Amsterdam again !

10/8/22

I went to Amsterdam again on Saturday with Vale, an exchange student from Argentina. I met her at Amsterdam Centraal. Taking the train by myself is one of my favorite things to do now. I don't dress up to go to Amsterdam; I dress up to ride the train :) I had my headphones on and was listening to Charli XCX, Alanis Morissette, Shania Twain, and Rina Sawayama so I felt cool. I was sitting next to three other random girls. The girl next to me had pink hair and looked really cool. The other two looked less cool, but they were dressed in trousers and blazers so they must have been going to do work or something which omg commuting to work in Amsterdam- that's cool. I met Vale at the station, and we took the tram to the Dam area which is near de Negen Straatjes which is a cool area with lots of thrift shops, music stores, outdoor markets, and cafes. At first, I was kind of all over the place. Vale and I definitely looked like lost puppies. We were at a crosswalk that didn't have those signs that tell you when to walk. Plus, there were trams, buses, bikes, and motorcycles going back and forth. But, then I saw everyone else just walking whenever, and I was like oh okay this is just like jaywalking in New York so then I figured it out. Walking with Vale, though, was scary. She's from a small town in Argentina and I think the city was a new experience for her, so she would just start walking and almost run into a bike and once a tram! That was scary.

First, we went to a photobooth at the Hoxton hotel and took real film pictures which was cute but took 10 minutes to develop. Then, we went thrifting. Amsterdam has such great shops! I wanted to buy EVERYTHING. But, they were also pretty pricey so that was tough. Then, we just walked around. There were so many cool shops. There was a cow shop, a rubber ducky shop, and there were lots of coffeeshops haha. It smells like weed everywhere in Amsterdam. There was also a rowing competition happening on the canals, and lots of people were cheering. Then, Vale and I got hangry so we were searching for a restaurant. To be honest, it was not a vibe. Many restaurants, you just take a seat and then a waiter might come. We found a sandwich shop and got warm sandwiches. Even eating out, so many Dutch people will just get sandwiches. So many sandwiches...

After, we went to the Anne Frank huis. I went during the summer with my family, but I had to listen to the tour in Spanish since Dad accidentally picked up the wrong headphones. So this time I understood. After the tour, we split a cookie in the upstairs cafe and people watched since the cafe had a great view of the street outside. Then, we went to Vondelpark and basked in the sun by this statue. Vale got excited because she found Argentines. She could tell they were from Argentina just by their accent! Then, we went back home. We had to take a tram to get back to Amsterdam Centraal and we were confused about which tram to take. This old grandpa overheard us and helped us which was so nice of him.

Anyway, that's it. I love Amsterdam. I think it has to be one of my favorite cities. I'm coming back soon.

- Amelia