It's far from what I expected, reminding me slightly of Italy - the buildings, history, cuisine, but everything else is somewhat an eye opener. From the crazy roads to the famous Red Light District, Amsterdam exceeded all expectations..
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| Bikes EVERYWHERE!! |
I've never been so petrified of bikes and I can honestly say I was more street wary of crossing roads here than I was when I visited NYC.
Amsterdam is just another kettle of fish all together, cyclists actually stop at red lights, they actually have their own lanes (so they're not riding in the middle of the road..) but they don't half carry an aggressive tone..if I never heard another bike bell it would be too soon!
Not only do you have to watch out for cars, there's also trams, bikes, scooters and of course people. There's about a million different crossing routines, pedestrian crossing, pelican, trams, the amount of noise just to tell you that you can cross the road is uncanny! I'm getting hot sweats just thinking about it!!!
Unlike most cities Amsterdam has a hierarchy for 'right of way'...bikes, trams, cars..people! If I had a pound for every bike that dinged their bell at me this week, I would be on my way to being a millionaire!
Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I've visited. The buildings are so antique, gorgeous & have so much character about them! Whilst on the canal cruise we were told that they were built tilted to make them look bigger, but one of the slimmest houses in Amsterdam was only 10 feet wide!! - Cheaper tax! (I promise this post isn't me trying to be a historian..just a fact I learnt!)No word of a lie, driving back from the Red Light District was one of the most stressful things I've ever experience & I wasn't even the driver!! A tram to our left, a bike to our right, sandwiched between two cars, all within about three inches of our taxi...STRESS!!
I promise I did have a good time really, I can't believe how much we managed to see during such a short space of time! We did everything from strolling around the beautiful Vondelpark to visiting the Red Light District.
Unless you live under a rock, you'll know that Amsterdam is surrounded by canals. Everywhere you go, you'll be walking alongside one. They surround the city "like an onion" as one of the tours described it, made up of many layers with the canals being those layers. Everywhere looked the same saying that!! Each canal and bridge looked the same as the next, the bombard amount of maps we were given definitely came in handy! (Safe to say I'm a pro map reader now!)
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| One of the gorgeous canals by the Museum Quarter |
If you're a foodie like me, Amsterdam is DEFO for you! The food is incredible, they have every type of cuisine restaurant you could think of and their waffles..oh my! Something else! Fresh from the market, there is nothing better!! Every meal was a banquet...
One day we visited one of their famous markets, it had everything from antiques to food. The food from here was just amazing, freshly cooked & melt in your mouth kinda food!
The only bug bear I have about Amsterdam is they're very tight on testers..I like to try before I buy and there wasn't much sampling around! When there was, there was none left by the time we moved to the next stall! (I did actually buy some of their food I promise, samples work..)
Amsterdam is definitely not short of things to do, places to visit, things to see! Vondelpark was beautiful - one of the largest parks in Amsterdam and definitely one to visit especially if you've hired bikes whilst you're there! It's a hugeeeee park that must stretch miles, with tonnes of history of Amsterdam, figurines, cafes, bars, hand planted rose gardens, yoga classes and even pre natal yoga!! It was absolutely gorgeous & I'd love to be able to visit it during it's peak in the Summer!
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| Vondelpark |
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| Riverside Café at Vondelpark |
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| Anyone for a beer? |
My fave attraction of the week was probably the Heineken factory! Although I do not like beer in the slightest (visiting here & tasting it freshly made didn't change my mind either!) the actual experience of how it's made is brilliant. We went through the history of Heineken & how it's made - I even got to pretend to be a brewer for a while! Best part (for those who like beer) you get two free drinks at the end of the tour!!
One of the must see things in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank museum. I know it's popular, but I didn't think there would be a 3 hour waiting queue to go inside!! We swiftly moved on, and came back later on in the night! However, when we finally got inside it's quite an emotional experience! Seeing into the thoughts of Anne Frank herself, inside the house where she hid for all those years, the memories of how she lived her life in secret was lovely to experience first hand(ish) - it even had the original bookcase that she hid behind. The history & the story was incredible.
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| Windows along the district. |
Of course, you couldn't take a trip to Amsterdam without visiting the one and only Red Light District..
An eye-opener, to say the least.
It's everything you'd expect - gorgeous, young girls stood in glass windows being gauped at by a bunch of men who look like a child in a toy shop and as if they've never seen a naked girl before.
I was more shocked at the male reactions than the district itself.
The district is huge, that I wasn't aware of. It goes down so many streets and blocks, the amount of girls and I mean girls, not much older than me, that were there was insane! But, it is what it is & you need to visit it to really believe everything you hear about it.
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| Red Light District |
Two lads knocked on the window of a pretty girl offering her €25 euros, she said "No, €50" when they replied "That's too much for you!" she slammed her door in their face! You go girl! Definitely worth more than that! (no pun intended..)
Call be naive but I didn't think it would be quite so, respectful, if that word can be used in this place. By that I mean, the girls didn't just stand in a glass window & invite someone in there and draw their curtain, behind them is a proper 'bedroom' with a saucy bed, bathroom and decorated seductively - this, I was shocked. The way it's made out it's in, out, pay, goodbye!
Alongside the Red Light District is the Sex Museum, which basically gives you a history of the Red Light District itself. In the District itself it's also filled with bars, strip clubs, casinos and is definitely the place if you want to experience the nightlife of Amsterdam!
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| Another one of the many canals featuring a few more bikes... |
I would go back to Amsterdam in a heartbeat, there's still so much more we could have seen & next time I will definitely be riding on a back around the infamous bicycle city!
I think it's safe to say the 15,000 steps we walked each day have definitely caught up with me! If you're yet to visit Amsterdam, get it on your bucket list!
Thanks for reading, be sure to check in this week for my bounce back regime from Dam! x x
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| Gals on tour X |
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| 'I Amsterdam' with my bestie X |
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