scrrd panda

DAY 3

The next morning we woke up around 8:30, got ready and had breakfast, then hopped a tram to Central Station. One thing we learned about making quick decisions is check train schedules. Upon arriving at the station we found the international ticket booth but found out the train for Paris didn’t leave until noon. We had 2.5 hours to kill, so we decided to hit up the Apple Store to check some email. We hung around there for about 30 minutes then walked back to the train station to get some food. While walking back we decided to take some pics of the huge parking ramp of bikes. I have no clue how they know which bike is theirs.







We all decided to have some pastries for lunch, I really have no clue why but that’s how it ended up. After our meal we headed over to our train platform. None of us had ridden a train in Europe before so we really weren’t sure how it all worked, but we were excited. Our trained arrived just as it started raining and of course our train car happened to be outside. We hopped on, threw out packs on the storage rack above the seats and sat down. We were sitting in the middle of the car, our seats faced each other with a table in the middle. Clint and I sat next to each other while Brett sat across from Clint. A gentleman we didn’t know sat across from me. This guy had the worst cough ever and one point I thought we was going to keel over and die. Serial. For the whole trip to Paris he was coughing up his lungs on Brett and I. If you know Brett and you’re reading this - he gets cranky if he doesn’t get enough sleep and he was trying to take a nap on the train - so lets say Brett was not in a good mood. Our train ride was uneventful and the only entertainment was when they announced pick pockets might be boarding the train in Brussels, Belgium. So, ya know, watch out for that when you’re there.

DAY 2 - Into the night time

After our wicked nap we decided it was time to hit up this town again. We were once again hungry and feeling like sushi, earlier in the day we saw a Japanese restaurant near Wok & Cook and decided to head there. When we arrived we ordered some sushi rolls and flat bottled water because you can’t get tap water in Europe and most of the time they give you sparkling water, which is nasty. So note yourself, when in Europe make sure to ask for tap water if you are just looking for some plain American water. After our delicious meal we decided to head over to the Red Light district to get drunk and walk around and see the neighborhood.



Upon arriving at the Red Light district we decided to hit up the Grumpy Sailor again. It was fairly busy with both guys and girls. From our table you could see the canal and all the ladies of the night. This one girl should have put a revolving door on her place because damn, she had a crazy turn around.



After having some drinks we decided to walk around and head to another bar the Bulldog which also has coffee houses by the same name, if you don’t know what a coffee shop in Amsterdam is, it’s a place to get and smoke weed. The Bulldog is a pretty popular place among the touristas. We enjoyed our drinks and decided to walk around some more. When we were walking around we ran into some drunk Irish guys looking for the Grumpy Sailor. Being the friendly Americans that we are, we showed them where it was and stayed to have some more drinks. They were friendly guys from Dublin and one of them didn’t like Guinness, I always thought that would be a crime in Ireland. The Irish guys called it an early night or they went off looking to buy some ass. Either way those dudes split and it was just us again. We needed some new scenery and decided to go to another bar down the street.





This new bar had a nice feel to it, the staff was polite and the girl bartender was cute. This bar had two levels to get to the upper level you had to climb this narrow staircase which wear the bathrooms are located also. With all these narrow stair cases all over Europe, I know now why most Europeans aren’t fat, they can’t be or else they would get stuck in the buildings. While we were enjoying our Heineken we decided that we need to see Paris. And since we were only a few short hours away, we were gonna go to Paris the next morning, via the sweet rail system. After we finished our drinks we decided to head back to the hotel to rest up, because in the morning we were hopping on the tram and heading to Central Station to catch a train to Paris.

In January 2007 we took a trip across the pond and around Europe in a world-wind 7 day trip to Amsterdam, Paris, Cologne and Frankfurt. Our first stop was Amsterdam - The Netherlands. This is the story about day two - day time adventures.






Here we are with day two.

The next morning we awoke to Brett SMSing us asking where the hotel is. After sending him the address and waiting for him to show up we went down to get one of the great things that come with European hotels, the free breakfast. This bad boy consisted of turkey, ham, cheese, hard boiled eggs and different types of bread, they also had different types of juice. The only real downside to this was that all the juices were sorta warm. This was not so good, but we have nothing to complain about here.

After fueling up we decided to hit the city again, heading up to Leidseplein then heading southeast over to the Rijksmuseum, which was under construction at the time.

After walking by Rijksmuseum we decided to head south to museum square to get some pics of the I AMsterdam sign. After the photo-op we decided to get some coffee and tea at a local cafe where Clint snapped some excellent pics. When we finished we decided to go to the Van Gogh museum to get our European culture on. It was enjoyable visit but we must look suspicious because security was riding our asses the whole time.

When we left the museum around noon and the rain was coming down at a good pace. A good enough pace that Clint got scammed into buying a sweet umbrella that cost 8 Euros. But being that it was lunch time we decided to celebrate and go on the Heineken Experience! If you go to Amsterdam this is a for sure place you gotta check out. And the cost was relatively low, I think it was 6 or 8 Euro. The people that work at Heineken are the nicest people in Amsterdam, not sure if its because they’re drunk or that they get to work in a brewery all day long. They all were very friendly and had big smiles all the time. The self guided tour was fun and they had a bunch of little activities which include drinking beer, sending video messages to friends, spinning on turn tables, a virtual tour of Amsterdam from a horse wagon and foosball. Also at the end of the tour you get a free gift, we received a bottle opener. Once we gathered our gifts and picked up our coats from the coat check we started are search for food.

When we walked outside the rain had turned into a mist and we decided to walk north towards the city centre. We didn’t know what kind of food we were in the mood for, so we decided to walk around and choose whatever looked good. We finally decided on Wok & Cook, it hit the spot, we all thought the meal was really good. They gave you generous portions the only thing that they could’ve had more of is seating. But the cramped seating was intimate, you might have issues if you’re claustrophobic. But this place that is tucked into a very tiny street was awesome. After enjoying are meal we needed to sleep it off and headed back to the hotel for some sleep.