt bad as alot of the other ones were full and we got 25% and the bar downstairs which helped with food costs. we met up with mikes friend brett. and he showed us the city. we strolled the streets of amsterdam and the red light district and the coffee shops, and the other shops. and stopped in at a local pub when the rain came pouring down and we all forgot our umbrellas this was the start of how the rest of the weeks weather would be. but overall a fun first night and if you read from this bottom to top as i notice i have done it the opposite way, you will understand the fun that we had.

bye for now.