December 30, 2011- January 2, 2012
For New Year’s Heavens and I decided to go on an Amsterdam Tour. It lasted 4 days and was super cool.
30th- This morning we got up super early to get a cab to the hostel we were leaving from. Of course our cab wanted us to leave at 4 (we had to be there by 6:00). Well the cab got us there at 5! So we had to wait an hour! But anyways our tour guide/group showed up and we met Winnie and Jenny (two Australian girls travelling around Europe for 3 months) and we met our tour guide (Angela!). We packed up and got on the bus to travel to Dover. It took us about an hour. Once there we had to go through security because we were officially leaving the country. Then we got on the ferry to head to France. The ferry was ROUGH! The water was so rough and even though we ate a bit I felt sick the ENTIRE time we were on the ferry! So hard, but we finally made it (about another hour). Once there we got on another bus to travel from France to Amsterdam. Didn’t realize it was going to be this long/difficult to get there! On the bus ride there we played a few games. We also had to introduce ourselves and I told the bus Heavens and I were engaged! So we were talking to everyone about that, especially the girls in front of us- Ashley and Erin. We finally made it to Amsterdam and got our rooms- we roomed with Winnie and Jenny. We got ready because we didn’t have much time before we had to head out again. Then Angie gave us a small tour as we walked to Dam Square- the big Square in Amsterdam. We grabbed a quick bit to eat (again not much time) so we got Subway. Then we met up to go on our pub crawl! We went to the first club- The Players Club. Here we got a t-shirt and a free shot. We danced a bit and became forever known as ‘The RABBITS!’ Don’t ask me why because I still can’t remember! But that was our nickname for the rest of the trip! After that club we ventured to the all famous RED LIGHT DISTRICT!!! It was very surreal; to walk about and see girls in their underwear and bras in a window dancing or talking on their cell phones or whatever and then to see the windows with the curtains closed. We were also informed to NEVER, EVER take a picture of the girls as one guy on a previous tour did and the girl opened the door and threw her pee on him! So we went to the Red Light District Pub. The part to remember was the creepy, scary stairs! Super steep which sounds like it could be a problem when you are drunk! The other part was the guy in the bathroom. Since you have to pay for the bathroom at most places, at this pub you had to as well. The guy standing over taking our money was chatting away to us! The next pub we went to was the English pub. Here we got a free beer and met the amazing man who drank everyone’s beer! Basically we didn’t have time and were already too drunk to drink all our beer so this guy from our tour (whom we were just meeting now!) and he drank all of our beers in record time! Our beer was Heineken which is the beer made in Amsterdam so it was actually pretty good. I’m very fond of beer when it is made the place I am drinking it. Like Guinness in Ireland and Heineken in Amsterdam. We didn’t stay too long and then we went to the favourite pub of the night- THE NEON PUB! It was fricken’ awesome! There were black lights everywhere and everything glowed. It was so cool and had great music, proper dance music! We danced and sang and had a great time! Finally we went to the last pub (there was one more after that but we didn’t make it to that one). This one was cool because Erin was so funny; she went behind the bar and was getting us drinks lol. And the bartender was helping her like it was no problem! It was great and I was having a blast but I couldn’t make it to the night club, I really just needed to get home. We attempted to find our way back, while we were drunk and in a new place, but of course got lost. Heavens even asked a take away place for directions and they charged her 1 Euro and still gave the wrong directions! So we decided to just get a cab. We got Mcdonalds on the way haha of course! We finally made it home and went to bed!
31st- Happy New Years EVE!!! This morning we got up and went to the amazing pancake place that we have been hearing about for some Amazingly Delicious Pancakes! They were literally the size of an entire plate! We placed our order and the woman was impressed that be both wanted one and re-iterated the fact that they were huge! We said we could handle the challenge. Heavens ordered Chocolate and Bananas and I got Chocolate and Strawberry. We both ordered freshly squeezed orange juice. MMMM! It was lush! Heavens bananas were actually baked into the pancake. With chocolate drizzled all over them! SOOOO GOOD! The orange juice was amazing as well! It was a wonderful breakfast and of course Heavens and I both finished our plates! Next we decided to walk to the Flower market as flowers are a huge thing in Amsterdam, especially tulips. There is this market that runs along the canal of all different shops which was cool to look at. There were of course tulips everywhere! Also there were little cheese shops where the women dressed in the Dutch outfits! SO CUTE! And free samples! We got this amazing cheese as well! It was cheese and pesto mixed together so it was literally green cheese, but it tasted sooooo good! We bought some of that. After our shopping trip we went to the Van Gogh museum. It was four floors with tons of artwork and information. I learned a lot about him and his paintings are so cool. We ended up buying our two favourite paintings so that we can hang them in our house, when we have a house. We took a walk around afterwards and we went to see the IAMSTERDAM statue, which is sooo cool!! It was huge! We used my panoramic camera to take really cool pictures because it was so big you couldn’t get more than a couple letters into the pictures. We got our picture together then we went to a pizza place for dinner. We got a pizza and a glass of wine. YUMMY! After dinner we went back to the hostel to get ready for the New Years Eve Party. We got ready then went downstairs to the bar for unlimited glasses of wine/beer, free buffet food, and friends. We ate some food, got some drinks and chatted with some people. We hung out and even played soccer with the Christmas ornaments. When they opened the nightclub downstairs we all went down for some music and a stripper pole! Lol. Heavens also engraved the wall as everyone who had been there had. We stayed down there drinking and chatting until 11. Then we all got ready to go out. We got some vodka and coke. We went out as a group but the group was heading to Dam Square but I wanted to go to Leidsplein so we ended up going there instead. We were in one big group but some of the people decided they were going to run off ahead of the group- including Heavens! Thank god we eventually met back up at the toilet. Believe me I told her off for that! We ended up losing most of the group but the two Ashley’s were with us so we found a spot to stand with them to watch the show. It was an amazing spectacular event! There was music and when it got down to the countdown the huge Dutch statues- a girl and boy- began moving towards each other and at midnight they kissed! It was so cool! Also at midnight fireworks went off everywhere. (They had been going off everywhere anyways because New Year’s Eve is the only day that anyone is allowed to have fireworks and anyone is allowed to set them off) However at midnight literally you spun in a circle and in every direction there were fireworks! It was sooo cool! Of course at midnight we had our New Year’s Eve kiss J. We took a few pictures then decided to head back to the hostel. On the way we found a huge dutch wooden shoe lol and we made Heavens sit in it to get a picture…even though it was wet and she had to pee. We stopped at McDonalds on the way because Heavens had to pee so bad she couldn’t wait. Even the woman taking the money for the toilets knew how bad she had to pee and let her skip the line and go in the mens toilets lol! We got out food and headed back to the hostel. Once in our room we got comfortable and Heavens told me we should go outside to watch some fireworks before bed. I didn’t really want to go but she insisted. We went outside and saw Ashley there who began to follow us down the road. I had no clue what she was doing lol. Next thing I know Heavens is giving me a speech and getting pulling out a ring. Then I found out why Ashley was there…to take pictures and to yell at Heavens to get down on one knee lol. Heavens did and I got my ring!!!!!! YAY!!!! It is so pretty and so perfect for me! I love it! It was so great. After we went back to the bar for a celebration drink with the girls before heading to bed J.
1st- Happy New Year!!! Today we got up early (even though Heavens was very hung over and could barely move) but I really wanted to see the Anne Frank House and if you didn’t get there early you could be waiting for hours. However, we didn’t end up getting any breakfast because since it was New Year’s Day nothing was open! Anyways we waited in line which didn’t take very long then got to go in the house. It was soooo cool! I really loved it! It was so neat to think about the fact that you were standing in Anne Frank’s room, looking at her walls, touching her sink! We saw some of her diaries, watched some interviews, and saw her posters. It was all really emotional. Especially the interview with her Dad when he found out that his entire family had been killed and he was the only one to survive. And the fact that Anne died just days before they were freed. It was very surreal to think that she had to be quiet at all times and couldn’t even look out the windows for fear of someone seeing her. The house was cool because everything looked (minus the furniture) as it did when they lived there. So there were black curtains on the windows and the bookcase in front of the stairs. Once we looked through the house (didn’t take very long as it was so tiny) then we got something to eat and watched the people who were in line. The line by the way was now down the block around the corner, down that block, around the corner and still going! We decided to find the Homomonument. This monument is a huge triangle to signify the hardships gay/lesbian/transgender people have gone through not only in the war but in general. It’s dedicated to everyone past, present, and future who has ever been discriminated against for being LGBT. It was a huge triangle with three parts. The first part is a raised triangle, the second is a triangle made of stone on the ground and the third is a triangle out onto the water. It was really cool and all three parts of the triangle point to an important part of the city. Afterwards, we walked to Dam Square so we could see what it looked like during the day and saw the War Monument again. This monument (shaped like a penis lol) is for everyone in the war that never get accounted for, ex: nurses, drivers, everyone including the soldiers that fought for our country and who are still fighting for our country and who will fight for our country. There are also other monuments surrounding it so the war monument is central. After we walked around the square we got some lunch at Burger King and got some t-shirts on sale. Then we went back to the hostel and ended up taking a nap because we were so tired. We got up and got ready for the Canal Cruise. We all walked to the boat and there was a whole boat just to ourselves. We sat at a table with the Ashleys J and Victoria J. It was really cool. It was also a good night for it because it was raining but we were inside the boat. We made Heavens open the window and take pictures the whole time lol. So funny, because water poured into the window. We filled up wine glasses to catch the water! We got a 3 course meal. Some soup, meat dish, and cake. We even got some music played for us……I’m sexy and I know it!! After the cruise we went back to the hostel and met up with Ashley. We decided to go to the chip shop as our dinner was not very filling. We had already gotten in our pj’s so we decided to go in those lol. We got back and chatted with Ashley for a long time. That was when the chip incident happened…yes I’m still talking about the chip incident. Ashley choked on a chip and Heavens and I just sat there waiting for her to cough it out lol. Some other people from the tour came in and we told them and we said we would still be talking about it the next day….cause when Heavens is drunk all she does is ramble on, and on, and on, and on some more lol. I finally got her to go to bed!
2nd- Today was our last day in Amsterdam L. We got up early and headed back to the ferry. The bus ride was sooo long and then when we got to the ferry we had to wait for another one so we watched a movie while we waited. We got on the ferry and man was it rough! We didn’t get food for a while and then the up and down motion did not agree with me at all! I spent most of it in the bathroom contemplating if I was going to throw up or not! We finally got off and got on the bus back to London. Once in London we said our goodbyes and headed to the tube station. Because we were at Kings Cross station we got to see platform 9 1/3!! It was so cool! We took pictures then said our sad goodbyes to the girls and headed home.
This trip was sooo much fun and we met some really great people that I will be friends with for a long time. I will always remember being a rabbit, amazing fireworks, dutch statues, huge pancakes, my beautiful ring, choking chips, and the wonderfulness of Amsterdam!
Until next time,
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