Where is Ross?

This blog is a record of my travels in Europe during the Summer of 2005. Countries visited include England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Vatican City, Monaco and Germany.

Friday, August 19, 2005

The Flying Pig Hostel

I stayed at the flying pig hostel in Amsterdam. It was recommended by my friend Mania. It was a good hostel, but nothing special.
+ Best shower of the entire trip. It was a normal American style shower with good water pressure and good water temperature.
+ Free internet
+ They were very serious about security. They were constantly changing door codes and locks in the place. I only stayed there two nights and I had two different door codes. They wrote the door code on the back of your key chain. When I first returned to the hostel I tried punching in the code (9659) and it didn't work. They had to buzz me in. I later discovered that the code was 6596 and on my keychain it looked more like 6S96 which upside down is 96S9 (9659) hence the confusion. Poor choice for a code.
-+ I was deceived by their clever marketing strategy. Backpackers in Europe often choose destinations based upon recommendations of other people they meet. There were several places I went or stayed after talking to people that I wasn't necessarily planning to go previously. I had been told that the Flying Pig Hostel was a famous hostel. Hearing this, I assumed that it had been around for a long time, which had given it a good reputation and fame. It turns out that some clever person decided to call a group of hostels in Europe "Famous Hostels" not because they had achieved fame, but just as a brand name. It is the same as knowing you are going to stay at the Holiday Inn or something like that. However if you are talking to someone and you say "I stayed at the Flying Pig in Amsterdam, it is a famous hostel" they will probably assume it is one of the best there is. Again, clever marketing, but I felt deceived when I found out the true meaning.
- Very cramped common areas. They had a bar downstairs but it was cramped and smoky. After the last two hostels I had stayed at which were great for hanging out at, this was a downside.
- Very bad bunk beds. The mattress was probably 4in wider than the frame which was weird to sleep on. I was on the lower bunk and there was probably only about 2ft of height between the lower and upper bunk. You couldn't even come close to sitting up. It was very odd.

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