Amsterdam

Amsterdam, from my first impressions before arriving I had this conception it would be party, party, party. But it really wasn’t like that at all fo myself. Although I did go out, but rarely ventured into clubs. And the beer is great.

The red light district is worth a browse for a good laugh. Its not the best thing I did, but it was definitely an eye opener and as I said a great laugh.

I did go to a few museums like the Van Gogh, Risjkmuseum and Anne Frank Huis. I would definitely recommend the Anne Frank house – it was rather surreal and moving to know what had happened there all those years ago. As well as the Van Gogh as they had a really good exhibition with his famous Starry Night. The Risjkmuseum was a let down, but that might be because it is being redeveloped presently.

The one thing I can definitely recommend would be to get a bike and ride around. I used Mikes Bike Tours to hire a bike for about 7 euros for a day. Excellent value. I hired a bike for one afternoon with a few girls I met and also a bike for a day by myself. I would highly recommend getting on a bike and following the Amstel. It is fantastic, and you see some really pretty villages on the way.

My accommodation in Amsterdam was a fairly new experience called couchsurfing. www.couchsurfing.com. I stayed at this really cool house with about 5 other couchsurfers, and it made my time in Amsterdam that much funner. I have stayed at hostels, but this was thoroughly more enjoyable

Also, there is a really cool coffee shop called the coffee company. A bit on the expensive side, but it was exeptionally good coffee.

The other great thing about this city was how easy it was to get around. Looking at the maps in my guidebook and online I was freaking out a little bit thinking this place is gonna be hard to get around. But its really simple an easy. And when in doubt there is always cheap trams or buses going around.

Lastly, the dutch people have to be some of the friendliest I have ever met.

It is seriously one of my favourite cities because of how laid back and friendly everyone is.