Amsterdam with a fellow Batesie

So this is the first of a series of blogs which will look back at some of the travel I have done since I have been here in England/Europe. 

Just a couple of weeks after arriving here, I decided to join my friend Alix and a couple of her friends in Amsterdam for the weekend. In classic easyJet non-chalance, I booked the ticket about two weeks ahead of travel. When I showed up at Gatwick, I got there about 1.75 hrs before my flight thinking that since it was international travel I needed to be there at least two hours before. Boy was I wrong. I got through security in a breeze and ended up just getting dinner and sitting around. I kept waiting for easyJet to post my gate number, and as the departure time got closer and closer, I actually started getting concerned that something was wrong. Little did I know, this was standard protocol. Regardless, I made it to Amsterdam and met up with my friends. The following day included walking most of the city, seeing the Anne Frank House, and then relaxing in the afternoon and sampling some of the local agricultural products. The next day my friend Alix and I split off from the other two and went to the Rembrandt museum amongst others and had a very nice day. That night came the biggest shock of the trip as we walked through the Red Light district on a Saturday night. I was amazed how busy the place was both with tourists and local clients, if you know what I mean. ;) Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures in there because apparently if you do, the pimps will chase after you and destroy your camera. Also, I made eye contact with one guy on the street, which I guess is a sign that you want to buy drugs. This guy was clearly a dealer because his eyes got as big as saucers and he started to pounce. I quickly looked away and pretended I never saw him. It was absolutely a cultural shock to walk through there, but definitely something worth doing when in Amsterdam. Later that evening we found a bakery, of sorts, and enjoyed the interesting goods that we purchased there before walking around the city some more and looking at the lights and such. The next morning I left early to return to dreary ole' England. I decided it would be a good idea to walk to the train station in order to save money by not taking the cable cars. It was a bit further than I remembered and as a result, ended up cutting it rather close when I got to the airport and catching my flight. Regardless, I did make it. I remember getting on the plane and thinking, this is some place I REALLY would like to come back to again. It was such a pretty city with the canals and small streets. Also, the history of Amsterdam is amazing and goes much further back than anything in the US. If I had planned the trip differently, I would have made for time to travel out into the country-side of Holland, also I would have taken an evening boat cruise around the canals. Besides that, I had a great time in Amsterdam!