Six weeks into my semester abroad in Toulouse, we were finally given a one week break from our academics. After seeing my fellow exchange students travel throughout the semester, it was my time to finally get out and do some traveling !
My friend, Martin, and I planned out a trip that originally had us going to London, Amsterdam, Belgium, and Germany, and finally back to Toulouse. After doing the logistics and taking into consideration our budgets, we decided to simply do Amsterdam and Paris.
In addition to telling my story, I’ll throw in any tips I hope will help anyone planning a trip to the capital of the Netherlands.
There’s a travel bus company out here in Europe, Mega Bus, that is cheap, and I mean CHEAP. It cost us 20 British pounds to go from Toulouse to Amsterdam. It’s funny because the only reason I held onto going to Cologne, Germany for so long before finally cutting it off the list, was because it would have only costs us 1 British pound to travel from Amsterdam to there. 1 bloody British pound! Lmao! The only downside to the cheap price was a 21 hour bus ride with a three hour stop in Paris. But hey, we’re in college, money is tight, so it’s a small price to pay!
Charlotte, myself, Margaux, and Martin ready to begin the 21 trip to Amsterdam!
The ride to Amsterdam was not bad at all. Martin and I were joined by our fellow classmates Margaux and Charlotte. To kill time and remember what I hoped would be a great week, I started recording random clips from the bus ride and would continue to do so throughout the trip.
After nine hours, we arrived in Paris for a three hour pit stop. Where I continued making clips and we made a quick stop near the Eiffel Tower.
After another pitstop in Brussels, Belgium, we finally arrived in Amsterdam around 7pm!
We stored our luggage in lockers at the bus station and went out to finally experience Amsterdam.
We had Sushi and drinks before we were joined by Martin’s friend, Eric.
To save money, we decided we would just party throughout the night and check in the next day to save a lot of money. The problem was that there was a music event going on in the city so every club and venue was either packed or sold out. We went around to a few places but ended up walking around from about 2-6ish trying to find a place to get into to hang out.
We ended up finally getting to Charlotte and Margaux’s hotel where they let us sleep on the sofas in the lobby. I remember waking up at times from other guests walking in and seeing their “WTF” faces as they saw a group of people passed out in the lobby 😉
The second day in Amsterdam, we finally checked in at our hostel, The White Tulip, which I found on HostelWorld.com . We also used this to find our place in Paris.
The White Tulip didn’t necessarily have the nicest bathrooms, but it’s a hostel so we didn’t expect much. Martin and I were able to be there from Saturday-Wednesday for 50€ each so that’s all that mattered!
The White Tulip though, gave us a green wristband that we could use to get 20% off the pub next door and at a crepes/waffle place two doors down. We would use that discount throughout the stay.
On our third day, we found a free tour of the city. We missed the first tour at 11am and so we walked down the streets and found the Anne Frank house. I knew there would be people there in line, but man, I didn’t expect the line to be as long as it was!
We ended up just walking back and going on the free tour at Noon. The tours are everyday. The meetup times are at 11, noon, and 1pm. The meetup location is next to the Royal Palace in Dam Square.
Tour Group Photo!
The tour was a blast and I learned so much about the city. Our tour guide kept it real which I respected very much. By keeping it real, he made comments such as that the Anne Frank is historical and all, however, it is what it is, and that is a house about her. If we wanted to see more of the Jewish history, we could go to the Jewish community where there were no lines for the museums at all.
There are two things Amsterdam is known for: the Mary Jane and the Red Light Distric. So I figure I will just talk about these topics first.
Mary Jane: Just as I had suspected, the locals in Amsterdam don’t really smoke it. It’s mostly sold to tourists; Americans and Brits are the top buyers according to the tour guide.
There are coffee shops in Amsterdam and there are “coffee shops” as well. One sells you the stuff and the other doesn’t. How can you avoid being that dumbass who walks into a normal coffee shop and tries to order that Mary Jane? Well, for one, some are obvious to pick out. For example, when a place is called, The Reefer House, it’s pretty obvious! The most sure way to know which sells the stuff and which doesn’t, is to simply look at the front door. Each “coffee shop” is required by law to place this green/white sign on the front door. And no, Starbucks does not have the green sign on their door!
I don’t smoke nor did I have any interest in trying the magic/space cake, but I’m sure you can order it at one of these “coffee shops”. And trust me, there are plenty of them! I did see the cookies though at almost every souvenir shop.
The Red Light District
The tour guide explained that prostitution was legalized and the Red Light District was constructed because the Dutch government wanted to make a safer work environment for the girls with some structure rather than having them wandering the streets. He also explained that apparently, things were much worse in the 70s, but since then, the government decided to really crack down and clean things up. Things are still not the best he said, but they are a lot better.
We saw the girls in the windows, there were strip clubs, live sex shows, and sex stores in abundant amounts.
One interesting business in the Red Light District our guide took us to was this place where you paid to get dressed up, and then stand behind the red light window. They apparently offer you props and costumes to wear and then the photographer walks outside and takes the picture. So if you need a great date idea, look no further! lol
Our tour guide enlightening us about the business where you can dress up and get a photo taken so you look like you are a window girl/guy.
Our tour also took us to the art museum, a protestant church, and through other parts of the city. Lots of good stuff to see. The art museum had a carpet with a square dedicated to each country. Of course I had to take one with the square for MURICA!
Another interesting thing I learned on the tour was the meaning behind the XXX on the Amsterdam coat of arms. It stands for three St. Andrews crosses. The guide also said the locals say it represents the 30 championships the Amsterdam football team has won. And of course, there is some sex associated with it as well. Apparently, back in the day, porn was illegal to send from the US to the Netherlands, so people would write XXX (when it wasn’t known as something sexual) on the packages as a way around the rules.
When we returned from the trip, we met our two new hostelmates, Scott and Steve, from Scotland. It was raining real heavy, so rather than go out, we ended up simply playing drinking games and relaxing in our room with the girls which made for some fun times!
The next day, Martin and I decided to take the tour guide’s advice about the Jewish community and went there. We saw the Portuguese Synagogue, the Jewish history museum. The cool thing about the museums is that they have audio tours where you hold the device to a designated picture or artifact and it begins to talk about that specific thing. I demonstrate in this video and also mention how students get a discount on the tours.
We then visited the Auschwitz memorial in honor of the Jews who perished at the hands of Nazis. It was powerful stuff being out there, but a lot of history.
When we returned, we found our newest hostelmates, two more Scottish blokes, Ian and Michael. Their accents and the fact that it was Ian’s burfdae (the way they pronounced birthday haha) made for a very hilarious and interesting night. Michael started making this hilarious impression of this German YouTuber who doesn’t understand what the Party Pooper term means haha. After talking in a German accent, that lead to a funny discussion about the scottish accent.
The final day, we went to the Heinekin Factory which turned out to be a lot of fun. It was a tour, but in reality, it was a big marketing tactic to create a positive image in everyone’s mind in regards to Heinekin. Nonethless, it was a fun trip and seeing the history of how the company grew, really inspired me from an entrepreneurial perspective.
When that was over, we took the canal ride back to the main part of the city where we all had a final meal and drinks with all of our hostelmates before finally heading back to the train station to take the Mega Bus back to France for the second part of our trip: Paris!
In closing, Amsterdam was a memorable experience. Since I don’t smoke, I was a bit worried that I would be bored and run out of things to do. Since everything is within very close proximity, I felt we covered most of the city within the first two days.
Some things to note are that you can expect to pay to use the toilet almost everywhere. It can range between 50 cents and 1€. This was something I found to be really tedious throughout the stay. Another thing is that there are cameras everywhere so don’t think about pissing on the street in plain site or the police will arrive and fine you for that. There are however, these chambers/cages that you can walk into and piss. To make things simple, just use the toilet at your hostel!
Another thing that might be helpful is that you can store your stuff in a locker at the central station for about I believe it was 7€. With souvenir shops, take your time looking for a good deal. For example, the stores nearest to the station will have the highest prices obviously.
Looking back, I believe we could have been there one less day and not missed much from a tourist perspective. However, the memories and good times we had with our hostelmates are unforgettable. We didn’t get to the see the Anne Frank house nor the Van Gough museum but overall, I am satisfied with our trip.
Thank you to Amsterdam, for being a great host and for creating some very memorable moments with good friends!
Stay tuned for part two of mid-semester adventure in Paris. Cheers!
Jukebox 9 