Amsterdam: The Cliff Notes Version

So because there's only one month left, let's give you the short'n'sweet version of my weekend in Amsterdam, complete with dot points! You're sure to pass the exam I'm going to give you when I get back.

• First, because Rachel piked out (tee hee! I keed! I keed!...but not really, dirty piker), it was just my friend Kate and I who went.
• We took the ICE train which was, shockingly, on time. I was only aout 3 hours and 19 Euros to get there. Deutsche Bahn comes through, but only when it's to go outside the country. Heaven forbid trains run on time within the country. I don't think I've conveyed my hatred of DB enough. That's a post on it's own. Suffice it to say that I have made it my mission to single-handedly dispel the myth of the punctuality and reliability of the German rail system.
• We stayed in the Leidseplein area, where most of the restaurants and going out area are.
• Friday night we got terribly lost wandering around trying to decide what it actually was that we wanted to eat for dinner. Ended up seeing a massive amount of the city before we decided on pizza, something you can get EVERYWHERE. Meanwhile, we also found ourselves on the other side of town to where we thought we were. In Kate I've found someone just as crap with direction as I am. Yay team!!
• Saturday we decided would be our shopping day. Went to the markets (meh), down the international shopping street, wandered through the flower market (tulips are my favourite flower. Obviously I was in flower heaven. Stupid customs not letting me smuggle in some awesome bulbs to Australia. GRRRR), then in the afternoon went through the 9 streets district. Guess why it's called that??? Go on! It's because there's 9 street with a bunch of shops on them. I bet you didn't guess that. It was quite cool there, but the Dutch have a weird style.
• The Dutch have a weird language too. It's really similar to German, but with English intonation? If that makes sense? It's like, if you're not paying attention it sounds like English because of the lilting tone and the vowel sounds, but it's actually really close to German.
• Met up for lunch on Saturday with a guy from Canada who I met in Rome. He's studying in Amsterdam, working on his masters or PhD or something. It's good to know someone local - he gave us a minitour and we learnt lots of interesting facts about the 'dam, like the reason there are hooks on all the buildings was so they could move furniture into the top apartments, plus other random info.
• Went and got some sangria at a Mexican restaurant. Here's a tip: find out how much it costs FIRST. Yeah. Half-way into our second pitcher we discovered they were 19 euros each. We could have travelled home and back for that money. Anyway, we asked for a deal because we're so lovely and they ended up giving us another half pitcher for free.

This then led to the most random night EVER.

First we were talking to one of the waiters who was around our age and found out he, his wife, and some friends were going out once the restaurant was closed. Then we chatted to one of the others and managed to get an invitation to join. Or so we thought.

Instead we were met by one of the older waiters who, alone, was apparently going to take us out. And he did. Kate and I kept wondering what was up, and more importantly, what was expected. But nothing was, he was just being really nice to some poor students and we ended up having a good night and some free drinks. BUT it was still the weirdest night ever.

Good times.

• Next day: museum day. Went to the Van Gogh museum which was fabulous. Took us awhile to find the entrance though. Dear Amsterdam: invest in signage.
• Ended the day with the Anne Frank museum. Very moving, but I kept imagining John Safran making out with that girl in the attic. Yep, I bought John Safran's Race Relations on iTunes.
• MondayL out of money and a whole day to kill. Wandered through Vogel Park. Nice, probably fabulous in summer. Absolutely horrible in the 0 degree weather.
• Explored the red light district. Felt a little awkward, especially because all the guides about Amsterdam say not to really look at the windows because it's really frowned upon. But then where do you look?? At the freaking canal? Also incredibly awkward seeing guys come out of rooms and see the curtains open back up, ready for business.
• Went into a ransome store and got given a free jewelery box for some reason. Being friendly or something? Who can say.

We eventually caught the ICE back home. And that, my friends, was my Amsterdam weekend.