Getting into Amsterdam happened without incidence; settling in was a different story. When trying to czech in at the hostel, they said they had somehow overbooked for the weekend and we were the odd guys out. We were transferred over to another hostel down the street and they stuck us in a room with 2 bunk beds… but slept 5. Moved from an overbooked hostel to an overbooked room; a bed is a bed though so it worked.
After unloading and everything, we literally ran into Hillary, Shannon, and Colin in the new hostel’s café and found out we were staying in the same place. We then went out to get a hot expresso before our first (of many) doner kebab dinner. Afterwards, we popped a bottle of campaign to celebrate the 4th and paid our due homage to the red, white and blue…primarily to the red. The Red Light Distract is pretty much exactly what I expected it to be – red lights, few clothes, red curtains and gawky tourists. I can say I’ve done it, won’t be too torn up if I never do again.
Before I came, people said that there really wasn’t much to do in Amsterdam and it’s easy to get bored. I want to congratulate Jorge and I for our great job of cramming 2 days of traveling into 4 days though. We made regular trips to Dam Square and Nieuw Markt, tasted coffees from around the world, saw the van Gogh and Amsterdam History museums, toured though the Anne Frank house, and walked through Vondel Park. The highlight though was definitely the Heineken Brewery tour. After explaining the brewing process and detailing the Heineken history, they had a beer tasting. Usually I’m not a Heineken fan, but a fresh beer on tap is much better than one that’s been bottled and shipped; it was good.
Overall, it was a really nice city. The canals passing through the streets give it a really different feel from any other city I’ve been to.
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