December 29th, 2022 -January 3rd, 2023
Where we stayed: Sir Albert Hotel
Hi, okay so I went to Amsterdam for 5 days, Rotterdam for 1 and then London for 1 but because I want to feel like a super cool world traveler I’m going to put those other two trips into two other blog posts. You’re welcome. I went to the Netherlands to celebrate the guy in the pictures’ birthday and for New Years! Who is he? Don’t worry about it 🙃 He’s cool, you’ll like him.
Day 1
We got into Amsterdam exhausted and ready to take showers because duh, airports and overnight international flights. Ick. Anyway, we checked into our insanely beautiful hotel after a quick cab ride from the airport that cost nearly 70 euros. Yeah, I’m well aware how stupid expensive that is. Again, ick. Anywayyyyyysssss showered, starfished on the bed (aka flopped on the bed, stretched out and just laid there) and figured out what we wanted to do for dinner. Mediterranean is always a win in my book and it just so happened there was a killer spot a 2 min walk from the hotel so off we went.
Okay I really didn’t realize how much time it would take for me to write out what we did each day so don’t hate me but I’m gonna post some pretty pictures, post some of the cool activities we did and the corresponding google biz link so you have their info/address/reviews/pictures and call it a day.
Day 2
Some cool shit.
Day 3
Additional cool shit.
Day 4
Other cool shit.
Day 5
Shocker. Did some cool shit and went to another part of the Netherlands for him to get a tattoo before we flew to London!
Fave Restaurants + Bars/Breweries in Amsterdam:
Sababa Amsterdam De Pijp – https://goo.gl/maps/BSQhMdzy6vefERPu9
Tony Loco Pizza – https://goo.gl/maps/5vpsTQSLJBeYyedD8
Izakaya – https://goo.gl/maps/RiE2kuERrmj64Vum7
De Patchka – https://goo.gl/maps/Vb6wD2mJnEmNgXQA6
Vegan Junk Food Bar – https://goo.gl/maps/d6FQFt5KthocRDYY8
Micro Brewery Brouwerij De Prael – https://goo.gl/maps/YyVz7U9mnmSwx7FA7
Corner Bakery – https://goo.gl/maps/eu1xPDeENMJa15Eb7
Mikkeller Bar – https://mikkelleratmorebeer.nl/en/beerbar-kitchen/
Activities
Canal Lights Boat Tour – https://www.lovers.nl/en/
Riijksmueum – https://goo.gl/maps/e3VR1f2mFfoscLL1A
Van Gogh Museum – https://goo.gl/maps/yBBYPdX1pvKKTSGB8
Red Light Secrets Museum – https://goo.gl/maps/Kr76o7Mv7hDDHSMX8
Scent of Bali (Massage) – https://goo.gl/maps/1FWSevFbv2eTtdZU8
Iris Galerie – https://en.irisgalerie.com
Space Cake – as someone who enjoys edibles, I had always heard that they’re stronger in Amsterdam. Fuck. They weren’t lying… Proceed with caution and as with any edible, don’t take more if you don’t feel it in 15-30 min, be patient and enjoy the ride!
Truffles – if you’ve never experienced psychedelics or even if you have, make sure that you speak to the shop employees about what they’d recommend for your experience/comfort level. They’re extremely helpful and knowledgeable, don’t feel embarrassed to ask ALL THE QUESTIONS. I personally had two different kinds of truffles and my trip lasted 4 ish hours with another hour to come down.
Food Hallen – tons of different restaurants in a large open building similar to a food court but much nicer and actual good food!
Fun fact: we got refunded $2100 out of the $2200 we paid for our flights to Amsterdam! Soooo let me start from the beginnings. Flying from Kentucky to most anywhere outside of the country requires at least 2 flights which isn’t ideal for frequent travelers BUT you gotta do what you gotta do, ya know? My travel companion booked our flights through Hopper – we switch off between flying Delta (his preferred airline) and American (mine) because we’ve both built status with those airlines and have their travel credit cards giving us extra miles. He will use his card to pay for our flights for one trip then we switch! It works out well btw! We opted to pay the $30 for the trip insurance through Hopper saying essentially (don’t quote me on this) that if your flight is delayed by 1+ hours you get a partial refund. Wellllllll, our long flight from ATL to Amsterdam was delayed (we were stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours before we flew the 8 hours there). After days of back and forth with the Hopper rep, submitting screenshots that I had taken from the Delta app showing the delay, exact take off/landing times, changes to our estimated arrival, etc we got the confirmation that our FULL ticket prices had been refunded other than a small admin processing fee of $100 ish. HOLY SHIT, WHATTT?! We were stoked and that definitely made up for the shitty delay and lack of sleep!
Okay so I’m not sure if this whole travel blog thing is for me but I’ll commit to it for a while! Just know that typing out all of this is a fuck ton of work, BUT it’s fun to reminisce about all of the little details from my adventures! If you want to see more photos + videos from the trip click the Amsterdam highlight on my IG: Instagram.com/LindseyLay_
Love ya lots,
Lindsey
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