I have been saying I was going to do this post for absolutely ages and I have now FINALLY managed to fit it in my pretty hectic schedule! I recently took a little city break to Amsterdam with my lovely boyfriend Jonathan and 2 of our friends Matty and Ailsa (public congrats to these 2, they got engaged whilst we were there!) I thought I would write up just a little blog about some of the places we went too and some handy tips for getting about Amsterdam!
We flew from Liverpool and stupid in the morning and the flight was super quick.. When we landed, there were plenty of taxis to flag down, but fortunately a taxi driver approached us in the airport to take us to our apartment! We were slightly confused when we arrived at Canal Street View apartments because there wasn't a reception to check into, but when we finally did get sorted, the apartment was amazing. 2 bedroom, kitchen, lounge and big bathroom! Between all 4 of us for flights and accommodation it was around £200 each including flights.
The first day we did a bit of exploring and basically decided that anything with a Heineken sign on was a good thing. We headed towards Dam square, standard touristy thing to do and then started to check out some of the pubs. Just off Dam square across from a big bar called Grasshopper was a side alley pub that gave out free Jagerbombs with every pint of Heineken. The standard price for a pint in pretty much every bar was 5.50. If you come out of this pub and turn left, you will find another main street with more bars. The second one we went into was a little Irish pub that had some of the best decor I have ever seen. On the way back we stopped at another Heineken pub that was across from the Anne Frank museum (great for people watching). Little tip, if you are thinking of going to the Anne Frank museum, book in advance, the queues were actually ridiculous.
We went back to get changed before going out that evening.. Its best to keep things casual on nights out in Amsterdam, think jeans and Chelsea boots. We headed to Rembrandtplein Square for something to eat before tearing up the town (good area for big clubs!). We ended up in an American-ish restaurant which was absolutely delish and reasonably priced considering where we were. After this, we headed to the infamous ice bar, where just outside on Skinny Bridge, Matty popped the question to Ailsa! The ice bar was around 20 each but this included 4 free drinks each, so I thought that was ideal. The actual ice bar its self didn't really live up to the Hype.. It was quite small and I know its stating the obvious, but eventually it got too cold. From here, we walked to Dam Square (took about 10 minutes) and ended up in a bar called Players. Non of us actually remember this night, so to me, that is just signs of a bloody good bar. "I left my heart in Players"
The second day, we all woke up feeling a little worse for wear but got up and got out anyway! This day we had booked on to a beer boat, but couldn't face it. We had booked it through www.funamsterdam.com where you pay a 10 deposit and 35 on arrival. We took a walk up the red light district instead, where you can imagine we saw some interesting sites. It is definitely a must if you go to Amsterdam. We parked in a nautical themed pub for a bit to people watch and have a hair of the dog before heading over to the sex museum. Probably the worst museum I have ever been in, it was about 5 floors of ornaments and photographs, then on the final floor there was a giant penis. Pretty much as good as it got! We got changed back at the apartment again, by this point Jonny was feeling a bit worse for wear so he decided to stay in and I third wheeled with Matty and Ailsa. We went to a beautiful restaurant called Gauchos, where I again had ribs, then had a couple of pints and went home.. Didn't want to leave Jonny fending for himself for too long!
Our third and final day (cries into hands).. Everyone was in high spirits and all we wanted to do was get drunk! We headed out for a bite to eat, just outside Dam square in a small cafe then went to our fave pub across from the Anne Frank museum again then went to explore! We ended up in a pub near the main train station, where the floor was covered in sawdust and there was a group of men drinking shots of Heineken. Dont even ask. After here we ended up in what is probably my fave ever place, a cafe bar called Lost in Amsterdam. It is imperative that everyone that goes to Amsterdam, takes a visit to this place. When you go in, head right to the back. Its a smallish room filled with bean bags and chairs on the floor (pictured below), the waitress takes your drinks order and brings you shisha to share. Even the toilets in that place were cool. (Be careful of the cat that lives in here, well scary!)
Before heading home to get ready for the night out, we were all hungry and ended up in a curry house called Ashoka. We all agreed it was the best curry we had ever had. It took a while to cook but when it came, it was the absolute DON. I know its not conventional Amsterdam food, but it was bloody good. Once we had got changed for the evening, we decided to explore some cocktail bars. The first one was called door 74. It was down a little back alley and if you didn't know it was there you would miss it. The bar staff were amazing, they catered to all our tastes and gave us alot of "Nuclear shots", I still dont know what was in them but they were bloody lethal. The next cocktail bar was called Vesper, again, small bar but the drinks list was really good. The drinks were named after celebrities and the bar staff took great care preparing the drinks and even got us a round of free shots! Third bar of the night was Grasshopper which has 3 floors and we quickly realised it was probably better for eating rather than just drinking. So, of course we ended up back in Players where we had a game of pool and numerous vodka redbulls! Finally we headed back to Rembrant square and ended up in some dodgy club that was playing Christmas tunes before finishing off the night with a McDonalds.
Final tip, if you aren't walking distance from everywhere, then a good taxi number is +31 6 11144699, usually there in around 5 minutes! Hope this has been useful!
