We LOVE Amsterdam

The next few days of our trip were spent in Amsterdam, Netherlands where we fell in love with the city (and not for the reasons you might think). The people were friendly, the food was delicious, and the city was beautiful and lively...Oh and did I mention we were there during one of the largest gay pride parades in the world?!

We flew to Amsterdam on easyjet and took the train into the city that night. We arrived at Hotel Jupiter in Liedsplein and were greeted by a very grumpy Dutch man who showed us our room then marched off muttering about getting some sleep. After taking a shower for the first time in several days and enjoying the complimentary robe and slippers we went to bed.

The next day would be one to remember! We woke up to a breakfast of breads, meats, and cheeses then headed out. Stopping down the road at a costume store we loaded up with pink accessories and walked to Prince Canal just as the first parade floats were arriving. Over half a million people traveled to Amsterdam to see the festival! Floats went by on the canal with drag queens and men in speedos dancing to Lady Gaga, it was nuts! All the while thousands of people dressed up and drank in the streets.

(Amsterdam Gay Pride Parade 2012--Prince Canal)

(Dancers on a Float)

The dancing and parade went on all day. We met a Norweigan fairy boy named Christian who taught us how to freak run--imagine running around daintily frolicking and swinging your arms running through the streets without a care in the world. As it started to pour down rain we freak ran down the streets of Amsterdam looking ridiculous. We also ate the most wonderful food in the world, a buttery croissant filled with a cold yellow custard and topped with strawberries in some sort of gelatin..Mmm..

We later parted ways with Norweigan Christian and met some new friends, a local couple named Chris and Mariska, who offered to give us a ride on their bikes. Literally everyone rides bikes in Amsterdam. We rode just like Dutch girls sitting on the back on the bike with our legs to the side. I was lucky to get to ride with Mariska who flawlessly pedaled me around Amsterdam while Katie was stuck on the back of Chris's bike who took several spills taking Katie down with him as they crashed on the cobblestone street.

We rode bikes into Rembrandt square where we ran into people dancing in the alleys to live music. We stopped at a local Dutch sandwich place where we had the most delicious sandwiches including curry chicken, steak tartare (raw seasoned ground beef), and croquettes (fried thick gravy).

The night continued with lots of dancing and meeting tons of interesting people. Dutch people are so friendly and wonderful!

The next day after we missed our hotel check out time and woke to the grumpy Dutch man yelling at us to get out of the room we packed up our backpacks and headed out. We spent our last day in Amsterdam visiting the Red Light District and the Dam Square which felt like a fairy tale with horse and carriages and a giant cathedral. We went through Anne Frank's house museum (15€) which is sad to walk through  but definitely worth seeing.

(Canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands)

That night we loaded on an overnight bus with no bathroom for nine hours heading to Berlin.

COSTS:
Flight: (easyjet London to Amsterdam) $160
Hotel: Hotel Jupiter (Pros: great free breakfast/nice bathrooms and complimentary robes&slippers/nice location. Cons: breakfast ends at 9:30/not a very social hotel to meet people)
$70 (2 nights)---most hostels/hotels were full b/c of the festival or very expensive
Food/Drink: $30
Train: (airport to tram station) $20
**a lot of people say that playing clueless tourist to get on the trams for free doesn't work but it seemed to work for us pretty well)
Anne Frank House: $15

NOTE:
--Other expenses to remember are souvenirs, bathrooms (usually ~1€), water!, currency exchange and ATM fees
--Many hotels and hostels only except payment in cash