Amsterdam

So after a quick 3 day turn around from London, my flatmate and I were off to Amsterdam. I didn't really know what to expect from Amsterdam. The only rumors of the city I'd heard were off the Red Light District, hookers, and coffeshops. We met up with Eddie, a fellow DU, and his friends at the airport. From there we walked the city in search of our hostel. It was my first hostel experience and I wasn't expecting much. We got a very good price for the night which made me even more suspicious. Despite my worries the hostel was much better than expected. Our little group set out into the night to find some good ol' Amsterdam fun. We met up with another of Eddie's friend and bar hopped most the night. We had our first walk through the Red Light District which was pretty strange. The next day we had to move to another hostel for the remainder of the trip. Another pleasant surprise as this hostel had the BEST shower I've had in Europe. We went to the Anne Frank and Van Gogh museums, both of which were very interesting and generally a good time. I'm not a huge museum fan unless the exhibit is quite interactive or something different, but every museum we went to in Amsterdam left me satisfied. The free tour of the city was also something everyone should do. Our guide was Australian Amy and she was great. We left halfway through the 3 hour tour to grab some french fries. The vendors sell huge cones of fresh fried french fries and soak them in mayo and ketchup. Mayo sounded gross but I became mildly obsessed with them. We went on these very touristy but worth it bar crawls in both Leidseplein and the Red Light District. They were fairly inexpensive and you got into 5 or 6 bars/clubs without cover. They also succeed in showing you a good time as everyone was pretty drunk and lost by the time it ended. I never walked so much as I did in Amsterdam. On Saturday we went to the Sex Museum which was incredible. Maybe I'm just immature but the entire time I was laughing uncontrollably and taking pictures. There were some things you just couldn't make up. I stopped taking pictures when I realized no one else was taking pictures. Felt like a weirdo after that but I got some gems. Upon return to our lovely hostel, the Marnix, we found we had new roommates. They were these two guys from Mexico City. The one guy's suitcase had been lost by the airline for a week so he had been in his same clothes for a while. They brought two bottles of the best tequila I've ever tasted so we decided they were cool. That night was blurry (tequila, come on!) to say the least but another great time. The next day we went to the Heinekin Experience. This was the best museum/tour I've ever been on. It was very interactive and marketed Heinekin incredibly. We left and went directly to buy a Heinekin mini keg for the night. Unfortunately we couldn't read the Dutch instructions that said the keg needed to be chilled for 8 hours. We drank foam that night which was very disappointing. Our last day we hung out in our go-to coffeeshop and then walked through this great park. Everything was in bloom and it was 50 and sunny. In the end Amsterdam surpassed my expectations as a gorgeous city with much, much more to offer than hookers and weed. It was a great trip filled with french fries, falafels, museums, and good times. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all and to all a good night.