Tag Archives: Amsterdam Museum

Central Station at night!  This was the main hub where we could catch a bus or tram back to our hostel. 

Well, our trip had to come to a bittersweet end at some point, but we definitely made the most of our fourth and final day in Amsterdam.  After eating a hearty breakfast at the hostel, Emily, Alex and I decided to head out to explore a different part of the city, visit the Begijnhof gardens, and eventually meet up with Christian and Katelyn later.  Since we had all accomplished the touristy things on our list that we had wanted to do while visiting the city, we didn’t feel pressure to get to any sites in particular.  On the way to the gardens we encountered this guy blowing bubbles in this square near a major shopping district. 

I always love to see what street performers and artists are doing in different cities!  Of course some are more entertaining than others, but they always seem to make city life more interesting.  The garden took a little while for us to find because it was situated in a residential courtyard located behind a large door in the square.  Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photos in the garden, but it was neat to get to walk around such a peaceful area hidden from the main drag of shops.  Next, we stopped in a small free museum exhibit at the Amsterdam Museum, which was about five minutes away from the secret garden.  One of the art pieces was a carpet composed of several carpet squares corresponding to different countries around the world. 

After our brief museum visit, we headed over to Coffee Company, a local cafe chain in Amsterdam, to meet up with Christian and Katelyn and grab a cup of joe to warm up.  We passed another massive square along the way that seemed to attract quite a few tourists. Of course this blog post wouldn’t be complete without a coffee picture!  I sprinkled some chocolate on top of my cappuccino and it just happened to form a subtle heart shape. 

Once we had all re-fueled and gotten our caffeine boost of the day, we took a tram over to another market along the canal.  It was later in the afternoon, so this market wasn’t as busy as the first one we had attended, but it was nice to take a slow walk through the neighborhood.  As usual, we ended up at another food place.  When we saw the food truck selling frites, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try the chips in Amsterdam. I guess you could say we liked them ha ha.  The cone of frites even came with miniature forks to eat them with!They were nice and crispy and weren’t overly salted. 

We made it back to Central Station and stopped at a crepe restaurant for dinner.  Although I was tempted to order a savory crepe, I just couldn’t resist the enticing combo of nutella, strawberries, and banana. A picture of Alex’s crepe.  My camera died before I could snap a picture of mine. 

Following dinner, we decided it would be a smart idea to pick up a few snacks for the long bus ride ahead of us back to London the next morning, so we found the nearest supermarket and made a quick pit stop before heading to the hostel.  You would expect it to be just your average mundane trip to the grocery store, but oh no, no, no it definitely was much more than that!  After grabbing some crisps, Alex and I went over to pick up some apple sauce near the produce and meat section.  That’s when the evening got interesting . . .  All of the sudden, I heard the sound of water running in the background so, being the curious person that I am, turned around only to find a middle-aged man peeing in the middle of the aisles in the supermarket!!!  Alex’s and my reaction was to get the heck out of that area as soon as possible, I mean we didn’t need the yellow river making its way downstream to where we were standing.  Dude, I get that you probably were drunk or on something and needed to go to the loo, but seriously you couldn’t have located the nearest restroom or at least gone out in an alley way?  Come on!!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVrJ8DxECbg (skip to 1:36 to see what my reaction was like) After Alex and I had evacuated the area to go check out, the guy started following us and saying something in Dutch, but we just avoided him and made our way to find the rest of our group.  When one of the supermarket employees had seen the aftermath of the unfortunate event that had gone down, she asked if we could point out the guy.  Luckily, Christian was able to track him down and he was taken into custody.  Those poor, poor employees that had to clean up the mess though . . .  All I can say is that if Cher could really “Turn Back Time” I wish she could help erase the sight of the man urinating from my mind, which has now unfortunately been singed into my memory.  It certainly makes for a crazy story to tell though, it’s not everyday that you are privy to golden showers in a supermarket.  By the time all of us were done checking out as quickly as possible, we were definitely ready to go home, take a nice long shower, and relax.  It was early to bed for all of us that evening because we had to be up and out of the hostel by 6:30 the next morning to catch our bus. 

This time, making it to the bus was hassle-free and we made it back to the parking lot with ample time to spare.  Instead of driving onto a ferry to make it over the Channel, we took a train.  Here are some photos I took of that experience. 

Well that concludes our final day in Amsterdam!  I had a fabulous time visiting a new city and I look forward to someday getting to explore the Netherlands during the spring time! 

Why hello there!  My name is Madelaine "Lainey" for short, and I'm just a girl with a craving for exploration, a love of travel and a passion for theatre!  So feel free to grab a cup of tea, coffee or whatever makes you feel warm and cozy and follow me along this journey!