After eating more fries and chocolate humanly possible, we squeezed into a train and took a short one hour trip to the place stoners go after they die: Amsterdam
Now, I know what you’re all thinking “Marijuana, Redlight District, bikes” but, prepare to be amazed. Amsterdam was my favorite place in the entire trip for many reasons. For starters, the whole marijuana industry in Amsterdam is both organized and calm. Crime is not any higher because of it, on the contrary, it is quite safe in this adorable city. Coffeeshops look exactly like any other one in the world with one exception: menus of weed. Just as you’d order a Venti Caramel Macciato with Soy milk and whipped cream, you place your order at the counter for your choice of joints, loose marijuana, space cakes (aka weed brownies) and other items. Every coffeeshop has its own theme, atmosphere and prices but all promote the same thing: relaxed atmosphere for stoners.
Another misconception is the Red Light District. Myself included expected naked women climbing out of windows and vibrators used as lamp posts ( keeping it honest!) but, was slightly disappointed to see that the Red Light District isn’t everything it’s cut out to be. The girls do strut their stuff in front of windows wearing lingere but, they aren’t that pretty. One even reminded me a cafeteria lunch lady in her underwear. Walking through the district is by no means dangerous, if anything it’s quite hilarious to see married men breaking their necks and horny stoners drooling at the girls. But, be forewarned: any attempts at taking a picture of the window strippers will get you a confrontation with the body guards (not to mention a potential black eye)
All that aside, the true beauty of Amsterdam lies in thepicturesque canals, Dutch architecture and abundance of bikes. One of the days, we attempted to rent bikes and ride around the city to see life from the eyes of the Dutch residents. Boy, are they aggressive! I was honked off the road a few times. They not only have their own lanes but, also stop lights and hand signals. Althought it was a scary ride, it had to be one of my favorite highlights.
Another surprise I found here was the Attic Anne Frank wrote her diary “The Diary of a young girl” in. I was instantly transported to 3rd grade and a gust of sadness took over. Some of us forget that history is not the same as fairy tales and seeing locations where these real events took place takes your breath away. 
the Pilgrims left from right here in Rotterdam!
From Amsterdam we travelled again by train to nearby Dutch city of Rotterdam for a quick overnight. Since it was raining we only really explored the old town of Delfshaven where the pilgrims attended church ( yes, those Thanksgiving lovers themselves!) and got to see the actual port they departed to England from! After switching ships in England they would soon land at Plymouth Rock and the rest is history (literally)
We also stopped by the college town of Utrecht where we got a taste of what it looks like to be a Dutch student. One thing I must say about this adorable town is that it made me wish I was still in college and lived there!
canals in Utrecht!
Every town we visited in the Netherlands had canals, coffeeshops and of course bikes!
