Amsterdam

When I first said I was going to visit Amsterdam, many people thought I going there purely to get stoned. I did try the stone cakes and cannabis ice cream, but I think they're a waste of money. Not only did they not taste very nice, but they also didn't make me high. Maybe there wasn't enough to get me high or maybe I'm just that crazy that they have no effect on me. Drugs aside, I mainly went to Amsterdam to meet up with a friend who lives in Eindhoven. Another thing that Amsterdam is famous for is its lively red-light district. It's the perfect place for a stag do.

Needless to say, there's a lot more to Amsterdam than hookers and weed. But Amsterdam is what you make of it. One very good thing about Amsterdam is that a lot of people have good English. And being bordered by Germany and Belguim, also have a good grasp of French and German. So it's quite easy to do things like ask for directions and order things at a restaurant. It's got some good shops, restaurants and travel links. Some of the museums are also really interesting.

The Anne Frank Museum is a breathtaking experience along with the Van Gogh, Diamond, and Sex Museum. There are lots of canals and tram lines so it's easy to catch a boat or a tram around the city. I think Amsterdam has something for everyone. Even if you don't go into the attractions, even a simple walk around the city streets was enough to stimulate the mind. There's plenty of nice Gothic architecture to enjoy.

Prices

On the whole, I've found travel to be quite cheap. I've been to Amsterdam twice, one via Eurostar by train and the other by KLM airlines. In my experience, I've found that going on the plane was quicker and cheaper, but enjoyed the experience of the train more. Travelling about wasn't that bad in my opinion, price-wise. Using trams was really good value along with the boats where you can hop on and off for your heart's desire for 24 hours. I've found everything else to be quite expensive, especially food and drink. Fortunately, the high prices didn't hinder my enjoyment. Everything I bought was of good quality and the food and drink were nice, so I didn't mind this.

Facilities

Like many touristy cities, Amsterdam has lots of restaurants, hotels and shops. There are lots of your typical souvenir shops that also sell products with cannabis in, but also some really nice fashion shops. One shop that came to mind is Asian Spirit (Damstraat 7) which specialises in arts and crafts. Expensive stuff, but really nice. I remember buying a really pretty notebook and pen there last year. It's one worth having a look at. Henk Comics (Zeedijk 101) is a place that stood out for me as well. It had a variety of comics and manga books with the majority of the books being in English. And a lot of the bookshops I went to in the city had a special section dedicated to books written in English.

Chinatown is also a place that holds importance with its Buddhist temple. The streets in Chinatown are written in both Dutch and Chinese. The Buddist temple is beautiful and is the centre of Chinatown. Going through Chinatown made me feel like I wasn't in Amsterdam anymore, a feeling that I haven't felt in other Chinatowns that I've been to. I've found it easy to find toilets, but I think it's worth mentioning that many places charge a fee to use the toilet unless you're a customer: normally 50 cents.

Amsterdam has a lot of stuff that would cater to different tastes. The Irish bars are quite pleasant and there are lots of Chinese and Japanese restaurants out there. The most prolific out of all of these is Sea Palace, a floating Chinese restaurant 3 stories tall. I didn't eat in there because of the high price, but it's worth having a look. It isn't hard to find some of the local cuisines either. Amsterdam Central Station is in good proximity of a lot of the attractions including an Ibis hotel and bicycle park right next door. I found a lot of stuff easy to find with the use of maps as a guide.

There's a lot of cheese places as well. I never went in, as it's not something that interests me but I've heard good things about their cheese. Looking through some of the alleyways, you'll find some narrow coffee shops where the smell of weed overwhelms you. We went to one Japanese restaurant called Mojo Japanese Kitchen (Oosterdokskade 133), which offers a good view of the Chinese restaurant Sea Palace. I loved the place, but I thought the concept of ordering food through a tablet hard to get used to. Nearby, was an Italian restaurant we tried which was called Vapiano.

The Vapiano had nice food, but it was service that I never experienced before. They give you a card and then you go up to the bars and kitchens and order what you want and then they swipe your cards after your order. Then you go downstairs and pay when you leave and if you lose your card it's 50 euros. The portions in that restaurant were very generous and the food was nice.

Things to Do

The first thing that comes to mind is smoke weed and get a hooker. Ironic, as I did neither of those. I'd say going on a boat trip is a really nice way to explore the city. I really enjoyed the canal trips last year and even though I only went on one this year, it was still a good experience. I would recommend going on the ones that you can hop on and off. These canal tours were also quite convenient. Last year, I stayed at Movenpick hotel and one of the drop-off points was very close to the hotel. This year, I stayed at the Ibis hotel by the train station and there were lots of canal tour companies to choose from as being so near.

A lot of people say good things about the Anne Frank House. Due to popularity and high demand, it is very difficult to get a ticket without booking online 2 months in advance. Only those that have booked their tickets online in advance can enter between 9am-3:30 PM, and the rest will have to wait in the long ques. Very deep and sombre experience, worth the wait, but I can see why a lot of people would dislike it for the long ques. We considered going to the Van Gogh museum as well, but the long ques in that one put us off, though I've heard some lovely things about the exhibitions. We went and explored some of the other museums: Rijksmuseum was pretty nice and there were no problems with queues at the sex museum. We mainly went to the sex museum for a laugh and got plenty of them.

Walking the red like the district was pretty interesting. It's really different at day compared to how it is at night. I found walking around the red light district at night such a mind-blowing experience, coming from a place where prostitution is frowned upon. The scent of weed is very strong. The nightlife was really pleasant and fun. I loved going round all the bars because all of them were so unique and all the lights were pretty and each one I went to had its own colourful atmosphere. Just walking into the bars made me feel like I was buzzing. The ice bar is fun if you don't mind the cold. And if you fancy exploring other cities in The Netherlands, the central station has some really good links to major cities like Rotterdam, Utrecht and Nijmegen.

Conclusion

It's also amazing how people's experiences with Amsterdam are so different. It's brilliant for me as I'm very fond of art. At the same time, I'm glad that I ventured out of Amsterdam a bit more this year as I've found places like Nijmegen, Dordrecht, and Utrecht a lot more interesting and fun. Still, I enjoyed my time in Amsterdam and wouldn't mind going again. Amsterdam is a nice city to visit. It's amazing that a city so small is so relaxed and open-minded.

Sadly, my aunt's purse was stolen when walking around the Red Light District. It shook her up quite a lot. She only noticed it was gone when we returned from the hotel and didn't even notice the thief move. The hotel staff were really helpful and showed us the way to the police station on the map and we were able to report the incident. Hopefully be able to get that money back through the insurance, but the purse is long gone now. The staff at the station were quite friendly and gave us the police report which was written in dutch, but their English was good. They said that cases like my aunt's purse are quite common.

Be a shame to leave this review on a bitter note. Amsterdam is a nice city, even though it's expensive and I like some other places in Holland more.