Amsterdam

We have friends who live in Amsterdam who offered us free accommodation if we happened to travel that way - it was all the luring we needed, and soon we were headed to the capital of Holland. A city of interesting historical architecture, museums, galleries, canals and parks. It is also popular for its coffee shops and vibrant nightlife, not forgetting the infamous red light district.

We booked our flights with Bmi, another budget airline, travelling from Heathrow to Amsterdam's Schipol Airport. The flight took just over an hour, and once out of passport control and reclaiming our luggage, we waited outside for a bus that would take us directly to the suburb of Amstelveen, where our friends stay. It wasn't too difficult to find and the area is conveniently located for public transport, with bus and tram links to the city centre.

The following morning, after a sumptuous continental breakfast (including lots of Dutch cheese), we made our way towards the centre of Amsterdam. Arriving at Centraal Station, we decided that we'd initially explore Amsterdam on foot, despite the city's excellent tram links. We walked in the direction of Dam Square, an open square surrounded by restaurants, pubs and shops, crowded with buskers, tourists and locals. On this particular day there was a funfair taking place in the square, which gave it quite a festive and colourful appearance. The main attraction of Dam Square is undoubtedly the Royal Palace or Koninklijk Palace, an impressive looking building that used to be home to the Dutch Royal Family. On the opposite side to the Palace is the National Memorial statue, a large obelisk shaped structure dedicated to the memory of Dutch soldiers.

We continued to stroll among the winding, cobblestone streets and passageways of Amsterdam, with no particular direction in mind. Stopping briefly at a local pub for a half pint of Heineken, we carried on walking along the sides of the beautiful canals that provide the city with such a unique and charming appearance. Another characteristic of Amsterdam are the open squares or 'pleins', two of the most popular ones being the Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein, both surrounded by trendy cafes, bars and restaurants. There are also numerous markets across Amsterdam, the most well known being the Albert Cyup market, selling a variety of goods. We spent a bit of time browsing the market, before moving on. In terms of big tourist attractions in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum is a popular spot for admirers of his works. On the same square as the Van Gogh Museum is the Rijksmuseum, displays paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer, and therefore definitely worth a visit if art is your scene. A more sombre experience is visiting the Anne Frank Museum, the house where Anne Frank was hidden and wrote her diary during the Second World War.

Since it was still relatively early in the afternoon, a spontaneous decision was made to take a little train trip outside of Amsterdam, with no specific destination in mind. We returned to Centraal Station, looked at a map of train routes, and picked a place to travel to, which turned out to be a harbour town called Hoorn. The town was established in 1357 and therefore has some interesting historical buildings, however these were slightly obscured by a huge funfair situated in the centre of the town. Taking part in the festivities, we bought tickets for the big wheel, or ferris wheel, and enjoyed the ride as we caught amazing views of the surrounding landscape from the top of the wheel. Afterwards, we wandered along the town's streets, making our way towards the beach, gazed at the sea a while, and then returned to the station to take a train back to Amsterdam.

That evening we braved the Red Light District, and walked along the streets and alleyways with countless other tourists, observing the girls displaying their wares behind windows, and being offered narcotic substances numerous times by dodgy dealers in the process. The area itself is located right by the canals and also has many restaurants, pubs and clubs in its vicinity. Personally, I didn't really enjoy investigating this part of the city. It was an interesting experience, yet I also found it to be quite dark, sad and seedy - but hey, its the Red Light District after all, that's to be expected.

The next morning we thought it might be a nice idea to hire bicycles and ride to Vondelpark, which is exactly what we did. We hired our bikes from MacBike, one of the biggest bike rental shops in Amsterdam, at Leidseplein. I had not ridden a bicycle in years and therefore felt quite nervous about it, but once I had passed the trauma of riding in the busy streets, avoiding people, cars, trams and other bicycles, and entered the park, I found it much more enjoyable. Vondelpark is the largest park in Amsterdam, and it is a beautiful area of greenery, lakes, fountains and cafes, in which to laze and people watch, cycle or rollerblade. We found an open-air cafe in which to have a drink, whilst listening to the sounds of jazz from a free concert that was being held on a stage nearby. We returned our bikes and had some pizza (not very Dutch) at one of the restaurants situated close to Leidseplein, before heading off to the airport for our return journey.

We had a good time in Amsterdam, thanks also in part to our friends who kindly hosted our stay (one of whom has an interesting blog, some of which is about life in Holland). We'd like to return to Amsterdam to explore the city further, including more of its coffeeshops and nightlife, and hopefully expand our travels to the rest of Holland as well.