3 days in Amsterdam - A city filled with canals, bridges, and liberal society.

After my checkout appointment, I headed to drop off my large suitcase at the international office. I then walked to Burro Burro, a Mexican restaurant similar to a Chipotle. I ordered lunch, ate and got a burrito to go for dinner in Zurich airport due to Switzerland being so expensive. I then hopped on the direct train to the airport and when I arrived, checked into my flight and made it through security.

Waiting for my hotel in Frankfurt Germany.

After waiting 2.5 hours, we got a notification from the airline that the flight was canceled, a great start to my trip. The delay was due to a malfunction at Amsterdam Airport in regards to their refueling system, grounding many of the airplanes. They sent us to a desk across the airport for re-booking. I then asked for additional time on the WiFi due to my delay, which required going back and forth between the Swiss Air counter and the information desk for about 40 minutes. I was booked on the next possible flight which consisted of flying to Frankfurt Germany this evening, spending the night at a hotel and flying to Amsterdam early the next morning. While this isn’t quite the trip I had planned, at least I got a free hotel and some free food.

Frankfurt City from the airplane.

When I arrived in Frankfurt, I went to the transfer desk to figure out my hotel for the evening, the free transfer to my hotel, and my compensation for food. After the 2 hour wait to get my hotel reservation, which took the lady at the desk all of 3 minutes to hand me I headed to the hotel pickup location. I tried calling the number for our bus, but it didn’t work and needed one of the airports built-in phones which was broken. I then waited some more until I finally found the hotels number online, and called, they stated the bus would be here in 30 minutes. After about an hour and a half of waiting for the bus, it finally arrived. During that wait time, I had been on hold with Swiss Air trying to get them to pay for a taxi to the hotel however was never able to get them to agree to pay.

Shortly after boarding the bus and finding no seats, I was kicked off. I was told you cannot stand on the bus and that another one would arrive in 20 minutes. Again, 30 minutes passed, and no bus. I called Swiss air again, was placed on hold while they checked to see if they would reimburse me for a taxi ride, but was hung up on. Finally, almost an hour later from the first bus leaving, another bus arrived. We then drove the 20 minutes to the hotel.

Chicken, carrots and noodles for dinner.

We finally arrived at about 12:30, checked in and grabbed a quick plate of food the hotel had made us. It was surprisingly good food, or maybe it just tasted good after the 4.5 hours it took from when I landed in Frankfurt to get to my hotel. It was ridiculous how much time it took for this entire process. If I had driven from Konstanz to Frankfurt airport, I could have driven about 15 mph the entire way and still arrived at the same time as I did just a little over 200 miles away. I then headed upstairs to my room. Which was a beautiful room with a king-size bed all for myself? I then headed to bed as I had to wake up at about 5 am to eat breakfast and head to the airport.

I woke up and headed downstairs to the breakfast we were promised. When I arrived in the lobby I found a small tray of meat, a small bow of fruit (which didn’t look very good), a basket of dry, stale bread with jam, and some water, coffee, and mango juice. It was one of the saddest hotel breakfasts I have ever had. I have had ten times nicer breakfasts at $15 hostels I have stayed at. It was very disappointing, but at least I got a few hours of sleep and my plane was still on time and scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam at about 9:30.

I amsterdam sign at the airport.

After arriving at Amsterdam airport I made my way to the bus station to catch a 35-minute bus ride to my hostel, just in the outskirts of Amsterdam. I check-in, and relaxed in my room for a little while. It certainly was not a very nice hostel, but for only two nights, it would do. I then headed out to explore Amsterdam. I had no idea where I was walking to, but I took in all the sights and of course, began taking photos of this iconic city. Walking along the canals, making sure to pick up some cold drinks and ice cream along the way.

One of Amsterdam's many bridges.

I then headed back to the hostel to rest and attempt to cool down. Unfortunately, Amsterdam was experiencing a record-breaking heatwave. With temperatures reaching the highest ever recorded at about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and a feel like temperature of 112 degrees with a humidity of about 40 percent, it was awful. There was no way to cool down and even just laying down I was still sweating.

After heading back out at about 19:30, I grabbed dinner at a local burger bar and then walked around taking some more pictures before I headed back to the hostel to try to sleep in this extreme heat.

Dunkin Donuts in Amsterdam, without breakfast.

I slept in the next morning, trying to catch up on sleep while it was just cool enough that I wasn’t sweating while sleeping. I then headed out, stopped at a Dunkin Donuts because I saw the day before they had bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches. However, after waiting in line, I was told they didn’t have any sandwiches or bagels. It boggles my mind that Dunkin Donuts, which half of their menu is either bagels or sandwich’s doesn’t even have those when they are even listed on their menu. All they have is coffee and donuts, of which their donuts are 2.5 EUR extremely expensive, so I don’t recommend going there.

Ham, egg and cheese, custom made to order.

I found a restaurant called the Bagels Cafe, where they had bagels and breakfast food. I asked if I could get an egg, ham, and cheese on a bagel even though it wasn’t on the menu and they said yes, definitely recommend this restaurant. I then walked around, got some photos and headed back to the hostel to relax during the heat of the day. I then headed out to dinner, stopping to take some photos. I ate O’Reilly’s Irish Pub and got an ice-cold drink and a burger.

Reflections in the Amsterdam bay.

After dinner, I took some night shots of the city before walking through the Red Light District to see it come to life on my way back to the hostel. The streets were packed full of people, mainly tourist and of course, those 290 windows that Amsterdam's Red Light District is so well known for. It is certainly a different culture here in Amsterdam, the leading front of liberalism where many things not allowed in the rest of the world, come to life and are a huge part of the culture as well as revenue for the city of Amsterdam.

Overall, besides the extreme heat, it was a great adventure, and an amazing city to visit filled with lots pretty views, canals, and one of the most modern and unique cultures in the world.

Photos of Amsterdam are Coming Soon!