That Time I Did a 28-Day European Bus Tour — Part 14 (Amsterdam)
This article will cover Days 26–27 of the tour
Here is a link to Part 13 of my story, in case you haven’t read it:
Welcome back. It’s now Day 26 of the tour. We have a day of driving ahead of us. Google Maps tells me that it takes roughly 7 hours to drive from Berlin to Amsterdam. I do remember it being a long day but I don’t remember all of the details.
Either way, we went through our usual morning routine, boarded the bus and set off for Amsterdam. As I may have mentioned before, the bus usually stopped at least once every two hours, as per company policy. Usually at petrol (gas) stations, many of which had other facilities too (just like they probably also do in your home country — in Australia, they generally will if they’re located on a busy highway).
I believe there was a toilet on the bus but I don’t remember it being used much, if at all. We would have stopped for lunch somewhere (but I don’t remember where exactly).
I vaguely remember late in the day, we arrived at some windmills near Amsterdam, where we were given a tour to see how Dutch cheese and clogs were made. And I remember buying some cheese. Then we got back on the bus to head into Amsterdam.
My memory tells me that we checked into a hostel and they allowed us some time to have dinner and do whatever we wanted before we met up again later to watch a sex show (yes, you read right, it was an optional activity) and to do a brief tour of the city (like we did for many other cities before this).
For dinner, I ate at the hostel and I had a burger and fries with mayo. It wasn’t particularly healthy or light but I enjoyed it. It’s worth noting that the Netherlands isn’t really renowned for its own cuisine (we didn’t really eat much traditional Dutch food) and in Amsterdam, it’s not too difficult to find international cuisine. That being said, fries with mayo did originate in the Netherlands.
Anyway, we met up again and went to watch the sex show. I won’t go into it too much but it was exactly what you would imagine it would be like. Basically watching people… be intimate with each other in front of a crowd. Make of that what you will.
After that, we had a walking tour of the city. Specifically around The Red Light District, which is a major tourist attraction. It is located in the oldest area of the city and I don’t remember feeling particularly unsafe there. That being said, we did see prostitutes standing behind windows and you could see them from the street.
The Netherlands is known for its liberal policies on things like the sex industry (where sex work is legalised and regulated, similar to where I live) and on marijuana.
That being said, Amsterdam has selling points that aren’t related to sex, drugs, alcohol or partying. I found Amsterdam itself to be a really beautiful city. I would say that it’s one of my favourite cities in Europe.
You don’t see a lot of cars in Amsterdam because it is a city built for humans, not cars. My understanding is that people get around by cycling, walking, trams and ferries (to cross the canals). I’m sure there are Amsterdam residents who own cars but most people there probably don’t really need them, as it’s not a car-dependent city. This makes it a relatively quiet city and a pleasant place to be. There’s a saying that “cities aren’t loud, cars are loud” and I think there’s a lot of truth in it.
If I recall, a few of us went into one of those coffee shops and I bought a hash brownie. I don’t think it was enough for me to get really high but I remember a lot of laughter going on that night.
On Day 27, we had the day to go and explore the city on our own, which I did do. Some people probably did a tour of the Heineken factory. I wasn’t a beer drinker at the time and wasn’t really interested, so I didn’t.
I can’t remember if I saw attractions such as the Van Gogh museum or Anne Frank House but I think I remember seeing some sort of museum. I guess I’ll need to revisit if I want to experience the city properly (like with most European cities I visited). Nevertheless, I did enjoy my time there and I enjoyed the day.
I don’t remember too much else worth mentioning, so I’ll fast-forward to the end of the day. That evening, we had our “farewell dinner” at a Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam (that’s right, we went for Chinese food). Then we went on a cruise on the canal. It was a lovely evening.
Following that, some of us went out partying (as you tend to do on these tours) and we went to bed fairly late.
Then on Day 28, we got up, had breakfast and began our journey back to London (via Belgium and France). Don’t worry, I will write another article about this.
If you enjoyed my story and want to read my other stories click on the link here.
Thanks for reading,
Gary
