A Night On The Town

So, last night I painted the town red. Amsterdam, that is... and it was spectacular! It was the most beautiful city I've ever seen! The buildings are beautiful, there is so much to see and taste and smell and do, and the people - the bunches and bunches of people - are awesome! I just don't have the right words to fully describe my visit with this ginormous city. So, first I will share some things I learned, saw, tasted, experinced with you and then I will post some pictures from the evening!

• Of course it wasn't possible for me to taste all the different kinds of foods found in Amsterdam, but the food I did taste, was so delicious! After my friend and I put our overnight things in our hostel, we went to dinner at this little Italian restaurant down the street where they had whole pizzas for only 5 euros! Since the deal was too sweet to pass up, we decided to wine and dine ourselves full there! And yes, we did wine! - well it was beer to be exact, but having alcohol legally with my meal was quite a pleasure! We cleaned our plates, the pizza was magnificent!
• Amsterdam is one big tourist spot! I was so surprised to hear people walking by us speaking English! That sounds weird to say, but the little village where I'm living, everyone speak Dutch as their main "go-to" language, so to hear people speaking English was really cool!
• ALL of the coffee shops have pot. ALL. weeeeeiiiirrrrrrrdddddddd. And people were just freely smoking on the streets too! I learned that it's not even legal here, but it is socially acceptable. For example, the cops don't mind!
• The Red Light District was... well I don't even have the correct word to describe it. Creepy? Weird? Awkward? Uncomfortable? Kinda cool? Haha almost every emotion rolled into one. The girls are honestly in a bathing suit or less, and are posing in the windows - that are on ground level. So you're just walking down the street looking at these girls behind glass trying to look their best so some guy will walk in and... well, you know. But it was just surreal. It was definitely an experience!
• There's a prostitute that is 80 years old that's working in the Red Light District! She doesn't pose in the windows or anything. You have to know about her to "get" her. She supposedly has a waiting list!
• Yes, there is a McDonalds AND a Burger King in Amsterdam

The pass I'm holding is a pass for the trains! You just put money on it, and instead of purchasing a ticket every time, you can just swipe it before you get on the train, and then swipe it before you leave! Very effective and helpful!

 

The 2 pictures above are pictures of this little, almost hidden, place in Amsterdam. It's almost like a monestary for nuns, except they don't walk around wearing what you'd think they'd be wearing. There are 92 women living in this place, with some children, and no men! It was one of the prettiest places I'd seen walking around! And there are huge beautiful wooden doors that can close this place off to the public! So I was very lucky to have been able to see this place.

 

This is a flower market! There are a bunch of these and they are so fun to look at! Tulips have really taken over this place, and it's totally fine by me :)

My friend and I walked into numerous stores just to look around, and in almost all the stores that had food in it, you would find these delicious treats. Since I've been in the Netherlands, I've probably eaten two packs of these already! They have become my favorite treat, and are very addicitng. Best things ever made. I love them!

We walked by this clock tower numerous times, and every time it just astounded me! It's so beautiful! Each time we walked by, I'd try taking a picture of it - but none of them gave this thing justice. It's just so amazingly beautiful.

 

This is me (obviously), my delicious 5 euro pepporoni pizza, and a Heineken. Yummy!

These are just some extrememly large wooden shoes I came across, and I just had to take a picture wearing them! Hopefully I will come back to the states with a pair!

 

And last but not least, this was my breakfast the next morning! A cappucino and a chocolate chip croissant. Boy, I am definitely getting used to the food here. I could get used to this.