Amsterdamage

What another amazing journey - this time to the bike capital of the world. Bikes aren't the only thing Amsterdam is famous for, but some things are better left unsaid ;)

Like my trip to London, this one had a very important purpose. This time I would get to see not only my Poppy Robbo, who was coming for a cruise, but also my Oma and Aunty who were coming for a completely different cruise. And on top of all that I got to catch up with the Sandranator, who I met on my Paris voyage way back in December. I was ready for a jam packed 5 days!

I had to wake up super early to get to this flight. I haven't seen the numbers 04:30 on the clock since my Maccas days! I then caught the train to the airport and I spent most of my time there freaking out that I was at the wrong one. Or that I had the wrong day, or time, or something! Imagine my relief when I was finally in my departure gate, Amsterdam bound. I arrived in Amsterdam around 1:30p.m., and caught the train to Centraal which is where Poppy was having a meet and greet before his cruise. I took the wrong exit from the station and called Trish (Pop's wife) to try and work out where I needed to go.

"We are next to the bike stand!" she said. Considering there are more bikes than people in this place, I didn't find that information very useful.

Eventually I made my way back through the station to the correct exit and followed Trish's directions to the set of lights where Pop was waiting. I saw him standing across the intersection looking dazed and confused, so I screamed out 'POPPY!' as loud as I could and starting running across the road, Baywatch style with my arms outstretched. Meanwhile Pop is still standing there like a stunned mullet because he didn't hear me, but he definitely knew I was there when I jumped on him and gave him a big cuddle and a kiss!

I followed him to his hotel - the HILTON, for those of you playing along at home - where he was having a meet and greet with the other passengers. I may or may not have taken full advantage of all the free pastries and juice, I'm not gonna lie. Unfortunately he had to go to his cruise pretty soon after that, so I walked him and Trish to the bus and prepared to say my goodbyes. Then the tour guide on the bus told me to jump on with them and come to the ship to see Pop off! I didn't take much convincing, so away we went to see Pop's ship.

I walked Pop to the front of the ship and got ready once again to say farewell. But THEN Werny, more commonly known as the coolest cruise director ever from Pop's ship invited me ONTO it! He was more than happy to let me make myself at home, I got free drinks and even got to go and see the room Pop was sleeping in. The ship itself was magnificent, very upper class (like me) and plenty of things to keep you busy. Werny told me to come back in the morning for a canal cruise and bus tour at 8am.

I was very quickly getting used to the royal treatment but had to leave Pop behind for the night and find my way to my hostel. As I left the ship it started absolutely lashing down with rain. And I mean it was PISSING down, I haven't seen it that bad since I got to Europe. It doesn't seem to rain a lot here at all. I bolted to an undercover area and quickly stuffed my handbag into my backpack and put the backpack raincoat on. I then had to catch a train to Amsterdam Holendrecht to meet a shuttle bus that would take me to my hostel, just outside Amsterdam. In typical Kate fashion I caught the wrong train, and given that I knew my hostel was out of the city, I stayed on this train for a good hour convinced I was going the right way. Eventually I cottoned on that I wasn't quite headed in the right direction, in fact I may have even been in a different country by this stage. I asked one of the friendly locals and he told me I was way off, not that I was surprised. It seems that my stupidity is becoming all too frequent, so after much deliberation I have decided that learning to read will be my best course of action.

To say I was tired, hungry and absolutely freezing my t*** off would be an understatement. All my clothes were sopping wet and I hadn't eaten anything for hours. Long story short, I eventually found the right way to the hostel, caught the shuttle and took a much needed shower after checking in. My hostel was an old camping ground, made up of old mismatched caravans and a few dorms with shower and toilet blocks. It was set on a lake just outside Amsterdam and I got the shock of my life the next morning when I walked out of my dorm to find two Shetland ponies wandering around looking for food. There were also plenty of ducks to keep us company, the staff were great and the hostel had everything you could need. It was the second best hostel I've ever stayed at (first is obviously Paddy's Palace, love you guys).

The next day I made my way early to Pop's cruise ship once more to join him and his new friends on a complimentary canal cruise and bus tour. It was still pretty cold but luckily the rain had held off. All the cruise attendants remembered me from the day before and were once again so friendly and welcoming! They insisted on giving me a free breakfast and coffee and were more than happy to invite me on the tour. I will definitely be writing a nice thank you e-mail to the company.

After a very quick few hours the tour was already finished and it was time to say goodbye to Pop for real. I love my Poppy Robbo, we had such a lovely couple of days together and I can't wait to see him again in November.

I was a little bit nostalgic when I left Pop, so I decided to take myself on a little walk in the city. I walked all around the canals and before I knew it I was in the Red Light District! Not that it's hard to find, but I wasn't specifically looking for it. I was walking across a bridge and saw some tourists taking photos to my left. I thought 'what's so special about this strip?' Then I saw all the prostitutes and 'coffee shops' and it clicked. And while some of the girls are absolutely smokin' hot, in my professional prostitute judging opinion some of them are nothing short of disgusting.

I went back to the hostel in the late afternoon and laid in one of the hammocks, making the most of the afternoon sun. I had to leave the hostel early in the morning to meet Sandra, who was catching a bus from London to hang out with me for the weekend. So I had some dinner with drinks and played cards with some people who were staying there went to bed early.

The next day I met up with Sandra and we went to the new accommodation that she booked for us. I'm used to staying in hostels which aren't exactly 5 stars, so the fact that Sandra managed to find us a really nice apartment close to the city for the same price as a hostel was awesome! After we checked in we went to World Photo Press in the city centre, which was a collection of photos from photographers all over the world who photograph really pressing issues that don't get a lot of media coverage. It was incredibly intense and moving stuff, I would recommend it to anyone.

After that we went to the airport to surprise my darling Oma, who was under the impression that I would be meeting her at her hotel. I was like a kid on Christmas, standing there with a bunch of flowers at the arrival gate waiting for her. We waited, and waited, and waited and FINALLY my Oma and Aunty came out. Oma got a surprise and a lot of hugs and kisses. Special thanks to Sandra for tagging along and taking lots of photos for me!

We went back to their hotel and then Aunty Marion said she wanted to come with us to the red light district while Oma slept. Sandra and I went back to our apartment and got ready, then met up with Aunty Marion. We walked down Zeedijk street, a really cool place we had found earlier in the day. It's full of unique little pubs and bars, fetish shops and souvenir shops too. Speaking of souvenir shops, we went into one and met some awesome Polish shop attendants who knew the ins and outs of Amsterdam and where to go. They gave us some really good advice, and with that we were off to our first coffee shop!

There are a couple of interesting things about the 'coffee shops' in Amsterdam. The first interesting thing is that they actually DO sell coffee. The second is that you can buy and smoke pot, in whichever fashion you choose. And the third is that they don't sell alcohol, but as they say: beer before grass, you're on your arse. I've never rolled a joint in my life but it turns out my Aunty is a pro from way back when, who knew? She also shouted us a space cake to share and after we'd sampled a few of the coffee shops and pubs, we did a quick lap of the District together before my Aunty's jetlag caught up with her and she went home to bed. Which happened to be perfect timing for Sandra and I to go to a sex show.

The sex show was good for a laugh, but the one we saw was pretty s***! The actors didn't look like they were enjoying it too much, I guess it goes to show that even sex can be tedious if it's a full time job! But I will say that the very nice and talented ladies did things with a banana and string that I didn't even know were possible, glory to them. After that we were all coffee shopped and sex showed out, not to mention freezing cold. We called it a night managed to catch the last train back to our apartments.

On Saturday we met up with Oma and Aunty Marion again to take them to their cruise and see them off. Their ship was HUGE! I've never seen anything like it, it made Pop's ship look like a tin boat. Once again I had to say my goodbyes, which was sad. But how special to be able to catch up with both of my Grandparents in a different country. My Grandparents are very special to me and I don't take any time with them for granted

Oma and Aunty Marion had some unused hop on/hop off bus tickets, so we took them and caught the bus to the Heinekin Experience. This place is a lot of fun, and not just because of all the beer! It's a very interactive brewery tour with a super awesome gift shop at the end. There's plenty of things to see and do and for 16 euros you can't go wrong.

We had planned to make it to the Anne Frank Museum as well that day but by the time we finished at Heinekin it was nearly 5pm, so we headed back to the apartments and got ready for another big night out. We quickly ate some mushrooms for dinner and made our way back to the Red Light District. This is THE place to be on a Saturday night. The streets are packed full with people, countless hen's parties, buck's parties, pub crawls, and then of course the prostitutes and all the guys there to see them. My favourite past time for the weekend was watching guys try and sneak in and out of the little doors, or walking out as proud as anything to hi-5 all their mates waiting for them on the curb.

Sandra and I went to a place called 'Café Remember' right in the middle of the strip. Quite an ironic name to say the least! By this stage we were feeling on top of the world and making plenty of new friends. It was here we met a group of mighty fine English rugby players who were the most entertaining group of boys I've met in Europe. They were all extremely rich, extremely drunk and more than happy to let us hang out with them for our own entertainment. We partied together until the very early hours of Sunday morning, before making our way back home on the longest bus ride ever.

Sunday was a slow day; we woke up late-ish and checked out of our apartments. Then we went to hire some bikes for the day and rode to the Anne Frank Haus. Needless to say, a very important piece of history and something well worth doing! Then we went to find the 'I amsterdam' letters in the city. Apparently, there are 2 sets of these letters; one set that stays put 24/7, and one set that moves playfully around the city. How cool! It was so hard to get a decent photo, because it was absolutely packed. Some guy even kicked Kenny off the letter M! Nobody kicks MY Kenny and gets away with it. The letters we went to were behind a big fountain and a park, and it was such a lovely day. We couldn't have picked a better day to go to the park and ride our bikes around.

So with that my time in Amsterdam had come to an end. I had a relatively early flight the next day, 9:45, and I thought it would be a fantastic idea to save some money and sleep at the airport. It was without a doubt the worst idea I've ever had, and I am in NO hurry to repeat the experience. I would do it again if I had a much earlier flight, but otherwise count me out. I've never been so cold, tired or uncomfortable in my whole life! Luckily the plane trip and journey back home was without a hitch.

And now as I write it's only 11 days til my sister gets here!!! WOOO!! I'm soo excited to show her around Europe and to see Spain and Italy for myself too. It's really scary how fast time is going. I've been here almost 7 months, and I've never been happier with my life than I am right now. Crazy to think that in just 5 months I'll be home again, back to reality.

Until I write again, Adios Amigos