Belated but finally here: A little travel diary from our short trip to Amsterdam!
~Mary~
Guys, let me tell you: I don't know how we manage to always stay in the most elaborate and luxurious hotels everywhere we go (at least, seen from a normal student's point of view).
This time around we lodged at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Amsterdam: 4**** hotel, business class style, surrounded by its own little river, classy rooms held in black and white with hints of bright yellow for that modern vibe...all in all - nothing to complain about!
After a long day of strolling through the city, it was extremely comfortable to come back into this luxurious hotel feeling all sophisticated and fancy!
Sitting on some comfy couches, taking advantage of the free Wifi at one of our favourite spots: the hotel lobby!
And here we gooooo...Outside in the city, you guys can guess what we did, SHOPPING!
As expected, just like in any other large capitals, shopping in Amsterdam can be exquisitely expensive. That is if you aim for some finds in one of the many high end shopping malls. In this picture you see the Magna Plaza.
One thing that impressed me a lot in Amsterdam, was the architecture. Walking through Amsterdam you could clearly feel the past living side by side with the present.
The majority of the buildings in the city centre have that baroque style to them. Admittedly I don't know much (or let's say, forgot most of it) about all the historical architecture eras. But you can probably tell what I'm talking about by looking at the facade and the inside of the Magna Plaza.
Of course you don't need to be rich in order to enjoy some shopping in Amstderdam.
Besides those huge luxurious shopping malls there are, of course, more affordable stores.
H&M. I knooooow, some of you guys might be thinking
"Oh come on ladies! Don't tell me you haven't seen an H&M in Germany?! What's so special about an H&M in Amsterdam?!"
Weeeelll, I do agree with those thoughts. Thus we do feel a little bit dorky saying that this H&M was after all the place to shop at in Amsterdam (especially if you are a student on a tight budget)!
The thing is: That H&M in particular was huuuuge and I'm not just referring to its size. The variety offered surpassed the average German H&M by miles! Especially the accessory section blew our minds! In the end (during 2 days of excessive shopping) we always found ourselves gravitating towards that one H&M! :D
Besides I also liked the fact that there was a RIVER ISLAND store in Amsterdam. That's something we really don't have in Germany.
Other stores to be found in the main shopping mile Kalverstraat were e.g. Vero Moda, Zara, Pimkie, New Yorker and many more of your average, also to be found in Germany, stores and boutiques. Walking down that shopping mile, you'll get the impression that the shops keep reappearing after some 40-50m. So in the end there's not that much variety.
Puuuuh, time to get some fresh air outside of the busy city!
On one of the days during our trip we got to visit Scheveningen.
A town located directly by the North-West coast of the Netherlands.
Honestly we weren't blessed with nice spring weather back then. The skies were mostly clouded and we even had some rain during the first day. By the beach it was extremely windy and cool.
Nevertheless I wanted to get a good amount of fresh sea air running through my lungs!
Even though you probably prefer sunny, Hawaiian style beaches I find that the view I had here was charming in its own way. Look at that picture: wild waves, black horses, no people around...a nostalgic yet beautiful view.
Conclusion:
I don't deny it, we heard a lot of rather negative things about Amsterdam before we went on that trip. Some of you may know what I'm referring to.
Smoking cannabis, large red-light district and similar stuff.
Well, if you don't want to get involved in those things, of course, you don't have anything to worry about. Bluntly speaking: It's really not like you go to Amsterdam and the first thing you're confronted with are cannabis and prostitutes. That's really not the case!
Besides, to my knowledge laws banning cannabis in the Netherlands have been passed.
Not that I care anyways...
We came to Amsterdam to, yet again, explore one of Europe's capitals.
And that's exactly what we did. All in all we had a nice trip. Amsterdam may be overshadowed by adversary images, but I say: You better go there yourselves and make your on impression about the city. If you do so, you're most likely to enjoy your stay in Amsterdam.
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