Cobblestone streets above wide canals, "coffee" shops, fantastic museums, the land of tulips and I don't have to add the red light district for you to know that i'm talking about beautiful Amsterdam.
Enroute to Amsterdam after spending 7 amazing days in London!
Took a train to our hotel upon arrival ~ Forgot to take pictures of the hotel so here's some I stole from Google, hehe:
Hotel Arena Amsterdam
's-Gravesandestraat 51, AA Amsterdam, Netherlands
We used Airbnb for most of the countries we visited with Amsterdam being the only hotel exception because it cost almost the same price as an Airbnb room!! It was definitely more worth it to stay at this hotel. I have to say, we could not have been more impressed with Hotel Arena. It was clean, stylish and conveniently located - 100% recommend! Had the best sleep ever!
We had two hours to kill before check-in so we went to a nearby recommended tapas restaurant called Para Negra for lunch while waiting! Typical spanish dishes, pretty tasty but I remember it being quite expensive.
Still had some time to kill so we popped by a nice cafe : )
canal next to our hotel!
Our first stop was of course the Museumplein. It's where all the famous attractions like Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum and Vondelpark is located at. Of course the famous "I Amsterdam" monument to take the obligatory tourist shot is also located here.
Expectations:
Reality:
GOSH??? SO CRAZY CROWDED! We couldn't even take the whole monument from afar because they cordoned off the area for some event -_-
The event as seen above includes a marching band...
so we walked around and explored the whole afternoon!
Amsterdam is a perfect city. I didn't even want to take the bus even though we bought a unlimited travel pass. I stuck to walking and I sure wasn't disappointed. The gentle canals are the perfect backdrop!!
And then after walking non-stop, I was super hungry!! Walked pass this tourist trap that sold pasta and pizza for 5 euros and I got lured in. BY FAR, THE WORST MEAL I HAD ON THE TRIP. You know how super sad is it to waste stomach space and calories on yucky food especially when overseas??? I felt terrible for Bernard cause I made the bad decision to choose this place cause 5 euros sounded too good to be true and it wasn't like we're on a budget or smth!?!? sorry, just ranting.
Bought some nutella ice-cream to make ourselves feel better....
Guess where we ended the night at? Yes, the famous Red Light District. Although controversial, this is only so we can say we've actually been to Amsterdam. I must say, it was the most bizarre experience OF MY LIFE. A walk through these lanes is a whole different experience, especially when we come from a conservative country like Singapore.
An eye-opening day to sum up day 1 :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment