Amsterdam

"Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin." - John Green, The Fault In Our Stars.

Amsterdam has always fascinated me. Obviously a beautiful city, the pull of the canals and a rich history is what helped me through my ten hour overnight coach journey from London Victoria to Amsterdam. The first rule of the overnight coach: don't board hungry. With this in mind, I met my cousin Alicia at YoSushi in Victoria station for a quick snack and catch up before I took the coach across the sea.

As we drove into Amsterdam, I was astounded by how flat the landscape actually was. Obviously it's the flattest country in the world, but there was something surreal about staring out my window and seeing not a hill or a mountain in sight. Dragging a suitcase and hauling a huge backpack around, I was beyond grateful for this (once I figured out how to travel to my hostel from the outskirts of Amsterdam where we were dropped). 

I dropped my bags off at the hostel (Stayokay Amsterdam Vondelpark, would definitely recommend) and then I set off for a wander around Amsterdam before my travelling companion arrived. One thing about Amsterdam: the canals are literally everywhere. I thought that there would be 10, maybe 15 canals. It always seems like the iconic, postcard parts of cities only occur in one little spot, and you're disappointed when you realise that it isn't like that everywhere, but Amsterdam is literally bursting with canals.

There is also cheese everywhere (spoiler: we went to a cheese museum).

Once Phil arrived, we set off to grab some lunch (toasted sandwiches) and to have a look around Amsterdam. Part of The Fault In Our Stars, the movie based on John Green's book of the same name, was filmed in Amsterdam and we found the bench where the two central characters have (quite a sad) conversation.

I bought some off shoots of their waffle biscuit things and it was definitely some of the best money I have spent in my life. We spent the afternoon wandering around and looking at the major sights, before heading back to the hostel for a quick nap.

We walked to the Rijksmuseum to look at the sculptures around the outside and take photographs in front of the iconic IAMsterdam sign. The weather was absolutely stunning (apparently a rarity for Amsterdam) and so we enjoyed a drink in the sun before heading back to the hostel.

After a quick nap, we headed out with two Australians I had met during the day - Kit and Amber. It was Amber's birthday and we celebrated over Italian food (pizza and pasta) before heading to a few bars and clubs. Although it was mid week, they were a lot busier than I was expecting and we danced for a little while, and then headed to the red light district. It was a very interesting area to say the least!

While we had intended to get up bright and early to be at the Anne Frank hour for its opening the next day, we opted instead for a sleep in and were rewarded with a two hour wait in line. It was actually okay though - a chance to chat, people watch, enjoy a coffee/ hot chocolate and generally soak up the sun.

And, without a doubt, the wait was worth it.

I have no photographs I can share with you from the museum because photograph is banned inside, however the Anne Frank museum is something that should not be missed. Haunting, touching, moving: there is no way to describe how important I believe this museum is, and it honestly should be visited by anyone in Amsterdam. 

We were, obviously, quite sombre after this, and so we walked to a nearby cafe to have lunch. We sat outside and enjoyed watching a man attempt to move cardboard (why?) with his bobcat with varying degrees of success - usually he just nearly hit pedestrians with the front claws while he tore up the otherwise perfectly good pavement with the back.

After lunch, we walked down the road to the Tulip Museum. Although we didn't go inside, as apparently there were no tulips alive in there (wrong time of year), we looked at the flowers outside and the front of the museum. This museum is only 100m from the Anne Frank house and so it's very easy to access.

After the tulips, we decided to go and try something that everyone should try at least once when they are in Amsterdam. Something iconic, addictive, and enticing. Yep, that's right...

The cheese museum.

Amsterdam has a very central, very cool and very free cheese museum. And, of course, if the free samples are not enough to entice you (although I am not sure why they would not be), there is always the dress up area with a camera that sends the photos to your email address for you. Yes, you're welcome.

After we gorged on cheese, it was time to wander through the area of Jordaan. This place is much more residential and therefore a lot quieter - I could imagine myself living here, drinking coffee (well, tea/ hot chocolates) as I walked along the canals to work and then riding my bike in the evening. Hmm, it would be a nice life. Think of all the nearby cheese...

Phil and I had tossed up the idea of hiring bikes and riding around the city, however after stumbling across paddle boats (sitting down, cruising down a canal for an hour vs. trying to deal with road traffic) we decided to take one of these out instead. And what fun we had.

While this adventure was not without its challenges (I just want to highlight that I did say we wouldn't fit through the gap in the posts. Not that it matters because we did manage to get out pretty easily and everything... but I did say that it was a bit too small), it was such a nice way to spend an afternoon. Add in a cool afternoon breeze, lots of shade and our boat doing the odd 360 degree turn in the wind, and I could probably be convinced to do it again.

The paddleboat business that we hired from had a few locations around Amsterdam, in front of most of the main locations. It was reasonably cheap to hire, and all that was required was a deposit that we got back upon returning the boat.

After another nap, we went out for Greek for dinner (amazing) before wandering around by the main river. After stopping off into a bar that looked as though it sold hundreds of variations of beer, I checked my emails to find out that my 10:20am flight the next morning had been cancelled. No problems: I managed to get on a flight out a bit earlier.

So, my thoughts on Amsterdam: this city is, for me, a must see. Amsterdam is rich in culture and history and it always seems to be these parts that are forgotten when people discuss visiting this city. It's a shame that a lot of the worth of this city is based on 'temptations' (i.e. the legalisation of prostitutes and marijuana) because there is honestly so much more there. For me, I would go back to Amsterdam purely for the Anne Frank House (however the food is not far behind). While Amsterdam definitely has parts geared towards tourists, I found it a very pleasant place to be and not overly touristy at all. It's a very clean, very beautiful city that I could easily see myself living in.