Amsterdam – Day 46 – 48

It’s all getting a little bittersweet.

Our last destination as awkward threesome (with company) was Amsterdam.

We arrived on Thursday night and our hostel, St. Christopher’s Inn at the Winston which was right on the edge of the Red Light District… so of course we had to tour around there first. Saw some interesting stores and I was surprised that the girls in the windows didn’t look as ‘scary’ as I thought. Actually, many of them just looked so young and innocent I find it hard to believe what they do for a living.

I was hesitant about Amsterdam as all you hear about is weed and the red light district, but there is so much more to the city, it is quite beautiful and has a very unique history.

Morning in Amsterdam

On our first day there, Orest and Lindsay went on canal tour and Darcy and I went to the Anne Frank house. This is a must see for any one travelling to Amsterdam. It’s definitely a moving story and it’s amazing to actually be in the place where they hid. I can’t believe they couldn’t make noise or go outside for two years. It is a sad story of course but very inspiring as well.

Then in the afternoon we did a bike tour with Joy Ride bikes (thanks very much to Chirag for letting me go on the trip since there was only room for four and he’s done the bike tour… didn’t think he had any chivalry left since he took my bunk bed 🙂 ) Our tour guide was awesome, she is originally from the states but has been in Amsterdam for 13 years so had a lot of good stories to tell us and advice on places to go and see.

So we decided to play foodies for the weekend (and make our friend Rae proud ) The first night we ate at a restaurant that served amazing steaks and stew and had a million side dishes. The best was the potato croquettes which were like fancy tater-tots. Not so good, was the leeks with cheese… but at least it had cheese. I can’ t remember the name of the restaurant though :(.

The second place we ate at was called Moeders and wow, the food was delicious. I had the ribs and it was a challenge getting through them all. The restaurant is really quaint, it is covered in pictures of people’s mothers and all the tableware is mis-matched because it is what people brought with them on the opening night. The last night we ate at the Pancake Bakery which was oh so yummy… there are sweet and savory pancakes and they are the size of a large dinner plate!

On Saturday, Darcy, Chirag and myself did the canal tour. It is a great way to get an overall picture of the city. The city itself isn’t too big so if you aren’t keen on bike riding (which btw it is insanity on the busy streets to ride a bike!) you can definitely walk to all the major sites. We did notice a theme though, over the course of the trip we were in the vicinity of the Anne Frank house at least five times.

Amsterdam at Night

That evening we met up with another MBA student Fil who is working at the Canadian Embassy in the Haag. He also had some very interesting stories (I believe he’s living in a frat house with 10 other guys…. so you can imagine) And of course Fil hadn’t seen the red light district so we had to take him on a tour of the area. You aren’t allowed to take pictures of the girls, but I took a picture of the area in the evening and it is really actually pretty in its own weird way. Also a must do on the list is to go to these Jenever drinks place (I think its a dutch liqueur) called Wynand Fockink. Its hidden down a side alley way (thanks to Lindsay for spotting it!) and they have all sorts of different appertifs. My favourite was the quarter to five, another popular one was the ginger.

On our last day Lindsay and Orest had to catch an early flight so Darcy, Chirag and myself took a leisurely stroll down to Vondelpark which is huge! We caught a bit of a reggae/jazz band before we had to make our way back to the hostel and then catch our flight.

We realized when we landed in Copenhagen, this would be the last time we would fly into the city together…. I can’t believe it is almost over !!

The gang at the I AMsterdam …thing