I (Am)sterdam

Amsterdam at night

The Netherlands leg of my Europe trip was not only exciting because I’d be meeting up with my parents again, but it’s also where I’d get to see more of my family heading there from the States. My cousin Lena was the first to arrive, and we met up for Aperol spritzes in the heart of Amsterdam. After catching up for a bit, we parted ways to get to our respective accommodations. While Lena was heading to a hotel, I continued my adventure in ‘Hostel Land.’ Unfortunately, this was where my adventure took a turn for the worse.

Amsterdam is expensive, and I soon learned that the cheapest hostel in a central part of town I could find also happened to be in a red-light district. Oy.

Listen, hostels in Amsterdam’s red-light district might be fine and dandy when you’re a 20-year-old guy, but it's Hell when you’re a 30-something woman. I walked up the narrow stairway from the street to Hostel Warmoes, the tiniest, arguably worst hostel you could imagine. It was bad. I had booked three nights but only stayed for one and had to crash with my parents for the remainder of the trip. Thankfully, I was able to get a refund. 

Here’s the thing about Amsterdam: don’t stay near Central Station. It seems like a smart idea, but this part of town is a hot, congested mess. Instead, stay a bit further into the city. It’s much nicer, and the public transportation is so good there you can easily get around to different parts of town.

Day 2
After my night from Hell in Hostel Warmoes, I packed up my things to drop them off where my parents were staying. We then had the day to explore together before meeting some of our Dutch relatives on the Zwarenstein side for dinner.

My parents and I went to Amsterdam’s Holocaust Museum and had some local craft beer at Brouwerij 't IJ, a brewery located in a windmill. 

Since we had been to Amsterdam before, we were trying to find new places to see. We had hoped to go to a market but unfortunately only caught the tail end of one already closing down.

We then met up with our other family members for an amazing Indonesian dinner at Indra Pura. I definitely recommend it if you’re looking to try some Indonesian food while you’re there!