Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam - the town where anything goes and is LEGAL! My trip to amsterdam was awesome. I got to see tons of museums and experience a culture so diverse and competely opposite to the one i am used to. Me and 2 Canadian friends traveled by bus to get to amsterdam which was about 8 hours, but it really went by fast and was only 60 euros there and back! We arrived on a Wednesday evening and decided to start our time in amsterdam with an adventure to the Red Light District. Surprisingly this is actually a nice part of town, and not as dangerous and scary as others made it sound. We found a decent place to grab some food and then we felt pretty worn out, so we headed back to our hostel.

Day 2 we headed out to the Van gogh Museum! This museum was very cool, 10 euros to get it, and i learned ALOT about the artist and his life. The way the museum was layed out was genius and made it fascinating to walk through the life of Van Gogh. After the museum, we decided to go for a walk in the parc and get some cool shots with the infamous "I Amsterdam"sign. You have to get to this one early though folks, the amount of people jumping on this thing was insane! After a little walk in the parc, we decided to get some shopping out of the way, walking the streets looking for tourist nic nacs. Amsterdam is also well known for their BEAUTIFUL canals. So after lunch we decided to go for a canal tour. This was a very interesting boat tour and i learned ALOT by going on it. I learned that Amsterdam has over 2,000bridges! and that people have boat houses all over the canals (2,500 to be exact), and some poeple have to wait up to 8 YEARS to get their spot in a boat house!

All in all this boat cruise is the TOP thing i suggest doing if you are ever planning on going to amsterdam! After a long day we decided to head back to the hostel until a few other friends arrived to meet up with us!

Once our other friends arrived we headed to the "Hard Rock Cafe". The service wasn't that great but the food was awesome! It was nice to have a good meal after a long day of walking! After dinner we decided to walk around town and explore amsterdam at night.... while walking around i saw some hilarious people doing the strangest things!! We finished of the night by visiting one of the infamous "cafes" in amsterdam.





Day 3 - Our last day in Amsterdam was spent power walking the streets to see last minute monuments and museums we hadn't had the chance to see yet. The day included the ever so classy, sex museum (many laughs), the Anne Frank house - which is VERY cool, i highly reccomment this place! And of course no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to the "hemp and hash museum". I had no idea that Amsterdam was filled with such history and wonderful sites! i had an amazing time and would love to go back some day!

London 2008 - Easter Weekend!

London, England is by far my favorite place i have gone in Europe to date. The people, the attractions, the food and the atmosphere was incredible! I traveled to London with 2 other friends from Moncton. We left on a saturday and came back on a Monday night, this amount of time was certainly not long enough! I definately want to go back in the future.

Although many people say london is the priciest city in london, i would have to disagree. The price difference isnt that much, and long as you spend wisely. Restaurants is where they get you most, you have to consider that the price is in pounds which is DOUBLE our CDN dollar. As long as you keep that in mind, you will be fine. We found an excellent price for our flight (2 cents there and back) so it made this trip well worth our dollar. We also stayed at an EXCELLENT hostel, it was called St. Christopher's Greenwhich, this hostel is actually a company that is all around europe (paris, barcelona, amsteram...just to name a few) and this hostel is IDEAL for the young student. There was a bar downstairs (owned by the hostel) and there was always something going on! For those who preferred not to drink or party, there was a "chill out room" downstairs which was loaded with TONS of movies and a mini kitchen for those who wanted to save money by making their meals. All in all i HIGHLY recommend all the St. Christopher's hostels around Europe!

The first day spent in London was pretty low key because we got there so late, but we had time to take in some parts of the city and chill out at our hostel. Day 2 was a longer day, the weather was cold and rainy and at some points it actually SNOWED!!! yes thats right, i felt like i was back in canada! haha We started out our day by going on the Double decker bus and exploring what london had to offer....what a beautiful city! We stopped at "Picadilly Circus" first, this is London's equivalent to New York's "Times Square". If you are looking for awesome restaurants and deadly shopping, this is the place for you!!

After walking around Picadilly we hopped on another bus and ventured off to see where it would take us (we are brave ones lol). Within minutes of being on the bus we saw Westminster Abbey and the Big Ben!!! We jumped off to see these two attractions .... and was it ever worth it! The Big Ben was bigger than i imagined, and the Westminster abbey was even more beautiful! Definately a MUST SEE if you go to London! We then went to find the infamous "Buckingham Palace" - This is a beautiful place, and an even more impressive garden and walk to get to it!

After seeing alot of London in a few hours we decided to relax for a little bit and have a nice dinner. I must say i prefer the food choices and restaurants in London than in France. I guess it is because it is more similar to home and i like the familiar! One very different thing about the food service in London is that in most resturants the waiter does not come up to you to take your order, you actually have to go up to the bar, order and pay and then take a number. My friends and I didn't realize this until about 30 minutes of waiting! That night we returned to the hostel to freshen up and go out for the night on the town! The nightlife in London is fantastic and anything but dull, even on a Sunday! All in all, we ended up having a fabulous night with tons of memories!!!

The next day we woke up and had a fabulous breakfast offered by the hostel then we were off for another day of tourist affairs. Our first stop was the london bridge... small attraction but a BEAUTIFUL view of the city. We then walked along the "Queen's walk" along the water and found the London Tower Bridge and the London Tower.... again this is a beautiful site and a definate must see!!!

My advice to anyone coming to Europe is definately to make the time and save some money for London. This city is amazing, in more ways than one. Trust me when i say this - the culture, atmostphere and way of living is something not even pictures can capture!!