Amsterdam Night 1/Day 1/Night 2

I know I have been away for awhile, but as most of you know, it is because I have spent the past four days in the amazing city of Amsterdam and I am going to recap it all for you.

So Thursday night, my friend Jacob and I headed out to Amsterdam. We were supposed to leave around 8pm, get there are 10pm (time change) and then just head straight to the hostel. Well, of course, our flight was delayed and we didn't end up leaving until 10:30pm London time, so we ended up not getting to the hostel till midnight. Nothing toooo bad.

We stayed at the Flying Pig Uptown Hostel and let me say, it set the bar high for hostels. It was my first hostel experience and I was not disappointed. We set our stuff on our beds in our 14 person room and went downstairs to the hostel bar and hung out till 3am before we decided to call it a night. After walking 4 floors up, we got the pleasant surprise of people sleeping in our beds....ummm okay. After discussing it with management  they quickly moved us to a different 6 person room, which was actually nicer. The beds were comfier than my bed in my flat in London so needless to say, I slept really well.

DAY 1

Breakfast is included in the hostel, so after we ate, we decided to walk into town. It was about a 30 minute walk to the center of Amsterdam, the train station, but the walk along the way was beautiful. We wandered in and out of shops admiring all the souvenirs and funky items for sale. We really just spent allll day walking and exploring Amsterdam. It is such a beautiful city and made me feel like I was back in Davis with the amount of bikes everywhere. The nice thing in Amsterdam is they have a special wide lane next to the road for bikes, because so many people bike. Every bike also has a bell and the locals love using their bells to alert people to get out of their way.

The Flying Pig is equipped with a kitchen full of utensils, you just supply the food. We bought some food at a market and had dinner in the hostel. We hung around in the bar area for a bit chatting with some people before we decided we should head into town. The second night we were switched rooms again and put back in a 14 person room, but this one had its own bathroom and shower. We walked in and found about 7 people our own age hanging out and talking. They were all studying abroad in Belgium and just in Amsterdam for vacation. They were from Canada, England and Ireland. We chatted with them and ended up going out to a popular square around midnight and just hung out talking and drinking till about 2am. Even at that time, Amsterdam was still alive and populated. I was exhausted from two late nights so I just passed out. Here are some pictures from our first day!

the harrods of amsterdam

a mall

grand central station terminal

Stay tuned for part 2