Amsterdam

This was my second time in Amsterdam and again it was lots of fun! I went with Kelly who hadn't been to Amsterdam before. She loved it although was a bit shocked at the cultural differences between London and Amsterdam...

You definitely need an open mind to come to Amsterdam.

Some interesting facts:

• There are more bikes than people in Amsterdam (or more bikes than cars...?)
• Coffee shops DO NOT sell coffee but they do have an interesting menu consisting of weed, weed and MORE weed! :)
• Buying and smoking marijuana in coffee shops is legal
  
• It is a bloody expensive city to visit - we spent a fortune there
• Prostitution is legal and you can rent a window for 100-150 Euro and some girls make up to 750 Euro a shift!
• The Netherlands is basically all flat which is why there are so many bikes
  

Of course, Kelly and I visited a few coffee shops while we were there but we didn't go too crazy. We bought some joints to take back to the hostel as you could smoke them there.

I thought our hostel was pretty cool because the atmosphere was fun and we met some great people. Kelly didn't seem too interested in the clubbing aspect of Amsterdam because of 'safety' so we had some good nights at the hostel bar.

We did a lot of the touristy things like hiring a bike, although Kelly struggled to keep hers upright so while she practiced riding her bike I went cycling out of Amsterdam in search of windmills and flowers but my arse was getting sore and I was bored so I turned back around quite early. We also rode a pedal bike through the canals which must have been amusing for people on the shore to watch as we kept crashing into everything due to our lack of steering ability. It made us laugh so hard though.

I met this guy at the hostel who was astounded at the fact that I had never rolled my own cigarette before (even though I kindly explained that I do not smoke and therefore had no need to roll one) so he offered to show me how to roll a cigarette and here is a photo of the finished product so that you can all laugh...

Amsterdam was amazing though but I doubt I will go back unless I go with someone crazy enough to try magic mushrooms. No, I don't think I would even try them because on our last day, Kelly and I saw some guy who had taken them and he was freaking out. He left the hostel earlier then he had intended just because he was so freaked out he just wanted to get out of Amsterdam. He was telling the chick behind the counter that he needed a taxi but he was scared the taxi was going to take him through the 'evil flowers'. As the taxi pulled up, Kelly and I happened to be heading outside. The chick behind the counter had told this guy that the taxi driver would ring the bell but because he could see us coming and opening the door, he didn't bother. Well, this guy was so freaked out by the drugs that he refused to go outside until the driver rang the bell.. so I asked the taxi driver to ring the bell, which he kindly did even though the door was wide open... then I had to ask the driver to make sure that he did not drive through any flowers and to just go straight to Amsterdam Centraal. He looked at me like I was an absolute dickhead but the magic mushroom guy was so paranoid and was stressed about even getting in the cab because he was scared he'd go past flowers. Seeing this guy so fucked really freaked me out!

Apart from that freaky incident, Amsterdam was awesome. We went through the red light district during the day cos Kelly was too chicken to go there at night. There were still heaps of prostitutes during the day but at night is so much more interesting. Lucky I'd already seen it before otherwise I'd have been pissed off.

Simone
xx