It all started with our travelling to the Victoria Train Station to meet up with our tour group at 7:30 pm on Friday night. On our way to the platform, we got some tasty Krispy-Kreme donuts to take with us.
We were met up by a tour coordinator and he stuck us on a train to Brighton. After a 45 minute train ride, we were met at Brighton by our actual tour guide, a young man named Marc, and he ushered us all onto a coach.
We got to know our guide (he was a total crack-up, and easy on the eyes too) and he let us know what we were going to do over the weekend, the rules of the bus, etc. We ended up watching 500 Days of Summer and once it was over, we had arrived at a truckstop-like place to use the restroom, get Euros, and do a bit of shopping before we boarded the train to take us under the sea and to Europe.
I withdrew 100 Euros to have with me, washed my face (as we would be spending the night on the bus as it drove to Amsterdam) and waited for Erika to pick out a bag she would use as a purse for the weekend.
Erika initially chose this cheap tote bag in which the proceeds went to charity (providing water for Africa). She changed her mind though and ended up taking it back and replacing it with a cute bag that said London and listed different famous streets all over it.
Later on the bus, I turned to her and said "so, do you realize that you basically gave money to charity..and then took it away?" She blinked as she thought it over, and a look of horror came over her face. We both just started cracking up because it was so horrible, but kind of funny. It lead to us saying things like "no biggie, it isn't like they need water in Africa" and "thou has giveth and thou has taketh away". It was awful.
We shortly approached the Eurotunnel, where we learned that our coach was going to drive onto a train car and we would get to the mainland that way.
It was super trippy, something straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Once we were boarded on the train, we were allowed to get off the coach and stretch our legs or use the restroom. We opted to just hang out in the huge train cars and not on the stuffy coach.
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| I like how they illustrated the stick figure for "wait for 2 sec". |
Once we got off the eurotunnel, it was a six hour drive straight to Amsterdam.
I am not going to lie, this was not fun. Most people slept, but Erika and I could not get comfortable and could not get any sleep whatsoever. It was a long bus ride.
We arrived in Amsterdam at 7 in the morning. It was still dark. We stepped off the bus and it. was. FREEZING! I have never been that cold in my life, without there being mountains and copious amount of snow. All I had with me was a zip up sweatshirt, skinny jeans, and a scarf. We were not prepared. Add this to the fact that we hadn't slept in over 24 hours and you can imagine how I was feeling.
Withing 5 minutes of being off the bus, we were approached by three English blokes who were stoned out of their minds. They were harassing our guide, but eventually they walked away. It was definitely a "Welcome to Amsterdam" moment.
Our guide showed us around the city, he told us that the three "X"s we saw all over the place didn't have adult connotations like elsewhere, but that they appear on the Amsterdam coat of arms and they signify tragic events that shaped Amsterdam. Fire, floods, and the Black Death are what we were told the Xs represented.
Our guide then took us to eat at this hole-in-the-wall cafe for breakfast. I got a cappuccino and a cheese omelet. It was delicious, but both Erika and I were not feeling too great, so we didn't eat as much as we would have liked.
After breakfast, we did a little more touring, and then we were allowed some free time.
We wandered the Flower Market, which is also known as the floating market, as it floats on a canal. It sells mostly flowers, and those flowers are mostly tulips, which Holland is famous for.
Erika and I headed to the Anne Frank house and museum. It is the secret annex that she hid in while she wrote the famous diary, and where she and her family were eventually discovered.
Once inside, we weren't allowed to take pictures. We were treated with quotes from the diary, short video clips of people who knew Anne and/or her family, and who helped her out while in hiding.
We got to go up the daunting hidden staircases and see the rooms. The furniture was mostly gone, but you can still see where Anne's father notched the wall signifying her growth, as well as Anne's bedroom walls that she decorated with pictures and postcards that she liked.
We also got to see her actual diary and journals.
It was a pretty interesting and moving experience.
After that, we wandered the city a bit, took some pictures.
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| I think it means "Your car will be towed" |
We headed down to the Heineken Brewery to check it out. It smelled yummy.
Then we met back up with our tour guide and jumped on a canal cruise. Our guide joked that he calls it the "Matrix" boat because within 5 minutes of the trip, everyone passes out and sleeps until the end of the tour. I remained awake during the whole thing, but it wasn't easy.
Amsterdam actually has more canals than Venice. They are fed by the river Amstel, and the city uses a dam to help this process, hence the name Amsterdam. They also use this water to make Amstel beer.
The "guide" on the boat was actually a recording that spoke in 3 different languages before it got to an English translation.
After the cruise, we had less than an hour's free time before we needed to be back on the bus to head to the hotel.
We hadn't eaten all day (except for a bit of breakfast and those donuts, much earlier on our coach journey).
We grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's. Sadly, there wasn't a veggie option, so I opted for a cappuccino (to keep me awake) and a large french fry.
It is amazing how much strong caffiene can clear your head when you are close to becoming a sleep-deprived zombie.
There are rules at the McDonald's in Amsterdam, they don't mess.
Once we got our food and sat down, a worker came to our table, touched our tray and said "Bon Apetite". We looked at him weird as he stared us down, and he finally motioned to our feet. We were both sitting on our leg, one foot tucked under us, and he didn't like that. He waited until both our feet were on the floor before he left. It was a very strange experience that I still don't totally understand.
After we ate, we got on the bus and were taken to our hotel to rest up for a few hours before hitting the town at night. I took a lovely hot shower (where I discovered I had a nice, itchy, red rash on my legs, from my goosebumps rubbing against my jeans). We bundled up and I "hoovered" a poptart (as Erika calls it) and we headed back downstairs.
Our guide prepped us for our tour of the Red Light District by telling us, multiple times, to not take photos within it. He says the girls might come after us, or worse, their pimps. He also made it clear that if that happened, we were on our own, he wouldn't get involved.
The Red Light District actually ended up being one of my favorite places, weirdly enough. The girls are all wearing various types of lingerie as they stand in doorways that have glass instead of a door. If they see men they like, they tap the glass, gesture, blow kisses, etc, to try and get their attention. Erika and I stayed close with our guide, and noticed that they really liked him. He said he wasn't sure if they just recognized him (because he does these tours a lot), or if they just found him a better option than a lot of the other men who were prowling around the area.
Because prostitution is legal in Amsterdam, and the RLD is so well known, it is incredibly safe. There are police everywhere, it is well lit, and there is a zero tolerance policy for violence and the like. Erika and I walked around some more after our guide left us, and it felt like the safest part of an already safe city.
We saw a few men chat with the prostitutes and join them in their doorway. When this would happen, the curtain would close, signaling that they were busy, and allowing for some privacy.
Erika and I laughed at how many of the girls were just sitting in their windows, chatting on the phone, acting bored. We were also shocked at how gorgeous most of the girls were. It was not what we were expecting.
There is something else about Amsterdam. It shouldn't surprise anyone, but Amsterdam reeks of marijuana. This is especially true at night, we couldn't take two steps without inhaling second hand smoke coming from a coffee shop or a street corner. That led to some interesting feelings later on, but Erika and I abstained from the drugs and wandered around the district. I eventually got myself a chocolate cake slice, drug free.
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| The Bulldog is the first ever coffee shop to legally offer pot, so it is pretty famous, and is now a chain in Amsterdam |
We headed back towards the edge of town, and walked through a peaceful protest
We had a little less than thirty minutes to kill, so we decided to check out the infamous Sex Museum. It only cost 4 Euros, but it ended up being another of my favorite things in Amsterdam. It essentially chronicles the history of sex, in all forms, from across time. There was ancient porn, recent porn, sculptures, modern art, and even information on famous sex symbols like Marilyn Monroe.
There was even a strange room made to look like a back alley. I was walking through it, noticing all the creepy mannequins (dressed as prostitutes), when suddenly one dashed at me. I squealed and ran out of the room, into the main hall where all the employees laughed at me.
We left as the museum was closing and hopped on our bus.
We got ready for bed and snapped this pic.
Did I mention we had bunk beds?
Our room was so small, offered no privacy. Good thing we've known each other for a month now (but every single day of that month, so I say it counts as longer haha).
We quickly fell asleep, as we had to be up early the next day to enjoy more of Holland, and Belgium!
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