Amsterdam was the first place me and Matthew ever went together (other than a school trip to Barcelona one time). Both in first-time relationships, we didn’t know what to expect. We’d never spend such a prolonged period of time together, but boy let me tell you, that holiday really made Matthew question his decisions.
We traveled on the overnight ferry but, because I get seasick, we both took tablets and got knocked out. But, before the tablets came into effect we somehow joined a dolphin watching class? Or something like that, I’m not really sure. I don’t remember seeing anything though so good thing we didn’t pay for it.
The first place we went to was a zoo which started off a whole line of trips where a zoo is required or else it’s not a real trip. It’s possibly, to this day, one of the best zoos I’ve ever been to. However, I might be biased since I was young, in love and surrounded by cute animals. They had a reptile room, which was amazing as you could get up so close to them. However, the heat of the room on a hot day was unbearable.
The only problem which isn’t really a problem was the butterfly room. I have an irrational fear of butterflies but Matthew loves them so I didn’t want to disappoint. I took a few pretty decent photos before fleeing in panic.
At the zoo, there was also a microbe zoo which I have never seen before and was the perfect mix of super gross and interesting. It was full of moldy food and liquids and a dead giraffe just chilling in a box. Also, Matthew had a nose bleed there which could’ve been gross had I not been surrounded by microbes.
The ice bar was not all it was hyped up to be. Yes, it was pretty cool being in a room made of ice but you’re just paying to be cold and bored. The chairs are cold so it’s hard to sit down and the only drink they do (or did at this point) were chocolate orange vodka or Heineken for obvious reasons, both of which I did not like, but since I had paid to be in there I felt trapped.
The bar before you get in had nice drinks but I assume due to logical reasons you can’t prepare too many drinks in a room made of ice, so I suppose that’s understandable.
Going to the Heineken museum was always a stupid idea for us because neither of us drinks lager. However, that only lessened our appreciation slightly as the museum itself was still very cool. It has a nice terrace on the top which looks out over Amsterdam and they give you a free half-pint of Heineken. It was under construction when we went so there’s probably more now but I haven’t got a clue.
We went on a canal tour, which I don’t remember much of (a common theme), only that it was extremely hot and that we went on the wrong one. One thing that I do remember is “fritessaus”. It’s literally just a sauce for chips but it’s the best one, so good that we bought a litre bottle of it to take home.
Due to my memory of a goldfish, I don’t remember much else since I didn’t take many pictures but from what I’ve recalled it was pretty much a regular city break just with nicer locals.
The Wandering NPCs 