Three Days in Amsterdam

For those of you who haven't read my last few blog posts, I have just got back from me 'olidays!

(RECAP: I spent 2 weeks having a ganders around Europe)

 I had an absolutely AMAZING time, which I can't wait to share on here through many, MANY photos ;)

I thought about doing one big post, but I decided it would be more fun to chunk it up into the different cities I visited. (Isn't "chunk" a lovely word? But I digress.)

So that brings me nicely to my first leg of the tour, which was AMSTERDAM!

We stayed in the Student Hotel which was essentially a very posh hostel. The city has a cracking transport system with loads of trams all over the place - our hotel was a bit further out but was about a 30 second walk from a tram stop. It was waaay cheaper than staying in the centre so if you're on a budget like we were then I'd definitely check this place or somewhere similar out. :)

Basically, Amsterdam is the BOOBIES. 

The main thing I'd wanted to do was go to the Anne Frank house (although if you do go I thoroughly recommend getting there EARLY as the sight of the queue nearly made me call for the smelling salts). It is definitely worth the wait though, as it's an amazing experience and beats any other museum I've been to hands-down.

The market scene in Am-dam is also amazing, especially the Bloemenmarkt (gigantic flower market which you can see in le photos). I don't think I've ever seen so many tulips in one place in my LIFE. 

Vondelpark is also the dogs dinner. It's a ginormous park in the centre of the city (think Central Park in New York, on a less grand scale). We took a picnic there and it was so lovely - at least until the sun disappeared to be replaced by rain 30 seconds later. But I'd say that's more the fault of the stratosphere than Amsterdam's itself, so we'll let that one slide.

But maybe my favourite thing we did was get an evening river cruise around the canals of Amsterdam. Everyone's always told me that it's a city that needs to be seen from the river, and I will definitely be passing on that wisdom to anyone and everyone. It was so beautiful, in fact, that I turned around halfway to inform my boyfriend to send me a card, for I would be moving to Amsterdam. That's a LOT coming from a confirmed proud Brit. ;)

TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR PART TWO: BONDING WITH BERLIN

I'M GOING TRAVELLING!

A week today, I shall be donning my (very sexy) enormous backpack and heading off to mainland Europe for a couple of weeks!

My boyfriend could only wangle 2 weeks off work so we have had to plan our trip with military precision in order to fit in as many sights as possible!

Our plan is as follows:

Fly into Amsterdam
Get the train to Berlin
Get the train to Prague
Get a train overnight to Krakow
Get the train to Vienna
Get the train to Budapest
Fly home

To seasoned backpackers I am sure this whole trip seems like a breeze, but a seasoned backpacker I am sadly not. To me, this is a whole new experience, which I am 1% nervous about but 99% fizzing over with giddy excitement!

I've never been to any of the countries I'm visiting before, so I have absolutely no idea what to expect from any of them - or the whole experience really. I should imagine the amount of time spent whooshing along on a train will be pretty exhausting, but luckily if there's one thing I'm talented at it is sleeping. :)

Overall, I'm super mega ridiculously bloody EXCITED. I've been working hard all summer pulling double shifts to fund my trip, and it's absolutely amazing feeling like I've really earned it!

If anyone is from/ has visited any of these places, or has interrailed around Europe before and has some tips, I'd be very grateful! :)