Friday 17th February

Continuing from our train journey we arrived safe and sound in Amsterdam at around 9pm. I don't like arriving in new places at night but seeing as our hostel is around the corner from the station I didn't think it would be too bad!

The first thing I noticed was all the bright lights it was a bit of a shock as I wasn't really expecting it as soon as I arrived. Our hostel is the road behind all these bright lights, it down a quiet shopping road which gets busy during the day! The hostel is very different from the one in Paris, very loud and noisy down in reception/bar area. We are sharing a double bed bunk, which is really comfy! We are sharing the room with a bunch of Geordies and extremely noisy Germans! We hang out in the bar for a couple of hours and then crashed out!

We woke up in the morning and headed out, the first thing we needed to do was book our next train to Berlin. We went to the ticket desk to ask to make a seat/bed reservation (we are taking a night train). The women behind the counter didn't really understand what I was trying to say, all she kept saying was that you didn't need to book the train and I already had a ticket (our interrail passes). All I kept thinking was, I know I have a ticket but I am 100% certain that I need to book a bed as it is a night train. We decided to go to the international service centre, which we should have gone to in the first place. I found a man, who strangely resembled Borat, and I doubled checked if we needed to book a seat. Apparently I was correct, we took a ticket and waited to be served. Luckily there was seats available for the train we wanted to get. It cost us €33 for the both of us for a seat, the bed cost about €60, so we'll be having a rather uncomfortable train ride for 9 hours! But it had saved us money which roughly cost €30 each for a bed in a decent hostel not too far away from the city centre.

After purchasing our next tickets we went of to do the main thing I wanted to do in Amsterdam, hire a bike and go cycling round the canals. It was great, Amsterdam has a good network of cycle lanes compared to the UK. Stu was a health hazard to everyone, he nearly killed himself and other cyclers. Our bikes had no gears or breaks, to stop you had to cycle backwards, which is fine but stopping at crossings was a challenge! Dodging cars, pedestrians and other cyclists was a bit mental! We cycled down the river for a couple of hours and turned back to hire shop, which was a challenge in itself! We got lost, there are too many rivers and weird road names and the map the hostel gave us wasn't in great detail at all. Luckily we had a good map from the cycle shop!

We got back home and chilled out for a bit and went food shopping, this was our next challenge! Everything is written in Dutch so had no idea what anything meant!! I worked out what most things were by looking at what it was, getting some good practice in! We made chilli con carne which was delish!

We went down the road to the famous sex museum, it was very corny and cheesy! Did make me laugh at the ridiculous pictures and artefacts on display!

We ventured out to the famous red light district, it was packed with thousands of tourists, most I would imagine being stag do's/lads holidays! It seemed weird walking past windows with women/girls just hanging out waiting. It was defiantly something different! Stu was hungry so stopped off at a chip/cake shop on the way home. The guys were rather amusing, and we ended up staying for over an hour watching gladiator on the TV with them. We got a waffle with pink/strawberry icing, it was tasty! The cake shops I have seen so far have all looked so appetising! I don't think I could stay here long as I'll end up the size of a house! Much better than Greggs or Bakers Oven back in the UK.

We decided to watch a film before going to sleep, which got rudely disturbed at 3am by the nosiest Germans you'll ever meet. I swear one was actually a fog horn, it put me to shame! I think they all went out drinking, I knew I would expect this at some point a bit of noise as people came back, but if you want to talk (loudly) please bog off somewhere else! I managed to block the noise and fall back asleep, finally!

Saturday 18th February

We woke up fairly later than normal. I purposely made as much noise as the Germans did last night but slamming every door possible. I hope I pissed them off…! My bum still feels bruised from yesterday's cycle, I also didn't appreciate the facebook comment from Aish and Kate…!

I wanted to go and see the Anne Frank museum, but getting there was confusing. Looking at the street map you think you're one place but you somewhere else. There are way too many canals in Amsterdam. Literally every street has a water feature! The Anne Frank museum had a massive queue, it was freezing and very windy so we decided to move on. We walk through the centre of Amsterdam checking out the shops, I love it here, the Dutch love their cows. It's a pity I can't take much home as I'll have to cart it everywhere!!

We had a long wander through the city to the outer skirts and the architecture of the city is beautiful, no neon lights or cheesy touristy shops. We wander back through the city again; I had to stop off at the chemist as I have seemed to have had an allergic reaction to something. I think it might be the bed sheets from the hostel in Paris, but then again it could be anything seeing as everything is different and new. But it is quite irritating and itchy!!

We walked back through the same red light district as last night and it is a very different place during the day. The 'beautiful' women are replaced with 'less attractive' women. Very big contrast from the night.

We went out for another wander in the evening and stopped off to get another cake and waffles, I am going to get fat! We returned back to the hostel to chill out, we got chatting to a couple of Canadians living in London, a guy from Baltimore in the US and a couple from LA looking to relocate to wither Amsterdam or London. I told them they must be crazy trading the sun for the British weather!

We went out for a food adventure after the Canadians recommended this really good burger bar. It was AMAZING! Possibly the best burger I have ever had, they make the burger from fresh in front of you and the garlic sauce was to die for! I went to sleep full and happy…until the Germans returned. Bloody Germans…!

Sunday 19th February

We had to check out at 10:30 this morning…so early considering we went to bed at 2am and was kept awake until 3am. We went out for a wonder, I wanted to go back to a market we passed yesterday as they were selling some random bits and pieces that I wanted, but it was closed.

The weather has been a bit freakish today, we set out today in bright blue skies absolutely beautiful but it turned windy around lunch time and shortly after a massive hail storm which then turned into snow and finished off with rain. The sun has since shown its face again and it is lovely, yet bitterly cold outside!

We also went to the famous I (AM)STERDAM sign in front of the Rijksmuseum. It was pretty busy with tourist, as expected. Tried to get a picture for ages, but these stupid idiots kept getting in the way not realising that they were right in the way…!

Stu found an Argentinean steak house; there are thousands in Amsterdam, to have our dinner as we are on the train tonight. It was amazing, literally the best steak we have ever had!

We have been chilling in the hostel until our train at 7pm tonight! We should be arriving in Berlin around 4am so we don't know what our plan is for tomorrow, apart from stay awake till bedtime!

We shall update you when we get into Berlin!

Overall view on Amsterdam:

Amsterdam with their liberal views, great nightlife and coffee houses there isn't much you can complain about!

The locals are great but there isn't a great amount of 'attractions' to see like Paris, but for a city break with your mates will give you plenty to do! The city is small and easy to walk around; navigating is a bit trickier. The city is beautiful beyond the tacky neon lights of the centre.

Total miles from UK: 391

Transport taken:

Trains = 3

Our photos (you don't need facebook to see these):

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150800651078986.507384.501883985&type=3&l=590bb6ea94