September 29 – Day 77

We arrived in rainy Amsterdam at about 6pm, after a long train trip from Berlin. We had a little walk around, then had overpriced drinks in a little pub nearby. After dinner, we walked through the infamous Red Light District, and were shocked and amazed. Wow.

After a few more drinks at the hostel we called it a night.

September 30 – Day 78

This morning we did the free New Europe tour of Amsterdam, which gave us a lot of the history of the city, as well as places to explore more. After the tour, we went to the Anne Frank House, which was very interesting. I haven’t read the book, but it sounds like an amazing story.

Walking back to the centre of town, I was lucky to spot the Beer Temple, a newly opened pub (the first American pub in Europe or something). They have an incredible range of good American craft beers. I was ready for a change from the European beers (as good as they are) and enjoyed some hugely over-hopped IPAs.

After dinner, we headed back to the Red Light District for a live show, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was crazy!

On the walking tour we heard about how the Red Light District is being shut down by the conservative government. Girls windows are being turned into fashion displays, and the Coffeeshops are slowly being closed down. I wonder what the new plan for tourism is – they haven’t had to do anything for a very long time!

October 1 – Day 79

We started today with a visit to the Sex Museum, which is pretty tame compared to a walk around the Red Light District.

We then set off for Heineken, to do the ‘Heineken Experience’ – (Meet the beer, share the magic: Marketing Gold). It was actually a really good tour. I wasn’t overly keen on doing another mega-brewery tour, but it is worth it. You get to see more than you do at some of the other tours. As a bonus, I think my two free beers turned into about 8 – if you pour your own, it doesn’t count, so Simone and I both did that.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around Amsterdam drinking and relaxing.

October 2 – Day 80

After getting tickets for our train tomorrow, we went to Amsterdam Zoo, which was a nice break. Simone had fun After that we went to the Beer Temple again, where I had fun! We drank for a few hours, and relaxed the day away.

We went back to the Red Light District one last time, and visited the Erotic Museum. We’ve seen lots of these museums. It wasn’t very different from the others.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city, and a great place if you want to smoke. If I was going back, I wouldn’t stay as long, or I would go with a different mindset – not trying to ’see things’. It is a very relaxed place