Amsterdam!!!

My trip to Amsterdam with my friend Suvi from Finland was a completely different trip to Russia and Finland. Firstly, Amsterdam is very different to Russia and secondly, we were much more relaxed during the trip, spending lots of time lying around enjoying the sunshine. We flew out of Copenhagen at 7.40pm which meant I had had the whole day to sleep in and get myself organised which was nice. The flight to Amsterdam only took one hour and so was quite quick. Once we reached the airport we caught the train into the city then a tram which took us basically to the front door of our hostel. We got to the hostel at about 10.30pm so dumped our bags and went for a walk around the area near the hostel. We were hoping to find a supermarket so we could buy something to eat but were out of luck, so instead we turned back and went to bed.
The next morning was overcast and slightly chilly however that did not stop off from setting off to walk around the city centre and check out the shops. We ended up spending about three and a half hours wandering the city. I bought myself from jeans and we both spent lots of time in and out of the shops, partly trying to keep dry and out of the rain. For lunch, we were lucky enough to come across a little restaurant, which had the best Caesar salad I have ever had and was reasonably priced, which is hard to find in Amsterdam. Suvi and I then decided to head back to the hostel to dump our purchases before working out what to do next. On our way back, the sun began to start shining and the clouds cleared. We decided that the next item on our agenda for the afternoon was to go and have a look at the Van Gogh museum because it was just around the corner from the hostel. The exhibition currently showing was Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” which is a really great painting. There were also many other paintings by Van Gogh and other painters which had a focus on the night sky and farming.
When we left the museum the sun was shining so we stopped in the park for a little while to catch some rays. We also managed to find a supermarket just near our hotel so we went and bought some food for dinner and some wine which we were going to go and have in Vondel Park. The park was really nice and a great place to sit and have a picnic dinner. We spent a couple of hours there just eating, talking and enjoying the park. We took a detour going back to our hostel and explored the neighbourhood which was very quiet but there were a lot of nice buildings. That evening we spent in the hostel watching movies on my computer, singing along to my songs and drinking the rest of our wine.
Saturday we decided to go and do the three hour walking tour around the city which started at 11am from Dam Square. Our first stop on the tour was the Red Light District and it wasn’t till we were almost through the street that I realised where we were. We had been warned previously not to take photos of the girls because they’ll open their door and throw a cup of pee over you! So no photos were taken while we were there.This took us to the Old Church which is now used as an art gallery every day except for Sundays and certain occasions. We also passed the Jewish Quarter (which was rebuilt in after the second world war and looks quite hideous) and the Royal Palace, which is just a large house in the middle of town. Our tour guide took us past the Hash, Hemp and Marijuana museum as well as the famous cofffee shop Dampkring , which was used in the movei Ocean's Twelve. We were also shown the hidden church, the hightest bridge in Amsterdam as well as the widest bridge and the narrowest house, the Bejinghof Convent, which is where people who have served God are able to stay for free and the old prison that is now a large shopping centre. The final stop was then at Anne Frnak's house and Wester church just near it and which Anne writes about in her diary. The tour was great and allowed us to see all the main sites of Amsterdam in just under four hours.

When the tour had finished, Suvi and I went to grab some lunch at a near by pub. Then once our stomachs were full we decided that while we were in the area, we'd go and have a look at the Anne Frank museum. Despite the fact that it was recently redone and so the foyer and entrance to the museum look quite modern as well as installments of televisions in some of the rooms, the house itself is still in very good condition. There is no furniture in any of the rooms as Otto Frank asked it to remain empty, so they have little models which show what the annex was like. I am still a little confused about the lay out of the factory and shop which was the downstairs part of the building. However, seeing the annex and walking through the different rooms really brought home just how small a place the eight people were living in. And what's more was how dark and stuffy it must have been, as the museum had blacked out all the windows except the one in the attic. The museum was quite moving and really worth seeing, particularly if you have read Anne's diary as it makes everything more real.

After the museum we slowly made our way back to the hostel and then decided to once again go and grab some food and wine from the supermarket and head to Vondel Park for another picnic dinner. That night we ventured into Leidseplein to hit the pubs. There had been a soccer match broadcast on the televsions in many of the pubs so there were lots of people out and about.We had quite a good night however there wasn't much room for dancing in the pubs we went into so at about 1am we headed home to bed.
Sunday was even more relaxed. We didn’t wake up till about 10.30am and did not leave the hostel till about midday. As it was such a beautiful and warm day we sat in the park near the Van Gogh museum for a few hours. I wrote my postcards as I felt it was probably time I sent something back to people at home to let them know I’m still alive while Suvi worked on her tan. We then decided that we couldn’t spend the whole day sitting around so we went for another walk through the city. We didn’t make it very far as we came across an Irish Pub which we decided was a good place to stop and grab some lunch. After another couple of hours spent eating and soaking up the sun we continued our walk into the city. We didn’t really do a lot for the rest of the afternoon, just going with the flow and stopping for coffee or food when we felt like it. We once again had dinner in Vondel Park before heading back to the hostel to chill out while waiting for Kim and some others to arrive. They had the same flight as us to Amsterdam so didn’t get to the city till about 10.30pm. Before they were to meet up with us they were going to Kim’s aunt’s place to leave their stuff. Unfortunately they took forever to get themselves to Kim’s aunt’s place and the trams along the street we were staying on decided they were not going to run frequently and when our tram did come past, it didn’t even stop to let us on. So that pretty much decided our night for us…once again it was spent in our hostel room with a bottle of wine and my computer.
Monday we had to be out of the hostel by 10am. So that meant we had to be up early so we could get ourselves organised. Instead of lugging our luggage around all day we made our way to the train station and left our stuff in a locker there. We then headed to Dam Square and sat at a coffee shop for a couple of hours. There was an event being held in the square that day (something to do with sport) so we sat and watched them setting up everything. We went for one last walk around the city before meeting up with Kim and the others at about 1.30pm for lunch. Suvi and I had previously been back to the cafe we'd been to on our first day there to get a take away caesar salad for lunch so when we met up with the others we sat in Dam Square and ate our lunch whilst watching what was going on in the square. We then joined the others when they headed to Dampkring for some 'coffee' before finally walking with them through the Red Light District once more and this time I was aware of where we were when we entered! Then it was time for Suvi and I to say goodbye and make our way back to the train station and out to the airport for our flight home, which was not all that exciting really.
We returned to Copenhagen at about 10pm and caught the train back to Malmö. When I got home I left the unpacking for the following day as it was about midnight by the time I finally got home and I didn’t have anything on the following day except doing my laundry. Amsterdam was great and I have come to the conclusion that it is one of my favourite places in Europe, but it was nice to get home and settle back into life in Malmö knowing that I had the next two weeks there to get back into my Swedish life and catch up with my friends.
Next stop…Vienna!
Puss och kram,
Alice
xo