Youth Hostel Meetingpoint Amsterdam

I arrived in mainland Europe on the American Day of Independance (2004). Like any other backpacker with a long, exciting and unpredictable road ahead; I felt lucky to be there for one, and anxious to see what it would offer me. In the 23 days that followed, the streets of Europe took me by the hand, rather roughly, and showed me things I had never dreamt of. I landed in Amsterdam from Belfast on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I didn't know what to expect, I had heard a lot of disjointed stories bu...

Amsterdam!

So, as many of you might know, Amsterdam has this reputation for being a crazy party city, mainly because marijuana and prostitution are legal and hardly looked down upon. In a specific area of town, both are heavily advertised from every storefront and window. The ''Red Light'' district, as it's known, was where our hostel was located and where we called home for three days! But since our hostel was located on the outskirts of the district, we didn`t get very much of the pa...

So here is the first entry into my travel blog, i'm writing from the hostel we're staying in, which is decent enough, pretty decent showers and a nice view from the window next to my bed onto centraal station. We left Manchester at about 10.30 yesterday morning and arrived in amsterdam at about 5.30, so a fairly full days travelling wore us out. We got the train from the airport to centraal and then made the short walk from the station to our hostel. We got checked in and settled into our roo...

Europe trip 2007 9-13-07 Netherlands Amsterdam! We've arrived! The city is filled with thousands of bicycles. Everyone rides here! The canals beautifully separated the colonial houses and stores. We went to the Rijksmuseum. Our favorite paintings were by Rembrandt. His art was so life like. It was almost like a photograph! Then we went to the Van Gogh museum which was delightful. We saw the Potato Eaters, Almond Branches, and the Sunflowers. We also visited the Anne Frank house. It was awe in...

What first comes to mind when you hear of Amsterdam? Don't tell me -I have an idea of what you're thinking. While yes, the city is quite... how to put it... tolerant of certain practices that are illegal in America, it is a gorgeous and fascinating city with plenty to do and plenty to see, and, believe it or not, is not nearly as crazy as one might expect. The architecture is so grand -the hotels look more like castles and the train station more like a medieval church. The many canals runnin...

Hey everyone!! I've arrived safely in Amsterdam. Our hostel is right in the center of town, and it's pretty nice. There's a bar at the hostel open 24 hours, it's a little crazy for me. Wish me luck!! I'll write/call/whatever on Sunday when I get back to Nantes!

Woke up at around 8 with pretty much no sleep. Got ready then hung out with Hannah and Cara until it was time to leave. We head to the train station and have lunch. We soon get lost in the station and end up sprinting for our train. It was fun let me tell you. We arrive in Amsterdam after the 2 1/2 hour train ride and Dan takes charge because he's been there before and apparently he's a Canadia goose and remembers his way around. I think he just knew where the Red Light District was. That's w...

I slept really really well in this hostel. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't in the other ones or what. I kept waking up thinking I was back home in the States and then freaking out when I saw tons of other people sleeping around me. I had a coffee in the hostel bar and waited for the other two to get ready. We leave and go to the Dam square and wait around forever for the free walking tour to start. We soon get our tickets and end up with this American guide named Stacey. She was so gre...

We all woke up fairly late and got ready. Our mission for the day was to go to the Van Gogh Museum so we headed there. Beside it was the I amsterdam statue so we stopped for a few pics. Turns out the museum is insanely expensive but we figured since we didn't do the Anne Frank house we'd do this. It was a really nice museum, but way too small for the price. I couldn't believe how many Van Gogh paintings I knew. There was a special exhibit there so we got to see Starry Night which was pretty c...