So for my first official post of 2016, I thought I would write about mine and Chelsie's adventures to Amsterdam last year. Now, admittedly, we did go at the end of November, so this post is way, way overdue, but the thought of writing it meant that it was truly over and that was too sad to face. Having said that, it was one of the best getaway breaks I think i've ever had and I think its safe to say that Chelsie agrees with me. So lets get on with it shall we?
The journey started with us leaving Aber on Friday as we decided we wanted a few days at home to relax before jetting off to Schiphol Airport on Sunday. We were only there for two days, so we knew we had to make the most of it. So at 3.45am on Sunday morning, the alarm went off and up we got to head to the airport to check in at 5.30am to fly at 7. It was still dark outside, so getting up was a struggle, well for me anyway (I'm definitely not a morning person). The flight was over in a second as me and Chelsie slept the whole way!
So we had arrived in Amsterdam! The next mission - finding train tickets. This was where we encountered our first problem. Now the self-help machines were not very helpful as they had a variety of tickets you could purchase, however none of them were what we wanted. So, instead we headed to the help desk and quickly discovered why you couldn't purchase them on the self-help machines. It was because those machines didn't sell them in the first place... Even though we had a little blip, it was quickly made up for. For three days, a transport pass that allowed you to use trains, trams, ferries and buses was only €25! Which was an incredible price! They also came attached to a map of the city with all the tram lines so we could see where we needed to go and how to get there. So we had successfully got our travel cards and we were off to find the train to take us to the station nearest to our hotel, which we didn't realise was closer to the airport than we thought.
Once on the platform, I was amazed at the fact that the trains were two stories. I had never seen them before - other than in movies, so seeing one in person was pretty cool. Once we reached the station, we decided to walk to our hotel so we could get our bearings of where we were. The train station was only a 10 minute walk away from our hotel which was really handy. Somehow, me and Chelsie had managed to stay at our 4* hotel for two nights for only £50 each! You've gotta love Trivago deals! And it lived up to its rating, it was lovely. And the breakfast buffet - OH MY GOODNESS! I'll have to save that for later, but for now ill just say it was incredible! I think its safe to say, we'd be happy to stay there again.
After getting the key to our room, we decided we wanted to go to the Anne Frank House so we hopped on the tram in what we thought was the right direction - turns out it wasn't. Instead we ended up in the museum square, but it wasn't all bad as we found the "IAMSTERDAM" sign. So we turned to our trusty phones for sat nav to find the way. When we got there the queue seemed to go on for miles so we headed for the sex museum instead which wasn't too far away. The first thing you see when you enter the museum is a statue of Venus (the greek goddess). Throughout the museum were statues, a variety of graphic images and artifacts from throughout the ages, and of course an entire section dedicated to Marilyn Monroe in the famous white dress standing over an air vent. Photography is allowed throughout the entire museum and there are plenty of photo opportunities to say the least. There are multiple rooms, each with its own theme and there are speakers on the wall that produce sounds of erotica which gives a sense of humour to the whole experience.
After visiting the sex museum, we stopped in a little cafe for a spot of lunch and the staff there were so friendly and really welcoming. After enjoying our soup and sandwiches we didn't want to do anything too strenuous, so we simply walked around the city centre, taking everything in. We popped in Forever21 because I was absolutely freezing and stupidly didn't pack a thick jumper, so I desperately needed to buy one. Then when walking across the city square, we stumbled across a busker, which at first we thought was Justin Bieber. Now before you think, "you thought you saw Justin Bieber?" in the sarcastic tone I know you are, bear with me. When listening to him, without seeing him, it genuinely sounded like it was Justin Bieber singing acoustically, so of course Chelsie wanted to investigate. It turns out, his name was Naeman Meier. He sung an acoustic version of Pitbull and Ke$ha's "Timber" which was actually really good. Quite a crowd had gathered around him to listen to him sing. After standing there for a while, we carried on wandering the city and by this point the light had disappeared and all the christmas lights had turned on. It all looked very beautiful. We then found some traditional clogs, big enough to stand in - which Chelsie thought were called crocs (and still does!) But it gets worse. After telling her they were called clogs, she kept getting confused between the two and ended up calling them crogs!!
Overall, our first day in Amsterdam was a success and before I fell asleep we managed to plan what we wanted to do the following day, so keep your eyes peeled for Day 2's post!
We've made a video of our time on Day 1, so if you want to watch it, I've linked it below - hope you like it :)
The journey started with us leaving Aber on Friday as we decided we wanted a few days at home to relax before jetting off to Schiphol Airport on Sunday. We were only there for two days, so we knew we had to make the most of it. So at 3.45am on Sunday morning, the alarm went off and up we got to head to the airport to check in at 5.30am to fly at 7. It was still dark outside, so getting up was a struggle, well for me anyway (I'm definitely not a morning person). The flight was over in a second as me and Chelsie slept the whole way!
So we had arrived in Amsterdam! The next mission - finding train tickets. This was where we encountered our first problem. Now the self-help machines were not very helpful as they had a variety of tickets you could purchase, however none of them were what we wanted. So, instead we headed to the help desk and quickly discovered why you couldn't purchase them on the self-help machines. It was because those machines didn't sell them in the first place... Even though we had a little blip, it was quickly made up for. For three days, a transport pass that allowed you to use trains, trams, ferries and buses was only €25! Which was an incredible price! They also came attached to a map of the city with all the tram lines so we could see where we needed to go and how to get there. So we had successfully got our travel cards and we were off to find the train to take us to the station nearest to our hotel, which we didn't realise was closer to the airport than we thought.
We nipped into Wetherspoons for some breakfast - Chelsie has a bacon and sausage sandwich
and I had mango with passionfruit and a coconut sorbet. It was delicious!
Once on the platform, I was amazed at the fact that the trains were two stories. I had never seen them before - other than in movies, so seeing one in person was pretty cool. Once we reached the station, we decided to walk to our hotel so we could get our bearings of where we were. The train station was only a 10 minute walk away from our hotel which was really handy. Somehow, me and Chelsie had managed to stay at our 4* hotel for two nights for only £50 each! You've gotta love Trivago deals! And it lived up to its rating, it was lovely. And the breakfast buffet - OH MY GOODNESS! I'll have to save that for later, but for now ill just say it was incredible! I think its safe to say, we'd be happy to stay there again.
The reception of our hotel.
There were also a number of odd shops, including a rubber duck shop, that just
sold rubber ducks, a condom shop and a shop dedicated to Nutella!
We then called it a night and headed back to the hotel. It was about 4.30pm when we got in and it was safe to say, we were knackered - we didn't even order dinner! I fell asleep at 5pm and didn't wake up until the next morning so I had a lovely long sleep :)
Overall, our first day in Amsterdam was a success and before I fell asleep we managed to plan what we wanted to do the following day, so keep your eyes peeled for Day 2's post!
We've made a video of our time on Day 1, so if you want to watch it, I've linked it below - hope you like it :)
