The second half of the trip was a Godsend. After so many insane adventures in Spain Rylee and I were more than ready to relax and enjoy ourselves, and Amsterdam and London was just that! After sleeping the the Barcelona airport we hopped on a 7:00am flight to Amsterdam. When we arrived the first thing (and potentially the best) we were greeted with was ENGLISH!! After 4 days of only Spanish and three months of Italian you have no idea of how amazing it was to hear some English. Rylee and I were having some trouble figuring out how to get to our hostel, but we had two really nice English speakers help us out. Right away we knew we were going to love Amsterdam!
Once we figured out how to leave the airport we made our way to our hostel. Since we weren't sure how safe we would feel in Amsterdam we decided to stay outside of the city and this was such a good idea--not because the city wasn't safe, but because the hostel was amazing! It was like a glorified dorm room! So clean, nice people, safe, and easily accessible to the city center. We checked in and dropped off our bags and headed into the city. Before leaving for Fall Break we planned out our Amsterdam trip really well and good thing because it made us less stressed. We only had one day in Amsterdam (not enough!) so it was jam packed. The first step was finding a restaurant called the Pancake Bakery. Along the way there we were able to walk through the canals and side streets. Immediately we realized that Amsterdam is a beautiful city and it gets a bad rap! We made it to the Pancake Bakery after being so confused by the street names and it was so worth it! They have 70 different kinds of pancakes! This place did not disappoint! I had a bacon (yes real bacon!) and pineapple pancake. This might sound gross, but it was amazing! It was like a hawaiian pancake! After the Pancake Bakery we walked down the street to the Anne Frank House. Seeing the home where she and her hid was incredible!
After seeing the Anne Frank House we wandered around Amsterdam. It is very similar to Venice in that it is so easy to get lost in the streets, but this is really the best way to see the city. We kept wandering seeing the beautiful canals, people riding their bikes, and lots of fall colors. We walked through the floating flower market where they see millions of tulip buds. In the spring the area is covered in tulips, i can only image how beautiful this must be! We kept walking and realized that it was getting close to the time for our canal tour! Rylee and I made our way to the canal that would lead us on our tour of Amsterdam via the canals. We got on a small boat and got an amazing tour of the city. The perspective of the city was great! I recommend that anyone visiting Amsterdam go on a canal tour. This was also a great opportunity to relax! I may or may not have fallen asleep for part of it, but it was still so cool! 
After the canal tour it was time for the Heineken Experience! Rylee and I decided that we wanted to go on a tour of the Heineken Brewery and it was an awesome experience. We saw some of the history, although we weren't too interested. We saw the horses that pulled the carriages and got a taste test. We learned how they pour the tap and why they level off the foam. The coolest fact I learned was that foam rings are left behind with every sip you take so you can count how many sip it took you to drink the beer. Fun fact: women usually have more rings than men because they sip their beer slower! After the taste test we went on a 4D Heineken Experience. It was like a roller coaster where you felt what it was like to be beer. Hot lamps, splashing water, and spinning were all a part of the experience! After we got two free beers and left the experience to get our complementary gift! We walked got our free bottle opener and headed out to dinner. We went to a famous Chinese restaurant that was delicious! We walked past the Red Light District (not as bad as it seems if you are smart) and it was time to head back to the hostel for the night. 
Our time in Amsterdam may have been short, but it was certainly one of my favorite experiences over Fall Break! Up next LONDON!! 
No comments:
Post a Comment