Today was a very exciting day as we were getting ready to start a new section of this trip. Since our recent train days have been northbound from southern Germany, we are finally starting to head east to continue our circular tour of Northern Europe. We left around 5 am to get to the train station around 5:40 for a 5:49 train departure. This was a long train ride which we knew we could sleep on, so we decided to do so and rest up for the walk around Amsterdam.
We arrived right on time and the first order of business today was to check into our hotel. This place was a Christian hostel, and was quite amusing for reasons I’ll explain later. Nonetheless this was the cheapest place we could find planning for this trip downtown. This was the first and only time we were separated in male and female dorms for the entire trip. This particular place was not the cleanest, however for the value (being the cheapest) it was worth it.
It was only located about a 20 minute walk from the train station. The train station itself is one of the more impressive stations we encountered these months as it was a stately almost courthouse look set in red stone. Further more whilst it is architecturally appealing, this was built along rivers, and canals which made for a dramatic backdrop to the building. Amsterdam was one our of bucket list destinations from the beginning, for more reasons than just seeing the buildings however.
We decided to go to a local ‘coffee shop’ to kick off our experience in the city. Of course this blog should be noted…..this is PG 13 and up. The coffee house was of course to smoke weed, and experience what so many tourists come to Amsterdam to do. This place was an overall I enjoyable experience. I was not one to smoke often, however Ashley was, and she was all about it. I ordered an iced coffee, and we both split a joint in this process. This joint was actually a blunt, nonetheless we felt the effect it was to have and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon in the shop.
The rest of the day was a series of in and out areas of churches and scenic spots. One can only walk a short while in Amsterdam to realize that the canals tend to look the same (similar to Venice). With this in mind we explore our churches and shops. we decided that we had to try an original Heineken int he area it was brewed. Similar to Guinness I figured it would have a unique taste that one would not receive from one your receive int he USA. With that in mind I would say that there was not much difference in taste but the ability to drink it in a park while having a pizza in the middle of Amsterdam was worth the experience.
We decided to do some bar hopping after checking out more local coffee houses, and by the afternoon we were ready to try something the than drinking. W decided on a boat tour around Amerstedam was worth the money to be spent. This cost us 25EU and we were very happy to pay it and get off our feet.
As much fun as hangin on the side of canals and watching the local traffic was I wanted us to experience the city from the water, thus we paid for a boat tour and during sunset was the perfect time to go. The tour lasted ….. and was worth every penny. We learned that …. (pegs from building), and the reasons for canals in the city. This tour was a sit down talking tour that lasted about an hour and I recommend them here if you ever visit the city. It was time to rest and get ready for the next day of travel to do a day trip to Da Hague.
EXPENSES
3.80 coffee mcdonalds
5 subway lunch
6 cofweed
5 beer
8.70 pizza
25 boat ride
7 weed
4.50 beer
3.20 drink at coffee shop
5 drink at bar
Total – 73.20 (-9.8-125.23= 116.03 over)
WALKING ROUTE IDEAS
Amsterdam Centrall
-Greenhouse United coffeshop near train station
Ons Lieve Heer op soldier
De Wallen
Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
Hermitage Amsterdam
Anne frank House
-Bears van berlage
-the butcher speakeasy
-door 74 bar
-De Foodhallen – Amsterdam, Netherlands
6251-373313898 Shelter City hostel check in at 2 (141.00 for 2 nights)
TRAIN- IC 9211 5:49-8:37 to amsterdam