Recently, I fancied getting away for a bit. It's always nice to explore a new place and not have to think about university assignments and all that boring stuff. So me and my boyfriend treated ourselves to a few day away in Amsterdam...
I think for the first two days I was in shock if I'm honest. Not necessarily in a negative way, I just found it a very odd place. It's beautiful, in its own quaint little way. But for a short while, I found it difficult to look past the so very obvious sex shops, girls in the red light district and the blatant use of drugs in the infamous "coffee shops".
We stayed at the Ibis City West hotel, which was lovely, all in all. Although next time I'd like to pay that little bit more to stay in a hotel nearer the centre so popping to and from the hotel room if you're a bit peckish or cold isn't too big of a deal, and doesn't require a 15 minute bus ride. Saying that, the bus really wasn't too bad, in my opinion. My boyfriend would possibly disagree though, as he was adamant the drivers over there had a death wish.
Every morning, we got up, got ready and went out to get breakfast. We only ever went to the one place, however, and I do not regret it for one minute. Yes, we could have ventured out and found somewhere that did a lovely poached egg and avocado. But the place we went to, Teddys, served the most glorious dutch bacon and hash browns that there was absolutely no chance I was eating breakfast anywhere else for the entire time we were in the city.
I have to give it to Amsterdam, it's difficult to find yourself bored. The shopping is great. I managed to drag my boyfriend into a wonderful department store just near Central Station which had MAC, Charlotte Tilbury, Tiffanys, Dior, Chanel, the lot! Although me dragging him in there to look at lipstick and pretty rings for a solid 40 minutes is no different to shopping at home, although I think he secretly loves it... The souvenir shops are a good laugh too and are certainly a place which will enlighten you as to how many items cannabis flavouring can be incorporated into (cannabis flavoured condoms, anyone?).
My personal favourite place was Dam Square, where I saw the most beautiful buildings and spent some time giving these lovely horses a fuss. It's like stepping back in time, with men taking people around in horse drawn carts, grand buildings everywhere you look and old-fashioned street lamps lining each side of the square. It's definitely worth a visit if you're around the area!
My favourite day was the day we went to the Vincent Van Gogh museum. It took a bit of google-mapping to make it there, but it wasn't too difficult. I was so excited before we flew out there that I made my boyfriend sit down with me and watch the Doctor Who episode with Van Gogh in. I think I found a new love for the man, I cried watching it, and he instantly became my favourite artist after seeing this and researching more about his life. The museum was wonderful. The paintings were beautiful and I could have walked around there for hours. It was definitely one of my favourite things we did while we were there and I'd love to go again.
One thing Amsterdam are not short of is somewhere to get a good old waffle or crepe with near enough any selection of toppings you can imagine. Who doesn't want a fresh waffle topped with melted Nutella and Kinder Bueno? They were glorious. If there's one thing I wish we had in the UK it would be more places like this. I'd probably go back to Amsterdam purely to have a daily waffle and enough melted chocolate to feed a family.
By the end of our time there, I did love Amsterdam. I do think there's a huge hype around it as a city break destination, but I think that for me was mainly to do with the shock of how different it was to home and the kind of things which were acceptable. Once I got over this, I saw the city in a different light. It is a wonderful place. The people are lovely, the food is great and it's a great place for Instagram worthy pictures. Just be careful you don't get hit by one of the six billion bikes going past you every minute, those things are a liability!