When in Amsterdam...

Hello all!

I am currently sitting in a Dutch cafe in the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam! And while many of you are probably yet to wake up this Monday morning, I never really went to sleep. I left Boston at 7:00 PM, flew for 6 hours, and landed in Amsterdam at (local time) 7:00 AM. Being a small person, I pride myself with my ability to get comfortable in airplane seats, but today, there were just too many distractions to sleep.

So here I am, running on approximately 1 hour of sleep in the past 24 hours and I'm feeling great, if not just a little confused by all this Dutch. 

When I landed in Amsterdam this morning and the sun had yet to rise. I found this odd, seeing as it was after 7, but there's something beautiful about flying into a city at night and it's something a camera can't capture. This airport is insane. From where I'm sitting, I can see a casino, a spa, a museum, a library, an oxygen bar, and a meditation center (what?). I had no idea where I was going when I left the airport, but followed the crowd and somehow found my way to the trains. 

This is the first time I've traveled somewhere where I know absolutely nothing of the language. While most of the people speak English, the signs don't. It's terrifying. However, the people are also super friendly and are quick to help me because I probably look like a lost child. Eh, I'll take it. 

So anyway, not understanding the machine, I bought too many tickets and got on the wrong train, but sorted it out and made it into the city pretty quickly thanks to a nice conductor. 

Where am I?

Amsterdam is one of the most unique cities I've ever been in. Everything about it is distinct and a lot of it has a futuristic feeling, while at the same time looking historic. I was told that walking in one direction would bring me to stores, while walking in the other direction would bring me to the notorious Red Light District.

When in Amsterdam...

Just kidding! I wandered in the direction of the RL District, but didn't venture all the way for fear of 1) seeing more than I wanted to, 2) venturing too far from the train station, 3) freezing because I refused to pack a jacket. I did see my far share of sex shops and weird stores, but I have a feeling that 8:00 on a Monday morning isn't prime sexy-time...

My initial thought was to find a cafe and get some breakfast (midnight snack? what time is it?) but I was discouraged by not understanding anything that was written and the fact that most of the "breakfast" places were also bars... So instead, I briskly made a large perimeter of the center of the city and after an hour or so, had a much smoother train ride back to the airport. 

The trains were so cool and so much better than the system in Boston. They were ridiculously punctual and comfortable and smooth! I also think it's so neat that while I was on an "intercity train", there were trains on adjacent tracks that would be "international trains", going to Paris or Germany. Europe is so cool. 

So that brings me here. After walking around this massive airport, and convincing myself that with 4 hours until my flight I wasn't going to miss my plane, I stopped at the "Dutch Kitchen". I settled with a salad and pancakes because I have no idea what time it is and the pancakes were the cutest thing in the world.

As it turns out, they are the most delicious too! Poffertjes may just be my new favorite food. Certainly not vegan, but certainly delicious. And when in Amsterdam...

And so here I am, with 3 hours left until my flight to Accra, and ready for a nap. I would sleep but the paranoid part of me doesn't want to miss my flight. Good thing there's another 6 hour flight ahead of me, keep your fingers crossed that the movies aren't as good and I can get some sleep!



Next time you hear from me, I will have reached my final destination. I cannot wait for some heat.

Talk to you soon!

-Allie

p.s. just looked at the receipt and realized the baby salad and baby pancakes cost me $13... Well, when in Amsterdam...