Amsterdam

Arriving in Amsterdam I took the tram to my hostel and dropped off my bag. The hostel had a bunch of free magazines for travelers in Amsterdam which were actually very helpful. The one that I picked up had a map of the city, advice on things to see and do, restaurant recommendations and most importantly an explanation of a lot of the cultural oddities on Amsterdam. It was really informative. It had things like where the best coffeshops and smart shops are and how to negotiate with prostitutes in the red light district. I was happy to find out that everyone in Amsterdam speaks English. Everyone! You don't even have to ask, you just start speaking to them in English. The guide said the only two Dutch words you need to know are for push and pull so you don't look stupid opening doors. This was good because I don't know a word of Dutch even after spending a few days in Amsterdam.

I headed out to wander around the city a bit. I really liked Amsterdam a lot. I thought it was a very beautiful city with all of the canals and narrow streets. Despite being such a tourist destination, it still felt like a very authentic city. I got the sense that most of the people around me were people who lived in Amsterdam just going about their daily lives. I went to a restaurant called Local for dinner which was recommended by the magazine I had. It was a pretty trendy place. The restaurant is in a tiny little storefront (maybe 15ft wide) but it goes maybe 80 ft deep into the building. There are two long wooden communal tables running down the middle which seat maybe 30 people each. The food is served on skewers and you get to choose different meats and fish that you want. I think I had beef on one skewer and a variety of fish on the other. It was really good and pretty cheap too. The menu was in English, there was no Dutch menu available, even though it seemed like all of the people there were Dutch. One of the magazines I read said that the Dutch really like to go out to dinner and spend hours enjoying their meal. When I arrived for dinner around 7:30pm I was warned that the entire restaurant was reserved for a private party beginning at 10pm and that hopefully that wouldn't be a problem. I laughed at the ample warning time. I guess for some Dutch, that would be a problem.