A Coffee Shop Without Coffee is not as Bad as it Sounds
- Amanda
- Feb 3, 2016
- 6 min read
*** pictures to come soon I promise! ***
Amsterdam was nothing short of amazing. I could be saying this because this was my first trip outside Switzerland, but I could also be saying this because it truly was amazing. Amsterdam is a wonderful city filled with canals, bikers, and amazing food. I was fortunate enough to have 3 full days there after arriving early Friday morning and leaving early Monday morning. The hostel we stayed at was conveniently located right at the edge of the beautiful Vondelpark and as we soon found, right near the restaurant and bar district of the town. Once we checked in and dropped our bags at the hostel, the city was ours to explore, and so we set off!
DAY 1:
Most the gang made it to Amsterdam Friday morning, but we had two stragglers coming that evening and Saturday morning. We decided not to do too much without them there but of course we couldn't let the entire day escape us, so we adventured. We roamed in the direction of the city center from our hostel and quickly found ourselves in a never ending maze of food. Of course, we didn't complain. We sat down for a meal, and then another meal, and then got some food to go. The prices were much cheaper than Geneva so we took full advantage of food because why wouldn't you? We wondered through the city and among getting lost along the canals, we ran into the flower market. This market was a must see on my list so imagine my excitement when it all the sudden appeared around the corner. The market was nothing but stunning. It was truly a never ending street filled with more tulip bulbs than one knew existed. We took our sweet time walking slow and steady through the market until we saw a fry stand up ahead and booked it for more food. As our wonders went on, we appeared in front of Central Station, which by the way is absolutely stunning, and decided it was a good day for a canal tour. We managed to squeeze on to the tour boat but were stuck in the very back. To me, this was bittersweet. Sweet because we had no dirty windows blocking our view and we could move from side to side of the boat. Bitter because we did not have headphones back there so as we may have been able to see everything, we didn't know what we were exactly looking at. The hour and a half tour gave us a good lay out of the city before we were off to meet one of the stragglers for dinner. Of course, the night was still young after dinner and we decided to try the Amsterdam Ice Bar!!! It was cool, but definitely not everything I thought. Fairly small and the coats weren't that warm but it was a fun and cool experience! Lucky for us, the ice bar was located right near the red light district so we ventured there... safe to say I don't need to explain the RLD.
DAY 2:
Free Walking tour day!! Starting from Dam Square, we took a free walking tour for close to 3 hours. This was by far the most interesting tour I have taken in a city. Our guide filled us in with so many facts about Anne Frank, how the city was built, the red light district, cannabis, etc. We got stuck in a rainstorm for a little bit, but hey, what can you expect in Amsterdam? To our luck, the weather cleared up and we spent the rest of our afternoon wondering around Vondelpark. I have to say, Vondelpark is by far the most beautiful park I have seen, definitely comparable to Hyde Park in London, if not, better than Hyde. Everything you picture in a dream park, was in Vondelpark. You had your green grass, fountains, ponds, runners, bikers, walkers, people with strollers, dogs, little kids, benches filled with people eating lunch, little kids playing soccer, and a little cafe in the middle. Absolutely perfect! When the sunset we were off to dinner and then off to bar hop. A waitress tipped us in the direction of a local bar where a U2 cover band was playing. We started there before bar hopping into the late hours of the night.
DAY 3:
We had a lot to cover in just one day and we were ready to tackle it all, or at least almost ready. The plan was to wake up early and go to the Anne Frank house before the line got too long, of course early for college students after a night of drinking doesn't work so well... Anne Frank ended up being the one thing we missed:/ Since our morning became free, I found a food market for us to wonder to. Unfortunately, the food places at the market didn't open until noon/one and we had places to be. After a quick beer we decided to head to the Heineken Brewery and save the market for dinner.
The Brewery tour was definitely one of my favorites!! Not just for the fact that I enjoy beer, a lot, but I enjoy seeing the process of the beer making. We were able to help stir wort and even take a little shot of wort, which is the start to every beer process. Definitely won't be drinking plain wort anytime again soon that's for sure. Throughout the tour we saw the bottle process, the horses they use, and how to properly taste the beer. One of the "dweebiest" parts of the tour was actually my favorite. You stood in this room and it was like a 4D video where you were the beer and it took you through the process. Although it was a kind of stupid animation in the video and everything, it was cool seeing the exact steps they go through. After that was the tasting! Lucky for me, I had friends there who don't like beer so I was able to test taste a few extra glasses! Then we were off for our legitimate free beers. You had two tokens which you could either get two full beers and learn to pour your own perfect beer. I originally went for the full beers but when I went to give them my token I dropped it and couldn't find it at first. They still gave me the beer which was chill. Moments later, I found my token, but I already had my beer... so I thought why not go learn how to poor a beer since I had the tokens, so I did. You'd be surprised how many people don't know how to pour a beer... It's actually ridiculous that people don't know common sense. Hold the glasses high up, tilt it 45 degrees, when it's close to the top straighten it and let it overflow for a second. SIMPLE. Not for other people though. When it was finally my turn, first try I got the perfect pour. No big deal or anything, it must be a Coppa thing. I got a certificate saying I am a certified Heineken pourer, so that's definitely going on my resume!
After a few more drinks at Heineken, we were off to Van Gogh! We wondered through the museum for an hour or two. It was everything you'd expect in a Van Gogh museum, although sunflowers was not on display which was a little disappointing. With the day almost over, we were off to eat our life away at the food market we found earlier! Safe to say, it was an amazing fine!! It was called Ten Katemarkt and had all different foods imaginable. I walked around getting food, eating food, getting more food, for about an hour straight until I realized it was probably time to sit down and actually enjoy dinner with my friends. I definitely got about 8 different plates there shared between Joe and I, but I definitely have no regrets about how much I ate. The rest of our night was filled with food and some bars before calling it an early night in before our early morning flight.
Amsterdam was definitely a truly amazing city that I would love to go back to! Yes, there were multiple coffee shops between my stories but I swear I didn't do anything bad mom and dad... ;) I can see why everyone is so in love with this city!! Until next time Amsterdam
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