Amsterdam Good Christmas

So we just got back from our first European trip, 4 days in Amsterdam over Christmas. We figured since we don't have much in London we should try to get away for Christmas and avoid sitting alone in our apartment the whole day. To be fair, my coworker did invite us to his family's dinner, but I didn't want to impose.

We were open to anywhere, and Amsterdam happened to be the most affordable Christmas flight, most were marked up double or triple for that weekend. It wasn't the top of our list, but on there somewhere in the middle, and it actually turned out to be a great time. We booked into a hostel for budget and social reasons, and it was actually really great. Very clean and comfortable, and enough like minded people to stay busy and entertained. Spending every Christmas I can remember in Qualicum, I kind of assumed everywhere was dead quiet over the holidays and we would be on our own for entertainment wandering empty streets. I couldn't have been more wrong, there were countless tourists and locals alike out and about the whole time. Restaurants, museums, bars and even hookers were all open for business the entire time.

We didn't have any must see items aside from red lights and canals, so the whole weekend was open. There are museums and the like, and I'm sure they're lovely, but we didn't bother this time around. We opted for a more loosely planned vacation and just wandered and did whatever we came across. That included the Heineken brewery, the Anne Frank House, a canal cruise, and a whole lot of exploring the streets.

We made some friends in the hostel we partied with a couple nights, which was fun. It was cool to spend Christmas with people on a similar mission. I was a little jealous of the one's who were off to another new city for New Year's, but after a few days like that I also really appreciated why I decided to see Europe with a home base in London. It's nice to have somewhere to recharge. As long as we can suck enough money out of this bone dry economy to keep traveling the plan will have worked.

All of the Dutch people we met had one funny thing in common, they would all go on with stories of no relevance or importance, including a waitress going on about partying til 5am or sun rashes while you have your food in front of you. They were really friendly and obviously it was normal there, but as an outsider it was definitely weird.

Actually the whole trip was weird, it very rarely felt like Christmas, and it will definitely be one to remember. I didn't expect to see so many people stepping into red light windows on Christmas eve, or smoking weed all Christmas day and spending boxing day in a sex show. I guess it was a good place to forget we were so far away from family, friends and turkey dinner, because we didn't see any resemblance to a Christmas like that.

Despite the nightmare that is Luton airport, the trip was great, and hopefully the first of many. We'd also like to say Merry Christmas to everyone, and a big thanks to anyone who sent us a card or gift, it was really nice to get something in the mail.

Now Jaimie is getting here tomorrow for a week and we get to entertain our first guest, and hopefully find a good party for New Years!

-Justin