A couple of my friends who have done a lot of travelling before reassured me that I would be okay and that it is one of the greatest experiences ever!
With that in mind, I pushed myself way too far out of my comfort zone and booked my flights. There was no going back.
As the weekend was approaching, I was getting more and more excited about my weekend away, but also more and more nervous, as backing out of it would mean me losing lots of money, and a good weekend. The week before my weekend in Amsterdam, one of my good friends was there, his first time there also. Once he was home, I got some recommendations of things to do, places to go, where to eat, and what to most definitely avoid!
Friday 21st...
17:20 my flight departed from Norwich airport. 18:00 and I'd landed. Honestly been on longer bus journeys to school! After arriving at the airport, I got a train from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam Centraal station, which took about 15-20 minutes.
A 40 minute walk through Amsterdam to my hostel at Vondelpark, my goodness it is warm! It is quite muggy weather so my skin is definitely "glistening"!
After checking into my room, finding out a bit more about what to do and see, I headed upstairs to where I was staying.
My original planned night of chilling in the hostel, probably with a movie on my laptop in bed, to get myself ready for a long day of exploring the next day, was changed when one of my roomies said that she was going out for food at 11pm if I wanted to join her. Well if that's what all of this travelling stuff is about, I shouldn't say no! After scoffing a pizza bigger than I could usually manage, it wasn't until 1:30am when I got to bed. So much for an early night.
Saturday 22nd...
A not too early start to the day. There was a free walking tour with a pick up from my hostel at 10:40, so I hung around until that started. 3 hours of going around Amsterdam learning about the history and the culture is exactly what I wanted to do, but being told by someone who knew, rather than reading from a book. Plus, it was free! Our tour guide, Peter, was very good. Knowledgable and gave us good information about all sorts; the Amsterdam stock exchange, churches, prostitution, drugs and coffeeshops, canals, bicycles, cheese, the many many choices of museums, and much more.
The tour was great. A few people from my hostel were on the tour with me, and we all got chatting with each other and a few others on the tour. Once the tour had finished, we all ended up in a bar together, and spent to rest of the day hanging out. Basically any museums I had planned to visit on Saturday afternoon, didn't happen. It was a good day, and we all met up again in the evening for a fireworks display. There was a big event on over the course of the weekend called 'Sail'. It happens on one weekend every 5 years, so there was a great atmosphere throughout the city, with music, and an awful lot of boats!
Once the fireworks were over, we all walked back to our hostel, via the red light district, which was certainly an eye opener and something I wouldn't have done had I been completely alone!
Back to the hostel and into bed.
Sunday 23rd...
The one thing I really wanted to do in Amsterdam, was to visit the Anne Frank House. Countless times as I was growing up did I read her diary, so going to the museum was one of my main reasons for visiting. Tickets were all sold out until about October, so to be able to get in, all you have to do is see if any random tickets appear online, or queue up for several hours to get in. I had planned on getting up super early, and queueing up before the museum opened at 9am, as at this time of day, firstly it wasn't so hot and exhausting, and secondly, the queues wouldn't be so long. Also I had to head back to the airport at around midday, so I had to get there early to be able to catch my flight in time!
When I got home from the fireworks on Saturday night, I logged online to see if, on the off chance, any tickets had become available. There was a ticket, for 8:30am! Frantically trying to rummage through my packed bag, without waking up my room mates to find my bank card, and I managed to buy the ticket to the museum. No waiting in a ridiculously long queue for me. It was perfect, I was so lucky!
The Anne Frank museum was amazing! All the way round the museum, I was so emotional. Having read the book many times before, I already knew her story very well, but seeing where it all happened, and trying to imagine being her, silent in the Secret Annex for 2 years, it was so interesting!
After the museum, I had a couple of hours to kill before I had to be heading back to the train station.
My friend sent me a list of recommendations after his trip to Amsterdam the week before, and on that list, I was advised to find "the best apple pie". I love apple pie, so definitely went on the hunt for it.
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| Mmm, apple pie! |
Apple pie for breakfast, yeah why not! And "the best apple pie" it certainly was! I wanted to bring some more home with me, but I couldn't fit any in my bag! Sad times.
Last stop before I headed home, was the Amsterdam Duck Shop - a shop just selling rubber ducks! We walked past it on the walking tour on Saturday morning, and as we went past it, I knew I was going to have to make a visit back to it. In our family, we take rubber ducks on our travels as little mascots and put them in our photos (here's 3 ducks enjoying one of our many ski holidays), so it was only right to buy some from a dedicated rubber duck shop! Silly me forgot to actually take a photo of my duck in Amsterdam, but here's a mock up photo! Also, note how appropriate the duck I bought for myself was...meet Princess Duck. |
| Princess Duck checking out the map of Amsterdam. |
Well, that was it. I had to end my brief visit to Amsterdam and head home :( I definitely needed longer than I had so that I could visit more museums and not try to pack so much in to a short space of time, but if it means I have to plan another weekend to go, then so be it!
My first solo trip was a success! Here's to many more in the future, I hope!
If there's anyone out there hesitating about going away on a solo trip, do it! I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone to do this, and had the most amazing time! Somewhere like Amsterdam is such a great place to go for your first solo trip, it's fairly small, there is plenty to do and see, and it's so easy! Plan ahead, even if your plans don't stick, and have some fun!
Thanks to the people who let me hang out with them whilst I was there! Was good fun!
Here's some more photos from my trip...warning: cliche canal and bicycle pictures!
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| A bike in front of a cute Dutch house. |
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| A canal. |
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| A bridge, over a canal. |
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| A bike, on a bridge, over a canal. |
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| Jheez, another canal! |
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| Evening sun over the Vondelpark. |
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| A massive ship at the fireworks. |
Happy travelling! xx
