Damn Amsterdam

First let me say, Amsterdam is visually stunning. The whole city is shaped like a rainbow. Why a rainbow and not a semi-circle? The canals carve out the rainbow-like structure. It's super easy to navigate, with amazing smelling food on every corner. But damn Amsterdam, you're gross.

Amsterdam is the European Vegas. There are outdoor urinals along the canals, the smell of urine soaked the air, plus it was really hot, so the canals weren't smelling or looking too fresh either. The city is PACKED! Packed with tourists, bikes (holy shit the number of bikes), and cars. I knew Amsterdam was known for their bikers, but I thought that was to eliminate the number of cars. Nope, there were bike lanes, car lanes, cars parked, cars trying to move around the city, and tourists nonchalantly walking in the middle of the street. Despite the city being overrun by people, it was surprisingly very chill and slow paced. People didn't seem to be in a huge rush, and everyone was polite. Also, there are over 30 museums in Amsterdam which is pretty cool! A huge letdown was the Anne Frank house, you have to buy tickets in advance, which I did not know, so I couldn't get in. If you go, ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW!
 

The "Fun Stuff"

Because I was there for work, I won't go into too much detail about the space cakes and Red Light District. The Red Light District I thought was going to be one single street, but it really is a district, like 25% of the city. There's one main street that's like Vegas' strip and it was flooded by British stag and hen parties (bachelor parties). I was there all day and the prostitutes are there from sun up to sundown, 24/7. The prostitutes remind me of knock-off Barbies: they're head-to-toe plastic, crazy amounts of plastic surgery, they all kinda looked alike, and they stand in windows like Barbie, except their accessories included is a bed you can see in the background. I began my journey walking around at 9 am. The girls come out of their Barbie-like boxes, to see who's walking down the alley, and they're not as pushy. Then I went back at night. At night, it's a whole different scene. Red windows everywhere, and girls standing in them with white lingerie lit up via black light. The women aren't even women anymore, but silhouette figures swaying in the night. Visually, the district is pretty at night. I kept thinking how at Christmas it must look beautiful with the snow on the canals, and the red glows from all the windows. 

I went during the world cup for football, so it was 75% drunk British guys. I met up with a group of girls from England, and we explored the city at night together, and possibly saw a few shows. All I'll say is, the red light district isn't really "sexy" but "talented." If you want to know more, feel free to send me a message! These girls also gave a great tip: If you're looking to hookup with a British guy, don't go to London, go to Amsterdam, it's where they all go for "action." Although I did see horny British guys, EVERYWHERE, the men, in general, seemed to disregard the women walking around, they were more focused on their window shopping. Which became the most sexually frustrating thing. 

Now as for the coffeeshops that you can get "special" baked good in, was very confusing. Most of the places seemed like a half Dunkin Donuts shop, half Souvenir shop claiming to sell "weed things." I thought I was going to find like a Tatte bakery, that space cakes were also on the menu, but either I couldn't be pointed in that correct direction or they don't exist. But places do exist that you can walk in and order whatever weed, strand, edible you like, but nothing cute like how I imagined. People can also smoke on the street though. 

Just overall, a really chill city, with some serious grungy vibes.

Oh, that's a Dutch Pancake I'm eating. I LOVE THEM! There's a Dutch Pancake house in London that I've been to, so eating a Dutch Pancake in the land of the Dutch, made it extra special. Oh and this top is on SALE!