Amsterdam is known for their drugs, prostitutes, and rebellious attitude. We weren’t quite sure what to expect when we arrived. We were taken by the beautiful architecture and charmed by the small cobble stone alley roads twisting through the many canals. The history of the city is contrasted heavily with lots of young travelers on their gap year trying to party, get high, or steal a glance (or more) at the prostitutes in the red light district. It is a lively city with always something to do or see as you navigate through endless canal ways.
The weather in Amsterdam left a little to be desired. We stayed outside of the city which meant for convenience purposes we would pack everything up in the morning and be out and about until bed time. This unfortunately meant that when it was raining (which it was the whole time) we had no place to go home to. A lot of our time was spent running from the rain in search for shelter; usually settling into a near by McDonald’s or Starbucks (only because we didn’t feel bad about stealing their wifi and bathroom use for free…). It was rather difficult to find a normal cafe here because anything labeled “Coffee shop,” sold and served marijuana products. Anything labeled “cafe” was usually just a bar.
We both really enjoyed the feeling of Amsterdam. Getting lost along the canals and finding lots of small shops was really fun. Looking at all the novelty stuff in the cheesy tourist shops and sex shops was entertaining as well. Two of the nights we went to a jazz club called Alto Jazz cafe which had excellent live jazz and cheap drinks with no cover charge. If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam, we highly recommend it.
