Wow! Simply Wow!
This destination had been my dream destination for more than a couple years now and I have been infatuated with Amsterdam because of one of my exes. Ever since she left India for Amsterdam, she had been sending pictures and showing me cool stuff about the city over video calls and it just sparked a curiosity to see this city in person. After what felt like an eternity, here I was, in the city, which I had longed for longer than I can remember and I was ready to enjoy every single minute that I spend there.
The first thing that impressed me the most was that the Amsterdam airport had a train system an elevator away from the Schipol Airport. It made things so convenient for me that I just had to get on a train to get to Amsterdam city. Before heading to the city, since I was going to stay just 5 nights in Europe, I decided to keep my two big luggage bags in the luggage storage at the airport and then embark on my solo backpacking of Europe. I had decided that I was going to stay in an hostel just before the Amsterdam Centraal, which is a big train station situated very close to Downtown Amsterdam. I decided to settle in a 6 bed hostel room at The Flying Pig Amsterdam Downtown. I knew staying in a hostel very close to the Downtown will help me save some money and a lot of time and I didn’t mind sharing a room with complete strangers from all over the world, that’s what the part of the experience is. The motivation of staying in an hostel with the strangers came from my online research and watching Queen. In the movie Queen, the protagonist had also stayed in a hostel, which gave me confidence.
Once I dragged my ass to the hostel, they told me that I had a couple hours more to check-in, so I decided to haul my bags into their storage units, changed into my running gear, and decided to explore Amsterdam on foot and possibly try to finish a 5K before the check-in time. Everything worked out perfectly for me. I took care of my bags and put on some clothes and just headed outside with my phone. I must tell you the experience was simply amazing and I didn’t imagine my Europe starting off like that. While running across the streets of Amsterdam, I got a chance to explore almost everything the city had to offer. I looked at the water canals that flew through the city, cutting the streets in the middle. I loved how the culture was more bike friendly than car or motorcycle friendly. I never imagined a flock of people going around on bicycles and just walking and exploring the city. I witnessed the calm rays of the sun telling me to just enjoy the day and do everything that I had on my mind.
While running through the streets of Amsterdam, I saw a bunch of people standing in line to get inside a building. Upon a closer look, I found out that that building was the one where Anne Frank and her family had been living in captivity away from the Nazis and Germans. At that time, I was reading “The Diary of A Young Girl”, and it brought all the struggle stories and the harsh environment that they lived to front and I remember not smiling while clicking a selfie before the sign of that house. It was weird feeling to see the building in person, which I was reading in the book. Unfortunately for me, I hadn’t planned on visiting this building, so I didn’t book the ticket beforehand and when I stood in line, they told me that they were out of the same-day tickets for the day, which meant I couldn’t get in the building. That was not something that I was bummed about, but hey, it would have been cooler, right?
After my run, I got back to my hostel as it was time to check-in. I took a quick shower after that and headed outside for what was a long day of walking and exploring the streets of different part of Amsterdam. During this time in my life, I was using Sprint as my network service and I must say it made all the difference as far as my trip experience went. During this trip, I realized how important internet is and I used it for my benefit. I had already downloaded the maps of Amsterdam, just in case my network didn’t work, but even after that I had to use it for other stuff.
I remember the first item on my list was to have some food. After the run and a long flight previous night, I was hungry and I needed something to eat. My research has suggested me to try the savory pancakes at The Pancake Bakery. I chose this place because it had a great history to it and after trying sweet pancakes in the US, I really wanted to see how savory pancakes are made and taste in Amsterdam. For sure, I wasn’t the only one who knew how famous this place was, because, when I got here, I was greeted with a long line, with a wait time of 30 minutes. I was hungry but I knew the wait would be worth it, so I decided to just do some reading and talk to the strangers who were in the line with me. I met this couple from England and we got to talking and when it came the time to have our food, we shared out table. We had some interesting conversation and they helped me out with some subtle details about the place and about Amsterdam in general. I had ordered Onion and Ham savory pancake with a bottle of Heineken, which went great with it. My tummy was full and was thanking me. The food was great and the ambience was beautiful too. I loved kicking off my Amsterdam tour like this.
I have stop now and let you browse through the first half of the day through these pictures below. Stay tuned for the second part.
Next stop: Amsterdam, Netherlands.
stochasticity 
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