Intro to Amsterdam

The train to Amsterdam was ridiculously long. I was expecting two hours, but it actually took three. There were some funny Europeans in my cabin for part of the time though. One guy's sweater alone was enough to entertain me for half the time!

I walked over to the library because 1. It was the only thing I knew the location of, 2. It has a pretty view of Amsterdam, and 3. It has a cafe, and I was hungry. I wasn't hungry hungry, I just wanted fruit or vegetables. Stupid, I know, but the super markets only have oranges for like 3 euros each, and for those of you without your calculators...that's like five bucks for one stupid orange. So yeah...I've been lacking some vital nutrients for sure.

Anyway...I went up there and yeah, the view was great, but the balcony was closed so I couldn't get a picture.:( It was cool to see all sorts of students studying, but I don't know how they got anything done with all the people everywhere. I got a small salad bowl, a grapefruit, an a water for like 8.50 euro. Total rip off. Especially cause they don't tell you when water is free so I bought a bottled water for no reason.

I had delayed long enough and I really needed to find my hostel at this point. I had two maps but neither made sense. I had directions to the hostel and that involved riding a tram so I bought a one hour ticket and found my hostel. (It's tons bigger and nicer than the last one.) I wanted to hit up the Van Gogh Museum before my tram pass ran out because the museum is kinda far away. I went hunting for a tram station by the tram I needed. No luck. So I hauled butt back to Centraal station on foot. I may or may not have passed a sex museum as well as some sort of strip club. While everyone else's heads were turning towards these things, little innocent me just kept my eyes on the road as best as i could. I ended up buying a 24 hour tram pass for 7 more euro. The original plan was to rent a bike, but I'll tell you why that idea instantly failed in just a minute.

I got on the right tram and got to the museum. It was awesome! I didn't think I'd like the museums as much as I am! I learned a lot about Van Gogh and art. He loved nature and flowers, and he killed himself thinking he was a failure when really he was an epic success. No pictures were allowed in this museum, and I followed the rules this time.

Because I don't know where the tram stops and goes, I rode all the way back to Centraal station and took the tram that goes near my hostel. I was starving so I got a second dinner. All this walking is wearing me out! I tried a couple of supermarkets but I didn't want chips or cookies. I found a place called Shanghai Noodle and I got me some sweet and sour chicken. It was delicious. They only gave me chopsticks and there were legit Chinese kids in there so I didn't want to ask for a fork. I sucked it up and used the chopsticks. There was a big spoon thing that I had no idea what to do with (I'm sure it was for sauces), but I saw a Chinese girl using it to scoop up rice and my chopsticks were being so unsuccessful that I copied her and used my spoon thing like she did. That was a really long run on sentence. Sorry. The second they left, I ran to the desk and asked for a fork. My dignity. My pride. I couldn't let them go. Haha. That meal took me a good 45 minutes to eat. Stupid chopsticks.

I walked back to my hostel where I will stay the rest of the night. Whoa! It's ten pm! No wonder I'm so tired.

So overall I have not liked Amsterdam all that much. The architecture is beautiful, but there are so. Many. People. So many stupid people!! I hate the language (Dutch), I hate the traffic, I hate the smell (it's either cigarette smoke or pot), and I hate the transportation system (mostly cause it makes no sense to me). like I said, I wanted a bike, but I'm so scared of getting KILLED by a car, bus, tram, or another biker!! Seriously!! People are everywhere. I swear there's no such thing as a road. There are bike paths but people just go wherever they can fit. People cross the tram tracks even if a tram is just five feet away from hitting them. It's just madness!! Stinky, foreign, madness. I couldn't get any pictures cause it's been dark since I got here, but tomorrow you shall see Amsterdam!