We're back with another Travel Time post that unfortunately concludes the series for the trips we took in 2017!! With the prospect of purchasing a home in the very near future this means that we haven't planned any trips for 2018. At least we're ending with a bang!
In December myself and Andy took a little trip to Amsterdam and not for the reasons that 99.9% of you think! Amsterdam is one of the most insane places I have ever been. Everything there seems like a whole different World and in a very good way. The people are so relaxed and the coffee shops are cute and cosy. Everyone cycles, which to be fair is very common in European cultures. We decided to walk everywhere as after seeing a lady get hit by a car on the first day I figured my two legs were much safer than my two wheels. We were extremely lucky with our Hotel as it was very close to the local amenities and the centre where all the action happens. Our Hotel was only a ten minute walk from the centre, which was great for us.
(Please excuse my VERY dark Scouse Brows... Unsure why I thought this was a good luck for me!)
I was going to do a day by day itinerary, however I wanted to enjoy this trip and not focus too much on the blogging side of things.
As you can see from the pictures above we visited the Amsterdam Sign, which was absolutely crowded hence the crazily bad pictures we managed to quickly take. As we went during the Christmas period there was an ice rink and a Christmas Market which really got me and the Grinch into the Christmas Spirit. They had log fires surrounded by chairs and trust me this was needed as it was freezing! We had a few drinks surrounded by the log fire and it was a really nice way to relax as we had quite a jam packed schedule with everything we had crammed in over the three days we were there.
On the second day we headed to the Heineken Factory to do their Tour. If any of you have ever been to the Guinness factory it is a very similar concept with interactive games and lots of information about how Heineken is made. Now I will be the first to admit I was never a fan of Beer or Lager, but since meeting Andy that has completely changed and yes Heineken does taste better in Amsterdam!!! I didn't win the Pint pouring contest, but I did manage to get a photo of me looking like an idiot pouring beer... I did it for the Insta so please enjoy this god awful photograph!
The Heineken sign is a pretty sight at night and was a welcome sight for me as I knew our apartment was not too far away from here. We did so much walking during this holiday that I was exhausted and having 5-6 hours sleep every night made this even worse. It was all worth it though as we managed to cram everything that we wanted to do into those three days and it was just long enough that we actually appreciated the City and cannot wait to go back!!
In the evening we headed to the IceBar. Andy's parents kindly bought us this as a gift for my Birthday and I must admit we had so much fun. The theme is a pirate ship where you're heading to explore the Antarctic. You get to have a drink before hand and you can chose from Cocktails, Beer or Spirits. I chose a 'sex on the beach' cocktail which was lovely. You are then summoned at the allotted time slot into a small room where you get your jacket and gloves to keep you warm. (Let me tell you, your legs will bloody freeze and you end up very cold!)
As you can see I was bloody freezing!!! -9.4'c does not agree with ya gal at all! I had so many layers on under this and I still couldn't cope. At one point I remember Andy asking me something and I was so cold that my brain could not physically process what he was asking me. I just had to walk out without saying anything to him as I needed to warm up. It was a very bizarre experience, however the vanilla vodka was lovely. You do have to shot this though and the glasses are made from Ice which is a pretty cool touch. I would suggest drinking your drinks quick as the bottom of my Beer froze!!
Lastly, I wanted to discuss our visit to Anne Franks house. I would highly recommend purchasing tickets months in advance as they sell out super quickly and you cannot buy tickets on the day. This was by far one of my favourite parts of our trip as it was such a moving experience. We were taken aback by the small size of where Anne and her family managed to live and the extracts from her diary were rather heartbreaking. She tried to stay positive during such a trying time and used her writing as an escape.
I found her story really emotional and it was such an honour to be able to visit her home and see the real history behind what I had learnt. The tour took about an hour and you also have the option to use the audio tour. I have slightly skimmed over this part of our trip as I am wanting to write a post fully dedicated to this part of our trip.
Amsterdam is like no other City I have ever visited. Everyone is so relaxed and kind. You can sit outside under the heaters with a Beer and just forget all your troubles. The food was amazing too, although I didn't take any photographs as I was hoping to enjoy this holiday as opposed to Blog the experience and not have chance to make the memories.
I hope you have liked this post and apologies it is rather skimmed over. Our next trip will be heavily documented, but I wanted to throughly enjoy one trip and I am so thankful I made that decision as myself and Andy really enjoyed our trip and took some time for ourselves.
As some of you may know from following my Social media, this was our last trip before we are forced to truly'Adult'! A bit cryptic, but all will be revealed in another post!
Until Next Time
T
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Hi greatt reading your blog
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