Hostel Lum'n Abner Amsterdam

... It is amazing, so many different types of seeds and plants – of course they sell marijuana seeds as well! We also popped in to a cheese shop and did some tasting and could easily have bought a few different ones had we not been restricted by weight on our flight that afternoon. We did buy these Dutch waffles Sean had told us about there, they are two very thin wafer biscuits with a layer of caramel between them. He told us the tradition is to have them with coffee or hot ...

... park and headed back toward the hotel. I got my fries again!!!! soooooo delicious, omg. Finally got to the hotel and went to sleep at 5pm. We just couldn't take it anymore. Woke up at midnight and chatted for a while. Finally went back to sleep but were awoken at 3am by someone playing music so loud we actually thought there was a concert outside. Finally decided to just get up and get ready and walk around for a while.

... it up with this guy. He was full of information and questions, and we had a great converstation. He asked me my planned route and then intiuitively knew that I was on Lufthansa airlines. He said that Lufthansa was a good choice, and to avoid Easy-Jet and RYANAIR! I laughed and relayed my RYANAIR story. He rolled his eyes and laughed. Apparently, more seasoned travellers avois the cattle-cars (Ryanair and EasyJet) for the more sophisitcated, larger airlines. I ate til ...

... had packed for me, I started my day with the Canal boat Tour. On my way from the airport, I had learned that this is the best way to see the city and get oriented. This 1.5 hour, audio guided boat ride (€10), a popular way of touring Amsterdam, takes you through the small interlaced canals, showing the popular sights and land marks. For a spoiled Californian/Mumbaite like me, Amsterdam was starting to feel too cold and only dared to step outside the ...

... us all down in the backroom of the bar to explain a little about the history of Amsterdam and to talk about the tour. It turns out that this tour was especially focused on the Red Light District...which is still VERY active today! I thought it was going to be a Historical tour....but no, we were going to be walking through the very active red light district.... On my honeymoon, of all trips! Slightly ironic I guess! Anyway, overall the tour was ...

... of the city over the years. The entire city is built on reclaimed land, and if it were not for a series of levies holding back the oceans it would have been inundated years ago. Builders have used interesting techniques to solve the problems presented by this situation over the years, and today drill large concrete anchors sometimes over 100 meters below the surface, where large sand deposits anchor the buildings. However, these techniques have ...