November 2004 The night right after we flew back from Spain, we took another flight to Amsterdam. We stayed in the Flying Pig hostels. First in Noordwijk because we got free nights there. It was by the beach, but in november in Netherlands, it is very cold and windy! That's where we met Vanessa and Anthony, a cool couple from San Diego.The first...

Over the last few weeks there has been more than a few times that I have found myself humming along in my head Paul Kelly's "Every F***ing City Looks the Same" but I tell you there was none of that as we wondered the most unusual city in the world - Amsterdam... Following a major coup at the car depot and what can only be described as a massive ...

I'll be honest here. I'm not all that impressed. Amsterdam is dirty, cramped, and shady looking. Entire streets have been pulled up for construction, garbage is everywhere, often dumped into the canals, and it's the first city in Europe I've been in where I don't feel 100% safe. The worst part is this city has so much potential. Many of the buil...

Hey, I made it to almost my final destination in Europe, Amsterdam!! Its the place where pigs really do fly, well that depends on what you have eaten/smoked. I am staying at a mad hostel called the Flying Pig, there are 2 of them in the city and they rock. I have to say that Amsterdam rocks. There is so much going on in this city, just to make y...

Oy! Okay, due to the brain not totally working today (grandma, could you send me some canned peached please?), this is going to be short and sweet. This morning in trying to extend our stay yet another day at the Flying Pig Downtown, we found there were no rooms available. Quickly booking at its sister hostel, the Flying Pig Palace, we walked th...

The "Flying Pig" sums it up. Not only the name of Amsterdam's most famous hostel, but how I feel flying around Europe, doing my part to melt the polar ice caps. I feel a little sick. But Amsterdam once again proves to lighten and enlighten, and I feel that just maybe, there is hope for our planets future. I guess its just ours I'm not sure about...

Welcome to smokey Amsterdam, hostel is another world famous one, but does not act like it, more like by association. There is a uptown hostel with the same name located in the red light district, but more expensive, and booked so we choose the lesser of the two. The first night here we had a couple of pints down at the bar in the basement and to...

Amsterdam, the flying pig, pub crawl and the queens birthday, some crack especially the one that I got on my head. Stayed in the infamous flying pig hostel the first night and ended up going on an organized pub crawl with an Australian couple. The usual crack to much drink, to much messing and my head being softer than the concrete. The place we...

Hello Everyone back in snowbound Canada and around the world. I must apologize for the lack of emails recently, I know that you all sit around your computers waiting for the next one to arrive!!! I just returned last night from a 4 day mini-break to Amsterdam, the bohemian capital of Europe. I flew out on Saturday morning on my own, but due to f...

We arrived in Amsterdam on June 16th after 24 hours in the air. We then took the train from Schipol Airport to Centraal Station in Amsterdam. We found our hostel the "flying pig" and dropped the bags off. Amsterdam is a crazy city and we just decided to get lost to see it all. We walked for a couple hours without looking at a map. We finally dec...

Entry 1 of a trip titled: Hasta el final

Viajes de dìa y noche hasta la muerte.

Amsterdam is a city with heaps of hype! And it lives up to and exceeds the hype! Firstly it is a beautiful city with weird narrow wonky buildings, channels criss crossing all round, great public transport and bikes everywhere. I couldn't get a couch in Amsterdam so I stayed at the Flying Pig downtown hostel. As soon as you walk into this place y...

amsterdam where the muffins are .. all ppl are there.>it's a must to go

Greetings from Amsterdam! Apologies for the lack of writing... our internet time is scarce and let's be honest, Facebooking comes first! :) Anyway, here's the report on Berlin and Amsterdam. We got to Berlin in the evening on Friday and headed to a laundromat near our hostel... the laundry cost 3,80 euro per load and 0,50 euro for 5 minutes of d...

So today is our last day in Amsterdam. We woke up early, caught breakfast (milk is awesome here) and then headed out to find a hostel for tonight. Tonight was the only night we had nothing booked, and we JUST managed to get two beds at a fairly expensive price. Still, better than paying for a hotel. Tyler and I walked a big circuit again, but Ty...

In 2004 I knew I really loved Kelly. Of course, I had been telling her that I did for the bulk of the past year. Had I been lying? No, I wasn't lying. I loved her, but I wasn't sure then, as I am now, that we would be together for life. We arrived in Europe for a proper twenty something backpacking trip. We followed familiar paths through Wester...