Feb. 1-3
This weekend my friends and I took a trip to the one and only Amsterdam. I was so excited for Amsterdam as I’ve heard such amazing things from others who have gone. My expectations were high and A’dam succeeded with all of them.
Day 1
We arrived in Amsterdam around 7am and were greeted with the “I AMsterdam” right outside the airport. We ubered to our Air bnb which was the absolute cutest and then settled in with naps until 10am, when we finally decided to venture out in the city.
We walked around the little side streets and found some amazing local shops, and also discovered that biking around was a major hobby. Make sure you look around for them because I almost got taken out by bikes multiple times.
If you’re into vintage or thrifting I recommend Amsterdam’s chain of vintage stores Marbles Vintage. It had some of the neatest things I’ve never seen in a vintage shop! It's also a chain within Amsterdam so you can head to some all around town!
After our time exploring around the streets we grabbed some lunch at this very little hole in the wall, Café Keyser. The lady who ran the place was so sweet, and was greeting everyone like friends.
After filling up with some amazing local food, we went exploring around the canals.
The canals are such an iconic part of Amsterdam and with the water homes and bikes filling the city, it really does make the feel of the city different to any other. Everywhere you look in Amsterdam is picturesque.
While waiting for our time slots into the Anne Frank Museum, we discovered a super cute sweets shop called Polaberry. It was filled with the most aesthetically pleasing chocolate covered strawberries you’ve probably ever seen, and best part was, they tasted as good as they looked.
Next up, it was my turn to visit the Anne Frank Museum. I highly recommend this museum as it was very intense and eye opening. It explains so much more than just Anne Frank herself, but also takes on the stories of the companions she was in hiding with, as well as, those who helped her and her family throughout the war that weren’t in hiding.
You get to explore the Annex, and I realized it was much bigger than how I imagined when learning about it in school, as well as when reading her book.
After, we ventured around the city… found the Amsterdam Cheese Company, and then somehow found ourselves in the Red Light District.
I definitely recommend the red district (18+), because it is such unique place in Amsterdam. I don't even know how to describe it all, perhaps it felt lawless? As if we were in a different world? Don't miss it.
Day 2
Rise and Shine! After a hangry search for a decent place that could serve 5 people a good meal, we came across Café de Oude Wester. This restaurant was hopping and popping and happy vibes for our Saturday morning. We ordered some Irish Coffee’s and an Irish hot choc ;)
Then our food came and I cannot stress how amazing these traditional Dutch pancakes were. I got an apple bacon pancake that was lightly dusted with powdered sugar and light syrup and I was impressed, I ordered a second just to relive it. I wasn't sure if they were going to be enough originally, but the second round really did it. The pancake is much different to a traditional American or a crêpe and much more filling than it looks! If you are in Amsterdam you need to go!
We wandered again around the streets of Amsterdam. While our friends went to the Heineken Factory, my friend Jess and I headed around the local shops. We managed to get a bunch of thrifting done, saw a bunch of local galleries, and after the amount of ground we covered, we discovered REE7, for the dankest looking milkshake I’ve ever seen.
After our milkshakes, we headed back to Red Light District to actually explore what goes on there at night, I didn't believe the rumors I had heard, but it was all true.
The rest of the night we all stayed in and watched Dutch Netflix.
Day 3
The last day the sun peeked through. We had to check out by 10am and we decided to make the most of our couple hours. We went to Dam Square and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.
We managed to explore quite a bit before we had to find our way to the bus that was taking us back to Paris.
Amsterdam you were fun.
XX
