Before I settled down in London my friend and I
took a Top deck tour around Europe. Our group met at the Burns Hotel in London
at Earl’s Court. We all said our quick hellos and introductions and made a bee
line for the bus to get a good spot. This begins our 6 hour bus trip from
London through Calais over to Amsterdam. Get comfy with the bus because this
tour has a lot of driving. In Canada it takes about 9-11 hours to drive from my
home in the Fraser Valley to Edmonton or Calgary. In Europe you can go from one
end of the country in Amsterdam all the way to Munich the other end of Germany
and be there in 8 hours and 8 minutes in the current traffic at 10 pm CET. (not
that I googled) Speaking from a Canadian’s point of view to be in another country
in the same amount of time is INSANE! The EU is extremely fortunate to be that
close. Anyways back to my trip, we drove to Dover in Kent hopped on a ferry to
Calais then drove to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a great city, this is my second
time being there and it was just as wonderful as the first. It was familiar which was nice to have that
feeling.
Amsterdam's street food is a must for any foodie. Of
course when you’re in the Netherlands you cannot leave without trying their
amazing fries and mayo! Another food that
they do well is waffles. We picked up some packaged stroopwafels and they were
delish. It is a yummy dessert made of two baked dough layers with caramel syrup
filling in the middle.
Being a tacky tourist is a lot of fun, asking
for directions all the time and doing all the main attractions. If you love
flowers you have to check out the flower market, the tulips are gorgeous and
are as little as €5.00 for 50 tulips, what a steal. (If you live there, or close by) Other main attractions include the traveling
iamsterdam letters, Anne Frank house (I extremely recommend this!), Van Gogh
Museum (or any museum for that matter, there are some gooders!), and vintage
markets.
My number one recommendation is to get lost
traveling the canals (don’t physically “get lost”, because if you’re not from
there it’s not fun getting lost) but take your time walking or boating on the
canal. Amsterdam has some great architecture so explore some of the churches.
The shopping is also fantastic in Amsterdam, so don’t skip on that. Pictured
below is the Magna Plaza, a must for any fashion lover.
My top tip for Amsterdam has to do with biking.
Take a bike ride; it’s their number one form of transportation in the
Netherlands. Be aware of the bikers if you’re not on one, you’re probably more
likely to get run over by a bike than car, or train in my opinion!
Have you been to Amsterdam, or any city in the Netherlands? What are your tips for seeing the city? Leave a comment
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Julieanne
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