One of my goals for 2018 was to travel more. There are so many awesome places in Europe that are a short plane ride away, and I want to see them all. I utterly loved my trip to Edinburgh last year, and when my friend suggested we go to Amsterdam, I was 100% up for it.

DAY 1

I set my alarm for 4AM, and we headed to the airport. I’ll preface this post by saying that I am a VERY nervous flyer. However, having talked to my GP she prescribed me some diazepam, which helped so much–I took two just as we left home and my flying experience was the best I’ve ever had. We had breakfast, then hopped on the plane. The flight took about 45 minutes, and then we took the train into Amsterdam, leaving our luggage at the hotel.

Then, we explored.

The canals, and the houses and ALL THE BIKES were so so pretty, and it was so much fun just to explore the city, taking in the sights.

We ate some good food, wandered about and then we had a nap (Coz, ya know, I’m a granny). I got very over excited about a bookshop, and then we explored some more!

DAY 2

For our first (and only) full day in the city, we had plans. We headed to the Rijksmuseum, a HUGE building which housed fascinating historical artefacts and artworks.

A tip for this museum is to buy e-tickets before you go! That way, you’ll skip the queue! There was some great stuff to see here–my favourite was the Van Gogh picture. The texture of the painting was gorgeous.

There was also loads of other cool exhibits and items. Take this mirror for example, which the two ladies beside me decided it would’ve been an absolute pain to clean.

ALSO, because I can always sniff out a library, I found this beauty:

The Rijksmuseum Research Library is one of the main art history libraries in the world. When I come back to Amsterdam, I am definitely going to delve more deeply into this treasure.

After the museum, we headed to the I Amsterdam sign, which was about a minute walk away. Obvs I got a photo of me reading in the ‘D’, because reading is kind of my thing.

Then we headed over to the Anne Frank House, which, to be honest, is the main reason why I was so excited about coming to Amsterdam in the first place. I read The Diary of a Young Girl when I was a kid, and it has had the most profound impact on my life. To visit the place where she lived was an experience like no other. No photos were allowed to be taken in the house, which is good IMO–it allows you to really appreciate the scope and sheer tragedy of the people in the secret annex. I picked up a copy of The Diary of a Young Girl, and a empty diary and I will treasure both forever.

DAY 3

It went far too fast, but our last day in Amsterdam was upon us. We walked around the beautiful city some more, got some AMAZING pancakes, and then headed for the airport.

Basically, this entire blogpost is basically a advert for Amsterdam. It’s a beautiful city, with great museums and impressive sightseeing opportunities. I’m so glad I got the chance to visit, and I will definitely be going back.

What country are you planning to visit next?