spring break in amsterdam!

07Apr09

Having never been one to hit up typical “Spring Break Destinations” (think Cancun, Miami, Greek Islands…), I thought I’d take my last Spring Break ever to get lost in a party town.  So.. Amsterdam was the destination.  For the cultural exposure of course.

The plan?  Take four Sloanies and two girls from New York and “do it right.”

The moment you land in the city, you’re quickly submerged in the sweet smell of… smoke.  Though there’s a strong European cafe culture, you also learn to distinguish the coffee shops from the coffee houses.  The former being what Amsterdam is infamous for.

A typical scene in front of a coffee house

A typical scene in front of a coffee shop

The next thing you notice is the crazy locals on bicycles.  They’re honestly more dangers than the cars and the silent trams combined.  The trams at least give you a courteous ding on their strangely bicycle-like bell.  The bicycles give you a polite ding followed by angry screams… and if you don’t hear that… you feel it.

While at night, we did the family tourist thing… yes… families do this… and roamed the red light district.  Shocking at first, then strangely comical.  Extremely attractive women posing in windows searching for the next trick, frequently knocking on the windows to grab your attention.  Then, when that fails, they solicit the young father walking with his tween daughter, who smiles and hastens his step.

Sorry, no pictures here.  The canals that run throughout the city serve as both scenic elements of Amsterdam as well as convenient places for bouncers/pimps to throw your camera (and sometimes you) into.

Admittedly, after spending a weekend in Amsterdam, with another 4 days to go, I was bored.  I spent the evenings hanging out with the many (young!) backpackers and spent the days hopping on random trains to the outskirts of the Netherlands.

Utrecht was first destination.  Exactly like Amsterdam, but without the parts Amsterdam is famous for.  Basically, a cute town with history, canals, cafes and more bicycles.

The next day was Zaanse Schans.  A place for windmills… and… that’s it.  Seriously.  That’s it.

And finally, I ended my trip with a little more Amsterdam sightseeing.  Van Gogh museum, Anne Frank museum, Rembrandt, Houes of Bols museum and more!

Filed under: Student Life, Traveling   |  1 Comment
Tags: amsterdam, belltower, cafe, coffee house, coffee shop, duck, man, netherlands, redlight district, utrecht, windmills, zaanse schans