If this trip has taught me anything so far, it is to always travel slow. It still astounds me how little I saw on my previous trip to Europe. Mostly I remember jumping from hostel to hostel every two to three nights, losing whole days on buses, and packing (OH, GOD THE PACKING). In hindsight I might as well not have come at all! Too much time was wasted on planning the most minuscule detail, to make sure I "make the most" of my short stays. And for what? I ended up rushing from place to place, and never even having time for a short coffee break. Traveling that way was exhausting, and I got sick a lot during those two months, but worst of all I ended up missing on so so much.
But then again, I suppose, this is the trip that's supposed to make up for everything :)
Amsterdam was among one of the cities I told myself I had to return to. {
Last time } I was there for three nights and made a rookie mistake of joining a awful pub crawl my second night. Long story short, I stayed out way too late and ended up sleeping in until 1pm the next morning, effectively losing a whole day because I was so tired.
This time I made a conscious decision to avoid the bar scene--which, actually isn't say much at all since I don't really like drinking anyways--and the first thing to do is to check into a different hostel. While The Flying Pig is highly recommended by travellers, party hostels aren't really my thing. Instead, I booked a week at {
Ecomama } at Waterlooplien, and it was hands down, one of the best hostels I've ever stayed at. I even felt the need to review them of tripadvisor afterwards, something I don't do very often because I'm so damn lazy..ha
My hostel was conveniently located by the metro and a few tram lines so I was able to explore Amsterdam with ease. No more bikes for me this time because 1) I didn't want to deal with risking my life 2) it is a nightmare trying to find a bike for a person of my height (did you know that the Dutch are among some of the tallest people in the world???! I'm only 5 feet, I'm a tiny person!) and finally, 3) no bikes means more time for photos.
I'm currently writing this post from Stockholm. It hit -1 degrees this morning and I can't leave the hostel without a layer of uniqlo heat tech and goose down vest. Looking back at all these photos is making me miss all the sunny days in Amsterdam.
Taken on a grassy slope opposite Stedelijk Museum in Museumplien. It was a great place to sketch in the sun, and obviously an even better place to take a nap with friends. I also distinctly remember the smell of weed wafting my way when I was there.
C'est la vie
Amsterdam's coffee scene (I'm talking about the normal kind!) is among one of my favorites. All the cafes I visited served great coffee and had a wonderful laid back atmosphere. Most places also served a delicious selection of pastries and cakes. I developed a mild obsession with banana bread in Amsterdam that has been carrying on throughout the rest of the trip. I have yet to find some here in Sweden, but I guess I can live with having a {
kanelbulle } every morning instead.
On another note, I'm really pleased with how the photos from this trip is turning out. I've been talking about starting a zine photo series for the past 6 months and I'm really looking forward to how it's all going to turn out in the end! I need to start messing about on inDesign again, I haven't touched it in months and I'm rusty.
Time to get to work.
