Adventure in Amsterdam: Only 1 Day?!

I’m planning to take quite a few European excursions while staying in the UK. The first excursion on that list was a trip to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam – home of the legal weed and endless canals!haha

Both statements are true. Canals are EVERYWHERE and so are Coffee Shops where you can purchase and smoke weed. I went inside one out of curiosity and let me just say, I’ve never seen so many flavors/knew there were so many flavors of weed. It reminded me of the back of a Jelly Belly box.

That wasn’t my first stop though. My first trip was to my hostel after a hellish flight just to get into the country (see previous blog). I was staying at the Generator – right behind Oosterpark.

Classic closed eyes while smiling pic.

After a pleasant stroll through the park (there were ducks, little bridges, greenery, etc), I came upon my hostel building. It was large and the outside gave me the feel that it might have an old vibe to it.

As I got closer however, I realized I was wrong. It was really modern on the inside. So modern, I couldn’t even figure out how to press the button for the elevator and instead walked the extra four flights to my room.

I originally wanted to cut down on my stay and get a bed in a shared room but due to the nature of my booking, went with what was free – a private twin room. It was great. My own space, my own bathroom, my own air! It was nice change of space after going from living on my own to staying with relatives while abroad (privacy is a beloved thing).

With literally one full day to tear through Amsterdam before my 7 AM flight, I started off by taking a two hour power nap in my room (partay animal). haha

10:30 AM – Get in my belly!

I’m starving. The last thing I ate was a bag of crisps and a bottle of fanta at around 1 AM during my awful airport experience. I needed a real meal. I pulled out my Google Maps (dude, I’d be LITERALLY lost without it) and looked for some places to sit and eat. I had croissant on the brain so was ideally looking for something in that alley but after a long and arduous eight minute search I said, forget this, let me just walk to the streets with all the shops and try my luck.

I wasn’t staying in city center, so I was clear of the tourist traps. I figured I could find something. I did, it was Maxwell Cafe.

The space was beyond cute and they had a nice little selection on the menu at a reasonable price. The only draw back? The menu was completely in Dutch. However I did have enough brain power to figure out what some of the dishes were like Tosti’s (basically panini) or used Google to translate for me. In the end, I went with something I thought was traditional which was Garnalenkroketten – shrimp croquettes. The aioli drew me in but the whole dish was quite tasty!

Highly recommend coming here if you’re near Oosterpark. The staff was very nice and the food was great. The only thing was after awhile, I wanted the check but it never came. I soon realized you had to go confront someone at the counter if you wanted to leave. Wish I had figured that out 15 minutes earlier.

1 PM – Weed Muffin Anyone?

Ran out to explore the neighborhood and look for a coffee shop that sold weed in edible form. Was curious on the offering as well as price. I also stopped in this cute chocolate shop called Van Veleze and got two chocolate lollipops. Tasty! Again, the staff was really nice and they had a slew of other desserts I wish my stomach could have handled. haha

3 PM- Time to get into city center and ride a bike!

It’s clear upon arrival into the city that biking is key. It’s no joke. There are actual biking paths just for bikes and tiny slivers of sidewalk for people. Biking is key and pedestrians must jump out of the way for them. With that in mind, I too had to explore Amsterdam by bike and ring my bells to make tourist hearts quiver with fear.

I rented a bike from this guy who told me that they take non EU visitor’s passports as collateral just because we look like easy targets for bike thieves. He also said we tend to get in more accidents. Nice boost in confidence guy. Any way, he shows me how to use the bike and I set off to check out the city.

During this ride I encounter the Heineken Factory, Endless Canals, A Mock Fifth Avenue, and more!

Later, I continue to stroll and find the Banksy exhibition, Ruk Museum, Van Gough Museum, etc. Everything was so perfectly manicured and maintained – the picture of perfection.

Eventually I ended my day with the items that were on my mind at the top of it – croissants – and chilled out at the hostel to check out some of the late night events happening there.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip filled with unexpected adventures and people watching. I definitely recommend you visit Amsterdam!

Flight From Hell with Vueling

*This is a piece that originally went up on Huffington Post. I’m posting here in case you missed it!*

Any one who knows me knows that I’m a very patient person. It takes a lot to get to me but like everyone, I’m human. Things get to me. Tonight that thing was a flight to Amsterdam via Vueling from Luton Airport.

I’m currently living in Europe (London specifically) and with that comes the ability to travel to places near and far to fill up my passport with stamps from new places and to experience different culture and people. The first of my trips for the summer was a weekend getaway to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is known for many things but I was most excited to see the canals, beautiful buildings and flowers. Packing only the weekend essentials in my Kate Spade Weekender, I left my film program and made my way to Luton Airport. Since I had never been to the airport before, I wanted to give myself enough time to prepared to be lost and also to get through a potentially rough check in.

Funnily enough, the travel to the airport went as smooth as could be. The only major hiccup was the fact that I had to pay an extra $15 pounds just to get through the tube even though I already purchased a monthly Oyster card (and that thing is like $300 for Zones 1 – 6). Don’t get me wrong, I still love London but boy is the underground overlord shady in finding ways to sneak in added charges to your daily travel. What was causing the actual hiccup was Luton Airport itself, or more specifically, Vueling.

My flight was expected to take off at around 8:40 PM landing in Amsterdam at approximately 11 PM. This was not bad. I could have a nice little weekend away and get back to London on Sunday in order to prep for class the next day, or so I thought.

When I get pass TSA, the hoards of people waiting for their flight are quite alarming. There’s literally no place to kick up against a wall because everyone is covering a spot waiting for their delayed or cancelled flight (not a good sign). I keep spirits high however and assume that maybe there is bad weather wherever these people are going and that I won’t suffer their fate.

2 hours later.

My gate number still hasn’t been listed and my flight should have already boarded. The staff at Luton appear to be clueless and tell me to wait for the board to share some info. I do. Eventually, it flashes and tells me that my flight is pushed back by 2 hours (10:40 PM). Not ideal but I can handle.

8 minutes later.

Suddenly, I overhear a group of Americans say their flight was pushed back again. I have a sinking feeling they are on my flight and quickly get up to check the board. Estimated Flight Departure – 2:15 AM.

You’ve got to be kidding me. I hastily grab my items and try to find the nearest airport staff. They keep redirecting me and telling me that because they work with a separate airline, they don’t have answers. CLASSIC.

After running through the airport clueless and running into one of my favorite YouTube couples, Jamie and Nikki, I finally find a Vueling rep. She is inundated with angry passengers from my flight and other cancelled flights associated with EasyJet. She is the only person serving multiple flights full of angry passengers and I feel for her but I want answers. All she can do is offer us a voucher for get this, $6 pounds for our troubles. Lame. You’re delaying my flight by six plus hours and giving me a voucher to buy at most, a small dissatisfying sandwich?

Now, I’m here. Still sitting in Luton, hopeful my flight to Amsterdam actually takes off and that my hotel still keeps my reservation (since I’m not able to check in).

Amsterdam, you better be beautiful but word to the wise, think twice about flying Vueling out of Luton. Your pockets will thank you for it.