Vibe of the city: happy, unique, goofy
Time to stay: 1 week (or forever if you can)
Wow! I honestly love Amsterdam so much! The people seem so at ease with life and It is a very liberal spiritual place. Everyone is very open minded and accepting of anyone.
Things to note
Amsterdam is mainly Dutch people so a lot of the people are very tall and blond. Another thing to consider is prostitution, weed, and psychedelics such as truffles are legal despite this everyone seems incredibly responsible and people seem to keep a good balance of life in Amsterdam. It really is the happiest and most open minded place I’ve been to so far and that’s why it is my favorite place so far.
NDSM
Right from Amsterdam Central you can take a free ferry that will take you to NDSM and it takes about 5-10 mins to get there and the Ferry comes constantly I honestly felt like I never had to wait for one. NDSM is a hip urban area with lots of cool graffiti and hip restaurants to check out. Not to mention the interesting places you can stay at like the Crane hotel oh and you can also bungee jump from it, if you decide to. The area also has lots of special events such a music festivals, flea markets, and movie nights. Its a great place to check out and Its not too crowded so it’s nice getting away from all the people in the main area.
Van Gogh Museum
This may be one of my favorite museum trips that I have gone on so far. I really liked that it focused on one artist throughout, and I felt like I really got to see Van Gogh’s life and how it affected his art. I have to say I am a HUGE Van Gogh fan, I really love his brush strokes and his bright use of color. I felt like I got pulled into every single painting diving into each brush stroke and seeing the lines up close then pulling back to see the full picture that he created. I don’t know how he did it but he made each scene look so serene and stylized.
I need to also mention the sensory room where each room you get the senses that Van Gogh was feeling throughout his life. I thought it was so creative because I truly felt like I was living and seeing the things that Van Gogh felt.
Red light district
I mean you honestly can’t go to Amsterdam without going to the Red Light District at least once. Walking through the red light district you can’t take any photos. You basically see women in windows with red lights above them in their underwear standing or sitting, and they kind of look bored or like their busy looking at their phone. It was an interesting experience but one to definitely check out and experience once.
Adam lookout
One of the most unforgettable experiences I have had so far, A’dam lookout is where you go on the top of one of the buildings and there are these 2 electric swings that basically swing you back and fourth for about 2 mins. It was seriously such a magical feeling I honestly felt like I was on top of the world and flying for a second. I will admit it was really scary because you are so high up and you look down and don’t see anything right under you but it is one of the things that you can’t really forget because you just feel so much.
Canal tour
The canal tour is so worth it, you basically just go down the canals throughout the city, it is so fun to see all the little boat houses right on the canals.
Mocco Museum
I personally really liked the Mocco museum because it had more urban graffiti artists such Banksy, icy & slot, Koons and Warhol. They also had a 3D installation room where you walk into a room in the style of Lichtenstein (which is the bright comic book style with bold colors and lines throughout). The museum is not that big but I kind of like that, your not overwhelmed by all of the art and you can engage in each and every one. Each piece had a strong statement about freedom and freedom of expression.
Psychedelic Shops
I checked out multiple psychedelic shops (there were many) and these 2 stood out the most to me.
Kokopelli Kokopelli was very informal and the staff really knew their stuff and loved to talk about it, they sold lots of other interesting things such as Brazilian herbs to help with lucid dreaming. Or seeds that you can grow and eat for different types of needs. They even had an area where you can sit and take your shrooms if you decide to buy it from them.
Alien VisitorsAlien Visitors s a fun small raver type of shop, with techno music playing and neon fluorescent items throughout the store. I ended up buying a really cute black shirt with some green neon print designs down the middle. It wasn’t too crazy with the designs like how some raver shirts can get a little tacky when its overplayed and I really love the pattern on it.