The Amsterdam Adventure (Continued)

(Read blog below first...)

And so Kellye and I rushed from the Telegraph to our hotel to get our luggage in hope of making the train to the airport on time. We hired a cab to go what would otherwise be a fifteen minute walk in order to expedite the process which (unfortunately) resulted in a twenty minute drive in which the cabbie repeatedly told us we were in the wrong place (we should be going to Victoria Station and not Kings Cross he insisted) and then told us he was going to drive us to the right station to catch our train (we were in the right place and going to the right station, might I add). He would then turn towards the Victoria station at which point we would yell "STOP, we want to go to King's Cross" and he would subsequently turn around and go towards the station. Thirty seconds later we would again slam on the breaks and engage in a similar conversation in which he would turn the car around towards the Victoria station. This happened three times until we asked him to just stop, just stop, pull over, and please don't give us travel advice. We ran towards the train, cursing the cab driver, offending the people we screamed obscenities next to, and arriving completely flustered to find there is a train every fifteen minutes. That would have been nice to know. That would have caused less obscenities to be shouted. That would have caused us to not run through Kings Cross station with fifty pound suitcases, smashing into young children and innocent bystanders (and hot dog stands). That would have just been good. Needless to say we made the next train, arrived at the airport, made our plane with plenty of time to spare, and slept the entire flight... all 45 minutes of it.

We arrived in Amsterdam on a rainy afternoon, successfully navigated the public transport system and arrived in our hostel- Bob's Hostel. The Bob, of Bob's Hostel turned out to be a master deception artist with a keen ability to attract the grungiest and dirtiest bunch around, many of whom are middle aged punk rockers. Bob's Hostel did not look like the pictures... at all. Not to mention Bob's excellent architecture skills which were of equal glory. There were one-foot wide, steep and winding staircases that Kellye and I had to climb with our giant 50 pound suitcases (four flights of winding stairs to be exact, and yes judge our over packing all you want, we didn't think it through). I believe our exact words as we climbed the stairs were not "Thank you Bob" but more like "F*** you Bob" (sorry again for the profanity, it was essential in grasp the full experience).

But.... we survived, left Bob's immediately, and went straight to the gorgeous city of Amsterdam. I fell in love at first sight. Amsterdam is one of the most gorgeous cities I have been to, built around wonderful waterways with beautiful architecture and so much to do. Kellye and I had dinner at a cute cafe on the water, enjoying the famous Danish pancakes (spinach pancakes stuffed with ricotta and spinach, topped with a mushroom sauce...yumm). We visited Anne Frank's house, went to the food markets bought some fresh baked bread and local cheese and picknicked on the water. We ventured to the tulip markets and old traditional flee markets. We toured an old church turned into an exhibit on Oman and ate every baked good we saw (just imagine... hot waffles covered in dark chocolate with whipped cream, bananas, strawberries, and powdered sugar).

Saturday afternoon we decided to take a break from exploring and see "Alice in Wonderland in 3-D". We arrive in the theatre, excited, filled with sweets and ready for an adventure. I sit down, watch the previews and then fall asleep for the entire movie. Every single minute of it. I heard it was good though.... After that Kellye and I decided to go back to our hostel to take a nap (it was about 6p.m.) and when we said "nap" we meant sleep. We slept until 9 the next morning. So pretty much I slept my way through Amsterdam.

We did find our way to the Red Light District.... on accident. On our way back from Anne Frank's house (impeccable timing) we took a different route and ventured into an alley way in which I met Martha. Martha was a somewhat obese woman in a thong bikini, stilletos, chewing gum with one leg up on a stool while scratching her chest. And that was all it took for me to get over the glorified Red Light district... I didn't ever need to see that again.

Basically the past week has been incredible, I plan on returning the Amsterdam this summer and loved every minute of it (well except that minute with Martha and Bob, but those were all a part of the experience, right?). I've spent the past few days home sleeping, recovering, and trying to cleanse my system from the massive intake of baked goods.