A day in Amsterdam... where do I even begin! This City is absolutely Beautiful - stunning historic buildings weaved between hundreds of canals, one day was definitely not enough. We arrived at the central train station around 9:45 am and set off to the city center - with no plan we were slightly lost on what to do and where to start but quickly found a walking tour and decided to tag along. Despite extremely cold weather the sun was shining and we were on our way to our first stop of the tour in the Red Light district. Now this was not a sight that I had intend to see on my visit to Amsterdam but nevertheless we strolled through the narrow streets at 11 am, I kept my head facing forward and managed to make it out reasonably unscathed! The next few stops on the tour consisted of some historic buildings and insightful facts from our guide as we worked our way through this maze of a city. I would highly recommend doing a walking tour, we were able to site see and learn some new facts with minimal effort as well as get a good general understanding of Amsterdam.
After some lunch in a local dutch cafe I meet up with some of my friends from New Zealand and we made our way to the canals. Jam packed with other tourists we set off for an hour on the water, we got to see a lot of the city from the comfort of our seats while our enthusiastic guide kept the spirits high with some joyful music and dancing. A canal cruise is such a typical thing to do in Amsterdam but all for good reason, even if you don't have the luxury of having a private boat it is totally worth it in my opinion.
Next stop of the day took us the the Rijksmuseum and the icon 'I amsterdam' sign, which on the weekend you are incredible lucky to just get one letter to yourself! Of course we had to get a photo in front of the sign, however we decided against visiting the museum. I think museum's can be great but personally I'd rather spend my money else where - so on we went for a freezing cold walk through the city and settled on a drink at a dutch bar. Quality time was spent playing cards and backgammon, the perfect way to spend our last few hours in this gorgeous city! Though I feel like we achieved a lot in this short day I know that I will definitely be back here when the weather is slightly warmer to venture further!
