Amanda's Italian Adventure: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam; the home of hash bars, the red light district, liberal laws, art and stroopwaffles. Chelsea, Emily and I jetted off to the city in the heart of the Netherlands for a weekend before spring break. It’s a must see city for hippies and art lovers for sure. Amsterdam is famous for its liberal drug and prostitution laws. The streets downtown are lined with coffee shops that serve a gram of pot with your coffee. If you are itching to try 'magic mushrooms' just pop into the local smart shops and pick your poison. The red light district is a strange phenomenon that really intrigued me. Right in the heart of the city there are buildings with windows where prostitutes lure men into a 50Euro fun time. They don’t give a flying terd about the women walking the streets, but they will put there best show on when men walk by. The setting is just surreal.

Aside from the drugs and prostitution, the city itself is quaint and beautiful. In a way it resembles Venice because it works on a system of canals. The buildings are what you would expect when thinking of Holland. If you have ever been to Salvang, California then you can understand what the architecture in Amsterdam resembles. It was still quite cold when we were there, but the spring tulips were surfacing. A couple of sights not to miss in Amsterdam are the outdoor markets and the Heineken factory. There is an enormous flower market downtown that was very interesting. And of course, Heineken beer was born in Amsterdam, so the first brewery serves as a kind of museum. The "Heineken Experience" includes demonstrations of the brewing process, the history of Heineken, and three free beers. Sweet deal right?

Another popular place to visit in Amsterdam is the Van Gogh museum. It cost around 15Euros to get in, which is insane for a museum. They had some of his good paintings sure, but nothing of his that blew me away. As an art lover, I suppose I am required to see it. If you are on a tight budget, however, I don’t think you would be insane to skip it.

As far as food goes, Amsterdam has every kind of restaurant you can think of. We grubbed on some delicious Thai food and stroopwaffles galore. They are a traditional cookie/dessert type thing. Imagine two flat cinnamon waffles stuck to together with a layer of caramel. Yeah, definitely can't eat just one.

All in all, Amsterdam was a good time. I would like to return someday when I have the time.