Sunday, July 24, 2011

Shallow Pockets Brimming with Red Light (Green Light)

For the first travel weekend Caitlin and I decided to go BIG- AmsterDAM!!!

We took a bus from Glouscter Green (right next to Worcester College) to Luton Airport (the smallest of London's three).Waiting on our EasyJet. European airports are different in the fact that once you go through security, etc you don't actually go to your gate... because you have NO IDEA until just minutes before your flight leaves which gate exactly you'll be departing from. So you have to sit in the lobby and wait until a screen displays a gate and then there's a mad dash since seating assignments are first come, first serve!We paused our dash for this picture (as did the plane attendant in the background- he posed just for us)!


We got to Amsterdam pretty late and, since I still haven't mastered this camera, all of the pictures are blurry and unimpressive. But our first hostel was AMAZING!! It was called Coco Mama... a little distance away from the Red Light district but pretty close to the bar district and the museums- SO worth it.
So, so worth it. It used to be a brothel once upon a time and now it's this super hippy, sharing, what's-mine-is-yours 'house' with down comforters and a wonderfully inviting common room/dining room/kitchen with the friendliest little fat cat you've ever seen. Oh and did I mention they gave us free food?!

We did explore the bar district a bit though and we made Dutch friends that brought us to one of the coolest shot bars I've ever been to- I got to ROAST a marshmallow ON THE SURFACE OF THE BAR! Nuts! That's NUTS!! We went exploring the next day and found a lovely little outdoor market (hello souvenirs!), toured the Anne Frank House (...one of the most sobering experiences I've ever had part in) and followed the winding canals and bike-ladden streets to see what a day-in-the-life of an Amsterdamite might be (okay and maybe to peep into a coffeeshop or two)...Later that night we checked out of Coco Mama and made our way to the heart of Amsterdam to meet up with Brian (the guy I met on the plane- remember the first post?) and his friend Russel and see what all the Red Light District had to offer. It took so many tries to find wi-fi for communication...We ended up making buddies with a little italian man and he let us access their internet while we enjoyed a glass of Cab (of course, what else would it be?) and some lemon sorbet. Sorry, after this point no pictures allowed for the rest of the night... ;)

The next day there was a festival in the center of the square- there were so many costumed 'statues' but this guy was worth the euro it cost for the picture. Do you see that detail?!We had to relocate yet again (you really shouldn't sleep in if you sneak more people into a hotel room than they say you're allowed) and we were party poops that slept much of the day away- they make those hostel beds so damn comfortable!
That night we were supposed to meet up with the boys again but wi-fi was hard to come by (we wanted to give the Italian Restaurant a break) so we found a pub crawl instead. GOOD decision. We made so many friends!! Meet the Aussis! Meet the Brits!Accents galore I LOVE IT!
A little hung over, but no worse for the wear, we conquered the ultimate in touristy activities on our last day- climbing on the Iamsterdam sign! We were able to squeeze in the Van Gogh museum and then we had a little college-budget picnic at the base of the National Monument before jetsetting back to Oxford.
May every weekend be full of so many stories and adventures!

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