Euro Trip - Amsterdam

After the 18 hour flight, we had reached Schipol Airport, Amsterdam. It was the starting of summer in Europe, which saved me a lot on space in my bag. Only one jacket was enough for the whole journey. It was quite breezy when we arrived early in the morning at the airport. The weather was really a welcoming sign for a good start for our Eurotip.

amsterdam skyline

Schipol Airport

tourist centre. the iamsterdam card can be bought here.

My Eurotrip has just begun!

Schipol airport is quite your normal international airport, nothing fancy like Incheon or Heathrow. After having a nice chat with one of the immigration officers about our Eurotrip, we made our way towards the tourist information counter located in the airport itself to buy our I-Amsterdam card. This card basically is a pass bought for a period of days which enables you to travel by bus or tram however you wish, depending on the time period bought. The card also offers free entries to a number of places around Amsterdam and also offers discounts for entries to certain attractions. Costs around 60 euros (RM180+) for 72 hours. If you fully utilize every free place and every discounted place, its totally worth your money.  You can find more information on this pass at http://www.iamsterdam.com.

From the airport, we took the connecting train to Amsterdam-Centraal train station; the main train, tram and bus station for Amsterdam. One way ticket costs around 4 euros (RM12++).

Arriving at the central station, we made our to our pre-booked hostel boat (yes boat) based on the map given. Epic fail. We actually toured the whole of city of Amsterdam with our heavy backpacks and suitcases before realizing we took the wrong turn at the station. Hahaha. So after reaching the boat, it was still early for us to check in, so we were offered coffee and pastries, left our bags with the boat lady, and made our way to explore the streets of Amsterdam. All I could think of that time was coffee shops, coffee shops and coffee shops. =)

 Our hostel was just beside the NEMO science centre. Entry was free so we didn't mind going in. Inside the centre was mainly filled with kids on school field trips as this was a science centre. A lot of information was displayed mainly was regarding the cultural history of Netherlands and some cool science stuff which I enjoyed nonetheless although 80% inside were kids. Hahaha!

Day 1 was mainly walking around the city, getting familiar with all the roads, coffee shops, and planning what to do for the day.

We spent the whole day walking around the city, exploring the canal roads in between, stopping by the infamous red light district.

Pics around our hostel, Ana Maria III and the NEMO science center:

smokers rock eh?

riding the horse?

our hostel was one of these boats

nemo science centre is the green boat

exploring the kid in me

 The central square is where the main attractions are such as Madame Tussauds, etc. There was an exhibition called the 'Dungeons of Amsterdam' when we were there. It was more like a theme park ride you would find in Universal Studios. Nothing boring at all. The settings, workers, all made it look like an actual dungeon and was pretty scary. Worth the money. That was the highlight of the day. Oh the other highlight was almost getting mugged by a scary looking African dude. Almost. Did I mention that most of the tourists come to Amsterdam to either get stoned or to get lucky. The crowd here is quite rough and I do suggest that you do not wander off into small alleys, no crowds, don't get left behind. You really wouldn't want someone sticking a knife to you and having all your things robbed off you.Get back to that later.

So the day was just spent exploring the city. Having a nice walk about. Stopping by a coffee shop. Buying some space cakes. Oh my I had those for my dinner and breakfast the next morning. Really good stuff.

The famous red light district. Amsterdam is mostly famous for two things. Weed and prostitution. Walking around the red light district is very safe as there will be a lot of tourists also. Here you can see the variety of women displayed through the glass windows. And do I mean variety. Asians, blondes, brunettes, blacks, wearing sports wear, wearing bikinis, you name it. Hahaha. Its was quite an eye opener walking here and seeing people bargaining the prices with the girls. Most of the strip bars, sex shows are located around the red light district. The only thing you need to bear in mind is do not take any photos around here. There have been reports from several blogs that bouncers will just take your camera and smash it to the ground if your caught taking photos. So please refrain from doing so. Here are some 'spy shots' from my friend's camera:

Food was quite cheap. 5 euros could get  a large sized kebab (in the menu said small) which could fill you for the whole day. One thing I could not resist trying was them laaarge fries. These large ass fried potatoes can be found around the city centre.

Day 1 walk about:

The first day ended with me being super tired due to the jet lag and getting stoned at the pier dock with a superb backdrop of the sunset over the harbour. (As it was summer, sunset was around 11pm, and sun came up like 3 hours later)

To be continued....