With work Monday through Friday and barely any flights out late on Friday nights, many of my travels so far have consisted of weekend getaways lasting about 40 hours. At 3:30 AM on Saturday, my friend and I set off for the airport to head to Amsterdam. After having the Peter, Bjorn and John song stuck in my head for the entire week, I was really looking forward to a new adventure. My last trip was about 5 weeks ago, so I was able to cope with a short separation from London.
We found ourselves in the center of the city by a little after 10 AM and quickly set off to fit in as many things as possible. Our hostel, St. Christopher's at the Winston, was located right in the Red Light District. There were coffeehouses on the street and the infamous windows on the side streets, but other than that it was a fairly normal place to be. The hostel was basically a hotel for the younger sort, with a bar, live music at night, and lots of art. Our room was really comfy (the bed was so much more comfortable than mine in London) and modern.
The first thing that I ate this weekend was frites. Perfection. Golden, crispy, and smothered in ketchup, the cone of fries were exactly what I had hoped they would be. We figured the best place to start was the van Gogh Museum, so we headed in that direction while simultaneously taking in the scene. Canals, cobblestone roads and bikes commanded the city, as well as pigeons. Before getting to the area where many of the museums are, we popped into a cafe for some pancakes. I chose apple and lemon, which was just as refreshing and delicious as it sounds.
Sadly, the van Gogh didn't make the cut for our final itinerary. With a massive line, 14 Euro admission, and much of the collection and famous works absent, it didn't seem too worth it. Instead, we checked out the beautiful area around the museums and spent a peaceful afternoon in Vondel Park.
After a much needed nap, we met up with some other WashU girls for
dinner at an Italian restaurant. We adventured around for the rest of
the evening, and I ended the night with some cinnamon gelato.
Sunday started out with a visit to the Anne Frank House. We waited in
line for about 30 minutes, but it was honestly one of my favorite and
most meaningful visits to a cultural institution. The experience was,
of course, sad, but also inspiring. I hope to go back, especially with
family and friends.
With a couple hours left until the airport, we randomly checked out
the Handbag Museum and the Sex Museum (the first being pretty cool and
the second being rather tacky...). We took our sensory memories back
to Brussels with some icing and rainbow sprinkle-covered waffles.
Other meals of the day included a hot dog, Australian ice cream
(crunchy almond hazelnut and vanilla = !!!) and more frites. Needless
to say, the day ended with a bottle of fresh orange strawberry and
orange juice. I probably could've fulfilled worse vices in Amsterdam,
but I definitely need a food detox...
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