Amsterdam!

Alright, I admit it. I'm a terrible person. I promised you I'd be more consistent with these posts, and I even promised you an Amsterdam post. Its been a very busy last few weeks though. You see, going without any plans means that you spend your not busy time trying to figure out how to place your next step. Especially with how expensive a wrong step can be. Anyhow, without futher adieu...

This ole' place?

 

 

 

   From Munich my next stop on "Matt Schneider's Eurotastical Journey" was none other than Amsterdam. If you've never heard of Amsterdam, you're... well everyone's heard of Amsterdam. Come on, even my grandma warned me about the "special buildings with the curtains and the ladies". Then of course everyone thinks about drugs upon mention of Amsterdam. Which, might I add, my grandma was also quick to warn me about. Having spent a solid week there, I'm here to tell you it's all absolutely true. You can legally (and quite easily illegaly) buy drugs, legally buy a prostitute (all kinds... short, tall, big, small, etc.), and there's no shortage of overpriced bars bursting with "interesting" people from all over the world. I myself had some crazy times. Take for instance my first night, when Marius and I were shown around "town" (actually just the red light district) by a really drunk guy. Amsterdam can be a lot of fun, but perhaps just a bit too fun. I woke up the next day with a thunderstorm in my head, an ocean of drool on my pillow, and a desert in my throat. The headache came to pass, but I actually lost my voice for the rest of the week that I was there. When the smoke cleared, I had one of those awesome "I SPENT HOW MUCH LAST NIGHT?!" moments. Don't worry though: No prostitutes. I mean come on, I've got morals.

But I am a teenaged boy, so I had to at least see the red light district.

 So, yea there is a lot of stuff for the various roughians and rapscalions of the world... if that's all you're looking for. In fact you don't even have to go much further than the train station, which is the center of town, to see that whole side of the city. But for anyone who actually wants to enjoy the beautiful city of Amsterdam in all of its wonderful Dutch glory, there's a whole rest of the city to love. We took a canal tour, and learned all kinds of awesome stuff about the city, like how it was started by two fisherman and a dog who built a dam on the Amstel river (Am - stel - dam... my God... its... just like... Am - STER - dam!). And as you stroll up and down the narrow streets and look at some of the coolest architecture ever, you've gotta try your best not to get run over by one of the insane bikers. They say there are more bikes in Amsterdam than there are people, I say there are probably even more bike related injuries. And believe it or not, most of the Dutch people don't even smoke weed. Yeah, seriously. In fact a lot of people aren't fans of all the drug tourists it brings to Amsterdam. This is reflected in that fact that soon, in order to be allowed into the "coffee shops" you need to show a European passport. But in the meantime, they certainly have to appreciate the money they bring. And they really try their best to break your bank.

Bikes... EVERYWHERE!

When Marius and I got there, we decided to go get a nice kebab from a restaurant around the city center. We ended up being charged 7.50 euro (about $10), though the price on the menu was 5.50. Not even full, and sickened at the trickery that had befallen us, we decided to split a meal at McDonalds to try and make up for the money we'd been screwed out of. But low and behold! What does McDonalds do, but try overcharging us 50 freaking cents too. This time though, we decided to confront him and he changed the price without hesitation. Still, McDonalds, the pillar of Americaness that I've come to rely on tried cheating me out of money! Thankfully, we did end up finding some of the secrets to cheap dinging. We decided one day to go out of the city center to visit a botanical garden, and at lunchtime ate like kings for only 4 euro each. In addition to being a really cheap price (especially for Amsterdam), it too was kebab house. The only difference was it's non-proximity to all the coffee shops, bars, and brothels. True success came though, with the 78 cent, 1 liter can of pea soup. And then there were the amazing 800 ml bottles of freshly squeezed juice for only 2 euros- sadly we discovered it on our last day.

 Probably a good thing though... because if i had known about these bad boys, I'd be broke right now.

All in all, we had a pretty freaking successful trip to Amsterdam. But I'd go back in a second because even in my 7 days there I left a lot to still be seen. And the people watching alone makes a trip worthwhile: If you're not watching someone shamefully hand over 50 euros for the night of their life, you're pretty much in "Stoner Disneyworld"... so there's that.