Whenever spring comes, I always think of tulips. But I don’t know why, I don’t have the desire to go to Amsterdam to see the tulips bloom… maybe not yet 😅
So, this week, let me take you to Van Gogh Museum and stroll Amsterdam. We’ll board on a cruise twice and visit the famous red light district too!
I went to Amsterdam twice on separate tours, just because the itinerary includes the city.
Even so, I haven’t finished enjoying everything the city offers. If I ever go to Amsterdam again, I’d love to visit Gieethoorn 🌷⛵💖
Okay, so, on my first trip, I explored Amsterdam and the famous red light district in the evening. On my second trip, I had 1.5 days there so I went to Van Gogh Museum and FINALLY tried Manneken Pis’ fries.
It was really good 😭😭😭
I couldn’t do it on my first trip because I had food poisoning. We’ll get to the fries a bit later, okay? 😉
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
I didn’t know much about Van Gogh but I like art, so I decided to visit Van Gogh Museum when in Amsterdam.
Before visitted the museum, I only knew “Starry Night”. After that, I have some new favourites like “Sunflower”, “Almond Blossom”, and others which names I’ve forgotten.
As I didn’t know how to get there on foot, I took the tram. It was quite far from the city center but it would be a good walk.
The museum was located in the middle of a huge park. If you like Banksy, you can visit Moco Museum. It was right beside Van Gogh Museum. Remember to buy the entrance ticket online, though!
Van Gogh Museum was huge but I didn’t take many photos as I wanted to enjoy the moment. Besides, I guess you can find many photos on the internet…
I liked that their souvenir section was big. You could buy merchandise such as eyeglasses cloths, olive oil, poster, postcards, snack tray, and even socks 😍
If you don’t want to go into the museum but want to buy some merchandise, there’s a small Van Gogh merchandise shop nearby. It sells official merchandise produced by the museum.
After visitted the museum, I returned to the city center on foot. It was a wonderful walk, surrounded by beautiful buildings and views.
I even went to a shop that sold many types of cheese, Primark, and of course… Manneken Pis for its fries!
Mine was a bit over-fried, but it still tasted good. It may look like normal french fries with mayonnaise, but you haven’t been to Amsterdam if you haven’t tried this!
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Afternoon Canal Cruise in Amsterdam
I was lucky to have different canal cruise experiences when in Amsterdam. On my first trip, my group went for a private canal cruise in the evening. We also had our light dinner on the cruise.
On the second trip, we boarded a commercial Amsterdam canal cruise in the afternoon. Each of us got a headset so we could listen to the audio guide while cruising.
So, in this section, I will take you onboard the cruise twice. Shall we start with the afternoon cruise? 😊
Beautiful floating container homes… If only I could own one, then I don’t need to worry about where to stay when I’m grey and old.
After the canal cruise, my very small group tour (it consisted of only seven people including the tour guide) went for an included dinner in a beautiful restaurant.
The food was just OK but the ambiance was really nice. Restaurant 1st Klasse had a charming interior design, like a palace…
Did I mention they have an in-house parrot pet?
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Evening Canal Cruise in Amsterdam
I boarded the private Amsterdam cruise in the evening back in 2017. It was a memorable 18-day European tour with Expat Explore.
The cruise was small and we had a simple dinner. Between chicken wing and pizza, I opted for chicken wing with bbq sauce.
To my surprise, we got Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for dessert! Since I love taking photos, after dinner I decided to sit near the captain to enjoy the breeze and night view of Amsterdam.
Sorry friends, I don’t post many photos of the evening Amsterdam canal cruise. Most of them are blurry, so I choose the ones that are still presentable.
As you can see, there are different types of cruises that you can choose when in Amsterdam. The photo above is of a small, private boat with a minibar.
However, it has no roof. So, if you choose that boat, it’s good to bundle up as the wind could be quite strong.
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Amsterdam Red Light District
If you’re reading this blog post in a public place or even at the office, don’t worry! I don’t post any R-rated photos here… wait, are you disappointed? 😂
It’s because taking photos of the women who are working in the Amsterdam red light district is prohibited. It’s disrespectful, to be precise.
The women there are no items displayed in shop windows—they’re working. Heck, they rent the shop windows and place to earn money.
After the Amsterdam evening canal cruise, most of my friends wanted to return to the hotel. No way I would do that since it was my chance to explore the red light district!
Luckily, Dawood wanted to explore the area too, so we went together. Then, it crossed my mind.
Me: “Dawood, if you see a girl that you like and you want to enter, just let me know. I will come back in 1 or 2 hours.”
Dawood: 😶😶😶
Then he laughed so hard.
Dawood: “Thank you, girl! Ahahahha….” 😂😂😂
Me: “You don’t need to be shy because I’m here. We’re on holiday, let’s enjoy the trip.” 😁
But… there weren’t many ladies in the shop windows. I also didn’t dare to stare at them, although I was curious. They were obviously tall and had bigger than B cups.
Surprisingly, Dawood didn’t enter. We walked to the bar area and decided to get high. Well, him, because I didn’t (and still) know how to smoke, lol…
Alright, so Dawood and I returned to The Bulldog for space business. He went into a private room to smoke while I lingered in the bar area.
The small space cake aka cannabis-infused brownie? It tasted like a normal brownie, but a bit bitter. To me, it was like a herbal chocolate brownie 😂😂😂
And I didn’t feel anything! Ten minutes, half an hour, an hour later… nothing. Maybe it had no effect on me 🤔
I went to check out Dawood, he was just fine. There were some people smoking with him. After he was done, we walked around for a while.
When I was taking photos, he kept telling me that he wanted to return to the hotel. It was almost 11:30pm but I felt energetic while he looked tipsy.
Me: “Can we walk around a little bit more?”
Dawood: “You don’t understand. If we miss the train, we can’t return to our hotel. And I feel like fainting now…” 😵💫
Me: 👀👀👀
OMG, he’s right! If he fainted there, I wouldn’t be able to carry him back to the hotel. I didn’t even see any taxis in Amsterdam!! 😱😱😱
Luckily, we managed to catch the last train. Dawood was almost ‘gone’, so I went to buy the tickets for us.
While waiting for the train, I started to feel sleepy…
Oh please no, I need to clean my makeup, take a bath and brush my teeth before I sleep… Okay, here comes the train…
We reached the hotel safely. I had a high-quality sleep that night and even slept on the bus the next day. Dawood looked okay, though? 🤔
I didn’t know why, I just felt sleepy all the time. I could sleep like a baby within seconds! Perhaps it’s the effect of the brownie…
So guys, if you want to do a space business in Amsterdam, don’t go alone. You don’t know how your body will react to it, so someone sober would help… just in case!
Okay, we’ve explored Van Gogh Museum, boarded two canal cruises and went to the red light district in Amsterdam. I hope you enjoy the trip and have an awesome week 😊
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