AmsterDAMN IT

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, last weekend I spent some time in Amsterdam for my birthday. 

Amsterdam is always somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit, hell, it’s on my bucket list of places to visit... speaking of which...

39. Visit Amsterdam

Yey!!

Right, where was I...  Oh yes, so yup, it’s always been a city I wanted to visit, with it’s quaint canals, beautiful little streets, and oh yes, the drugs and hookers (neither of which I went for by the way).  I have to say, that the main part of Amsterdam is far too over commercialised and touristy and wasn’t what I had in my little mind’s eye, however, as we escaped into the suburbs and down to visit the local markets I got to see a glimpse of the real Amsterdam, and it was just as pretty as I had imagined. 

We spent the first day pretty much getting our bearings, and recovering from a very long coach ride.  Yes, that’s right, we got the good old bus to Amsterdam, all seventeen hours of it (argh!!), but it was so so much cheaper, even if we were bored off of our minds and struggling to keep our eyes open from travelling all night.  But I digress...  So yes, we also checked in at our base for the holiday, Camping Zeeburg, which is just outside the main part of the city and just a short tram ride in.  We stayed in a Wagonette, which is pretty basic, but gave us everything we needed, i.e., a bed.  Camping Zeeburg was amazing, the staff were ridiculously polite, the facilities were good, food was good, and the whole place was just so pretty, hell there were chickens and ducks just wandering around, this was my kinda place!  I would definitely recommend this place if you want a cheap convenient place to stay in Amsterdam.

After heading back into Amsterdam we went to visit the one place I had come here for which was Anne Franks house.  I’ve read her diary, it’s an amazing read which really pulls at the old heart strings knowing how tragic it all ends, so naturally I wanted to visit the house where this young lady had lived.  Now, maybe I’m just a cynic, but I certainly was not blown away by the Anne Frank museum, having que’d for a little while we then spent about half an hour in more que’s walking around an empty house with only a few articles, and other memorabilia in glass cabinets on the wall.  I don’t really know what I was expecting, but this certainly did not impress, however this is a personal opinion, to others it may be a completely different story.

Just before heading back to our camp site we made our way over to the red light district...  There is something very surreal about passing by glass fronted doors in the middle of the afternoon which contain half naked women.  I knew it would look like this, but until you actually get there and are smack in the middle of it, it’s pretty hard to take in.  I could barely look at them, just sneaking glances here and there.  I should imagine that I definitely felt more awkward than then, funny that considering I was the one who was fully clothed...

Anywho, we spent the rest of the day at the camp site and getting some well earned rest.

Given that we were only here for two days, I really wanted to make the most of our last day and pack in as much as we could.  We visited local markets, had a walk along the canals, got some grub and generally took in all that Amsterdam had to offer.  This was with the exception of visiting the cannabis cafes though.  I’m sorry, but it’s been twenty seven years, I’ve never taken anything before and I wasn’t about to break the habit of a lifetime, so I left the weed to the other stoners.  I’ve realised that quite a lot of Amsterdam just smells of weed, but apparently smell is one of the strongest senses that triggers a memory, so I guess I’m never gonna forget Amsterdam! 

Finally, after chowing down on some overpriced food (oh yeah, Amsterdam is very very expensive by the way!!), we made our way back to the red light district to take a little peek in the night.  I know right now it seems like I’m obsessed with the red light district and all the hookers and that, but I’m not, I promise, I’m just like every other person who was crammed along the street gawking at the size of the boobies (*snigger*) on the women, it’s just all part of visiting Amsterdam! 

It seems obvious now, but it’s called the red light district because all the women have a red light above their door, however, apparently there are occasionally blue lights which mean that they are a transsexual, unfortunately, and much to my dismay, there were no blue lights.  Nevermind...

Anywho, I must be completely naive, as I figured that even though I knew exactly what goes on in this area, for shame sake people wouldn’t actually go in the doors of these ladies... I was wrong, the men bloody love it.  I mean, not all the men no, some are just there to see the spectacle like the rest of us, but some spend ages picking out their chosen lady, naughty naughty men!  So yup, that was the red light district, unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to show you as apparently you can get your camera taken off you or your SD card removed, and I wasn’t risking that thank you very much, so you will just have to make do with my crappy little account of it, or maybe stick it into google and see what you get, google always has the answers to everything...

And that my friends is it; we made our way back the next morning and proceeded to spend another seventeen hours on the bus... oh the joy, but I’m glad I’ve seen it.

Oh and I almost forgot, if you’re going there and your as ditzy and clumsy as me then please be extra careful when crossing the road, because if the cars don’t get you then maybe the trams, scooters or cyclists will... I really need to pay more attention when crossing the roads, it’s lucky my boyfriend actually looks unlike me...

Have you ever been to Amsterdam, what did you think of it?

All of my pictures are edited using Picmonkey.

p.s. Don’t forget to follow me on twitter.

Peace and Love man,