Dear Friend,

Ljubljana is probably the prettiest European city that I can’t spell. Or pronounce. (Lubeeyana)

The mission was to make the most out of the 40 hours that Sam and I had and I think we both deserve pats on the back.

It’s always tough being time constrained on a trip and having to pick out what to do but the one thing we both agreed on was that we wanted to spend a day at Lake Bled.

We want to emphasize this, you cannot go to Ljubljana without going to Lake Bled. You cannot.

Just an hour away is the very picturesque town of Bled where I completely fell in love with the whole place. We were lucky to have gone when the weather was great, otherwise we would not have been able to do so much.

Top 5 Things You Must Do In Lake Bled

View from the top

There are two main viewing points for Lake Bled and we decided to go to the first one we saw. (Because at this point, we were both struggling with the heat!) It’s called Ojstrica. Climbing up can be tricky but you have to power through.

Because dammit, it’s breathtaking.

And worth it.

Check out the island

Just a short boat ride from the main land, you will be transported to a tiny island in the middle of the lake. There is a tiny church where you can pay your tributes or go up to see another angle of the whole place.

People also get married there and we were lucky enough to see one.

Alpine Coaster

I am shit scared of heights. But like everything else, Sam talked me into going on the ride and I’m glad that he did!

You ride a cable car up to the top and one by one they let people ride on the sleds. It was my first time to be on one and my heart was pounding when it was my turn to go. What a pussy. But it turned out to be really fun.

Sports

There are hundreds of things to do in Lake Bled: cycling, trekking, boating, kayaking, basically a lot of -ings. And if you’re adventurous or sporty, you will have a field day.

Eat

Whoever said calories don’t count on holidays is a genius. (Because it has now become one of my holiday mantras.)

Restaurants and cafes are spread out around the lake and deciding where to eat was a toughie.

Slovenia is known for sweet and decadent desserts and in Lake Bled they have a specialty cake called the Grmada. (Must try.) It’s made of a day-old cake with rum, custard, raisins and topped with cream and chocolate syrup. Yes, please.

Ljubljana

On our last hours back in the city, we went on a free walking tour. We learned a lot about their history, the Balkan war in the 90’s and the little gems around the city.

Metalkova is, by far, the hippest, quirkiest part of the city.

Where else will you find shoes hanging on power lines?

The city’s main architect was obsessed with bridges and built them all over the city. This particular one is called the Butcher man’s bridge. Ironically, it’s also a “love bridge”, much like the one in Paris, as people have been putting locks in it to profess their love with someone special.

I love going to local markets! A fun fact about the Ljubljana market is that their stuff is more expensive than the shops. (Which usually is the other way around.) Why? Because there’s not much land for locals to actually grow their produce.

To kill more time before our next trip, we hung out in the city centre, just soaking in all the buzzing noise from people, soaking in culture and soaking in that lovely feeling you get from a good holiday.

 

Wishing we had more time in this lovely place (and contemplating on coming back), 

Isabel (And Sam)

 

 

 

Dear Sam,
How you convinced me to take an 8 hour bus ride, I have no clue. 
I am writing to you as you are sat beside me, zoning out while we’re thrashing Throwback Thursday on Spotify. (How we have a headphone splitter, I also have no clue.) 
The teenagers at the back are doing my head in. 
Thought this may be the perfect time to write you a letter. About what you ask? 
The 6 stages of an 8 hour bus ride to Split
Denial – I still couldn’t believe that the bus came two hours late. How we made our whole schedule around the leaving time and Flixbus messages us half an hour before it leaves saying they’ll be late. Nice. 
Anger – I was angry at myself for listening to you that we were having a dinner stop and that I didn’t need to get snacks at that supermarket we passed going to the bus stop. 
Bargaining – I guess the thought that this, no matter how painfully uncomfortable it is, will be one for the books. Another thing with you. One we’ll look back on and hopefully laugh at when we’re on business class seats on a flight to another holiday. 
Depression – Depressed at the thought that we can’t carefully pick fellow passengers on bus. If I could, I’d pick nuns who have unlimited supply of snacks. Also the finalists of Love Island and pick their brains on what their real type on paper is. Really, these teenagers with raging hormones (who have just discovered alcohol) need to go. 
Acceptance – I have accepted that we have three more hours. And we’ll probably have to watch another movie/have another go at gin rummy or bitch about the German rap songs them measly kids are playing. 
I have also accepted the fact that the oily faced, blue eyed boy beside me is my favorite travel buddy. (That’s you, by the way.) (Yes, your face is oily.) 

Thinking “Are we there yet?”,

Isabel

Dear Danish People,

(Or do I say, Dear Danes?)

I am happy to announce that my partner’s birthday wish was to go to a Scandinavian city and Copenhagen won by a landslide. (of two.)

Getting to the city from the airport is easy and the fact that you guys only have one airport makes it extremely easier.

We booked ourselves an AirBnb because unfortunately, even the hostels were expensive. (How are you surviving on a 45% tax rate by the way?)

We stayed at Mille and Oli’s at Frederiksberg but they were away that weekend and left their flat to us to enjoy. They even left us a nice little letter that we thought was very sweet of them to do.

(Sam, you’ve been friend-zoned)

Anyway, on our three days there, I think we did well and ticked a lot of boxes. We made a list of favorites which includes:

 

Nyhavn

Every time I googled your city, a picture of this place would always come up. So obviously, we had to see this one. The atmosphere in the area is pretty cool- all the street music and food, buzzing from the crowds, and everyone just out and about enjoying the weather. Makes for a pretty nice walk along the canal too.

 

Tivoli Gardens

The fact that you have an amusement park in the middle of the city centre mindblows me! As you usually have to travel further out the city to ever find one, this was a treat! There were loads of things to do and we especially loved the gardens and carnival booths. (I won myself a donut keychain, because why not.)

 

Rosenborg Castle

We went to a total of two free walking tours and each time, the tour guide would recommend going to this place—so we did. Having hearing so much stories about Christian IV from said walking tours, we really appreciated it and we got so much insight about how your royals lived back in the day.

Papiroeen

We always have to go to some sort of food market anywhere we go and we have to say, yours was the busiest so far! To be fair, we did go on a really good day so it was just jam-packed with people. But the choices were amazing. And the food was amazing. And well, enough said.

 

 

Christiansborg Palace

Thank you for making your Parliament free for the public to go in and up to because otherwise we would not have seen your city in a better view.

 

Amalienborg

We thought it was cool that the Danish royal family all lived together in one complex. How easy it must be for the Prince to just knock on the Queen’s door when he runs out of eggs. Also, we heard about them hosting a foreign exchange student-can they host two other foreigners too? Cheers.

 

 

Little Mermaid Statue

You are allowed to slap Sam for not seeing the movie I’ve been gushing about since the age of 5. But I have to say, when I saw this iconic statue, it gave me the same feeling I had when I first saw the Big Ben—thought it would be bigger. Ha.

 

Lego Store

We, along with the other millions of people that played Lego growing up, thank you for enriching a young carpenter’s mind into making these toy building blocks. Sam and I insisted that we visited the flagship store in the city. Our favourite bit was the section where you can make your own Lego person to buy and bring home!

 

Torvehallerne

You didn’t think we’d only put in one food market in there, did you? We liked this one because it was less busy than the other one and some booths gave out free samples. (Hello, Danish cheese.) We also tried some authentic Danish pastries, which were delikat!

 

Langelinie Park

We, to everyone’s disappointment, did not rent a bicycle, so we had to stop every now and then, otherwise our blisters would be a joke. This park was our favourite pit stop in the whole trip because you get to see the view of the harbour, the Opera house, your beautiful blue-eyed Danish men. (Sorry Sam.) And who doesn’t like sitting in a beautiful park?

 

Overall, we really loved your city! Couple more boxes I wished we could have ticked but that only gives us good reason to come back.

Tusind Tak for an awesome weekend x

 

Missing your Danish pastries already, 

Isabel

 

 

 

Dear person reading this,

After speaking to a couple of locals (As I always ask the “What would you recommend to do?” question), I came up with the conclusion that: There is not much to do in Helsinki.

I’m just kidding. (Or am I?)

But if you do find yourself in this Scandinavian city, here are a couple things that you should check out.

Free Walking Tour

No contest, the free walking tour we did in Helsinki was the busiest one we’ve both ever been on. We must have been around 50 tourists following around this Chilean tour guide wearing a viking hat.

We walked around for a good two hours covering the most basic stops for visitors like us.

They have their own “London Eye” mini version, and if you look at the top, there’s one in a different color- it’s a sauna that friends can rent out for an hour for 220 euros. (No thanks. Ha.)

Kalewala is a famous folklore in Finland and is said to have inspired JRR Tolkien for his works of art. If you look at this statue, you can almost see Gandalf!

Rock Church

It’s basically a church inside a rock. After being inside so many churches, we all weren’t too sure about going to this one. (Even if it is number two on TripAdvisor). But because the tour guide highly recommended we went inside, we thought, why not? It didn’t disappoint though. This was Sam’s number two for the trip.

Fortress of Suomenlinna

For five euros and a fifteen minute ferry ride, you’ll get transported to this beautiful island.

This fortress is part of UNESCO’s World Heritage List. It’s divided into different parts but if you walk towards the end of a certain trail you’ll find yourself looking at this.

The picture doesn’t really do it justice (mostly because Sam took it) but it was nice just standing there in the freezing cold and just looking out.

Senate Square 

The Senate Square and its surroundings are very important in the city and make up the oldest part of central Helsinki. The cool thing about being there on that May holiday weekend was that everyone was hanging about in the square celebrating and getting pissed off their faces.

Traditionally, on May Day eve students and graduates of University of Helsinki would wear their graduation caps (which looks like sailor caps) and wear jumpsuits with different patches on it and just go crazy on the streets- Nordic style. So basically, everyone on that day looked like this..

Wild Card – Estonia

Tallin is only a two and a half hour ferry ride from Helsinki. And its definitely one to check out when you’ve ran out of things to do. But please don’t make the same mistake we did and arriving at the port 15 minutes before the ferry leaves because otherwise, they won’t let you in and you miss going to another country and end up going back to your AirBnb looking at this..

Looking forward to our next Scandinavian experience, 

Isabel

Dear Amigo,

I have successfully convinced Sam to spend the long Easter weekend with me in a warm place. (He suggested Oslo. Didn’t really understood the definition of warm, this one.)

We both decided Alicante would be the perfect destination and we loved it! We tallied down our Top 10 over the weekend and here they are!

(Please note they are not in order because if they were, food would definitely be up there. Ha. )

(1) Santa Barbara Castle

I would like to tell you that the climb up was incredibly tiring and well worth it but Sam and I took the lift and that was well worth €2.70.

The views from up above are amazing and this one is a definite must go when in the city.

The area is big and you can just easily wander up and down the steps and go in the little museums sporadically spread out. It’s free to go in too!

(2) Santa Cruz

If you want a taste of real old Spain, then you will love this cute little Barrio.

It’s a bit of a climb going up but you get to see views of the city plus the cute little homes and friendly locals.

And friendly canines.

(3) Mercado

Going to the market itself is an experience even if you’re not planning on buying anything. All the lined up stalls filled with meat, fish, bread and cheese- heaven.

You can get a platter for €5 with a bottle of beer and you’re set for lunch.

Make sure to eat it out in Plaza 25 de Mayo.

This plaza is set behind the Market and serves as a memorial for the victims from a bombing years ago. People usually come to the square mid afternoon for drinks and its especially packed on the weekends.

(4) Free Walking Tour

Although we’re not quite sure if we should recommend the tour we did but we do recommend going on a tour-any tour. It’ll give you highlights of the city (and you can just go back to your favourite ones after) and its remarkable history.

(5) Explanada

This famous promenade in the middle of restaurants and the port is pretty hard to miss. We loved walking along it as there are so much to do.

     (5.1) People watching. We especially loved the oldies just chilling on the benches.

     (5.2) Market stalls. So many bits and bobs lined up on the strip!

     (5.3) Ice cream. We suggest the Turron flavour.

     (5.4) Have your caricature drawn. Prepare to hold your smile for twenty minutes and have people passing by giving you thumbs up.

(6) Beach

Why not.

(7) Turron

Turron is a traditional Christmas treat in Spain but because it’s known to be from Alicante, here it’s sold all year round. Our tour stopped in a Turron store called Espi and we are fans. (They also do liquor. Think Baileys but better.)

(8) Paella

Paella is another thing Alicante is known for and you’ll see so many restaurants serving this classic Spanish dish! Surprisingly even after travelling around Spain, Sam’s never tried it. Ha ha. So we spent one meal just devouring on one and it was good.

(9) Drink

Why not.

There is no shortage of cocktail bars or just bars in general. I know they say in London there’s a pub in every corner. But in Alicante? There’s probably 3 on every street.

(10) Tapas

No trip to Spain would be complete without having some tapas. And let me tell you, the tapas bar we went to was awesome.

The place is called D’Tablas. You basically get a table and they ask you what drinks you want. After, every minute or so, waiters come out with platters filled with wooden blocks with tapas on it. You get which ones you want and then wait for another serving. They are all different so you can try as much as you want. After stuffing your bellies with it, they just count how many wooden blocks you have and pay for the bill. (Each cost less than a euro!)

Wild Card (11)

One thing Sam and I regret not making time for was going to Valencia. There are 11 trains that go to and from the city from Alicante everyday and it would have made a great day trip if we did not think of it sooner than on the bus going home. Bollocks.

Hoping you’ll try some of these things if you visit the city, 

Sam and Isabel (Still, mostly Isabel.)

Dear Reader,

Almost always, in any European country you’ll go to visit, you will go to a museum. (Or a church.) And that’s what Sam and I first did on our last full day in Budapest. (Which also turned out to be the most eventful one.)

As we were pressed with time, we had to pick just one and I made Sam choose and he went for the House of Terror.

No, it’s not a scary museum. (Well it is, in some ways.) but it doesn’t involve zombies or anything.

It’s actually a museum filled with exhibits from the fascist and communist regimes in Hungary during the 20th century. A lot of World War stuff and if you are into those things, you’ll definitely want to visit.

We both suggest to get the audio guide as it saves a lot of time. But if you would rather read from a sheet of paper provided in every room, that’s alright too. (But really, audio guide.)

After the museum, it was finally time to check out the Baths.

There are about 7 in Budapest and we thought if we were only going to try one we would go to the biggest and most popular one-  The Széchenyi Baths.

So what really happens: You get in, you get a locker, you change and then you head out where the fun begins. (Our favorite was the outside bath.)

The layout inside is there are a bunch of indoor pools with different temperatures and even saunas sporadically set out. It can smell a bit weird and it can get a bit weird. People watching can be a treat or it cannot be. Main point is- it’s an experience. And one that you have to do when you’re in Budapest. No questions asked.

We went back to the hotel to have a proper bath- just to clean all the stuff out and then we were set to head out again.

Sam’s been in Budapest a couple of years back (eight to be exact) but apparently he was too drunk to remember anything. The one thing he did remember was going up to the Citadel and he insisted that we did that to see the sunset. So we did.

The climb up wasn’t as bad as I expected. We stopped at different points just to take in the different views.

And finally getting to the top.

It was like a fat kid seeing a rainbow cake for the first time. (Okay, not that intense but you know what I mean.)

Going down, I decided that we should stop at the shoes by the Danube river.

The shoes are like a shrine or a memorial of all the men killed by the fascists during World War II.

We got hungry. And because it was our last night- we thought a proper Hungarian restaurant was the way to go.

Hungarikum Bisztro was just near the parliament and it was highly recommended on TripAdvisor (#10) so that decision was a no brainer.

Our life decision skills did not fail us as that dinner was pretty awesome.

(Can we take a moment to laugh at the fact that Sam put a paper towel over him as a bib. Ha.)

Langos is a fried bread or sometimes even called the Hungarian pizza. It’s a delicacy worth trying. Especially if you love cheese. And fried oily goodness. Mmmm, cheese.

Another thing we found interesting in Budapest was that it has a lot of Thai massage parlors. (Why??) So to end our night, we went for that and we both loved it.

To conclude: Budapest is pretty.

To remind: Do not say thank you when you give payments because they won’t give you your change back.

To emphasize: Sam and I both survived our first trip together x

Thanks for reading,

Sam and Isabel (But mostly, Isabel)

To Whom It May Concern,

If you are reading this, you have successfully made my day by adding traffic to my blog.

In other news, the boy I’ve been writing letters to has finally agreed to go on a trip with me. And we decided Budapest was the place to go. We later on realized that going on Winter wasn’t such a smart idea but we pulled through anyway.

Budapest is such a picturesque city. Sadly, we didn’t see much of it as it was foggy as hell. Ha ha. For the first night that is. But luckily, the rest of the days were pretty amazing even if we were freezing our tits off.

We stayed over at Eurostar Budapest Hotel, which we can’t recommend enough as the location is perfect and the place itself was just really good. Rooms perfect and the breakfast was just (insert thumbs up emoji.)

We arrived quite late during the day and once we were done settling in the hotel, it was just the right time to scout for dinner.

So many to choose from! But we found a cute little restaurant in Kertesz Utca called M. Restaurant. The feel of the place was really nice- homey, quirky and chilled out. The walls were drawn on and the tables were covered in brown paper with a cup of colored pencils so you can scribble on them.

Sam and I give the food 4.5 stars. (And I tell you, he’s not easy to please.)

Surprisingly enough, it was only rated #43 on TripAdvisor so it sort of gave us high hopes for the rest of the gastronomical part of our trip.

We ended our day with a couple of drinks in a pub before we retired and mustered up energy for our first real day.

Two alarm snoozes and two big portions of breakfast later, Sam and I are out and geared up (more me, really.) for our first agenda: Free walking tour of Budapest. The thing about these free walking tours is that, most of the time it’s given by a local so it’s really authentic and you get to see a lot in a couple of hours. We really liked our tour guide! (but we can’t really remember his name now.)  He gave us a lot of insider tips and his jokes were spot on.

Fun fact: Budapest is divided in two parts. The Buda side and the Pest side. Tour Guide X took us around the Pest side first. Pest side, I think is the more modern part of the city. More commerce- hotels, bars, etc. You still have all the historical stuff of course, but it’s definitely the hipper side of the city.

After an hour and a half we crossed the Chain Bridge and toured the Buda side of the city. I fell in love with the Buda side especially the Castle District, which just felt like being in a fairytale or something. (No matter how cliche that sounds.)

The Fisherman’s Bastion is a must to check out to get an awesome view of the Pest side of the city and its cool castle fortress things are definitely picture worthy.

All the walking tired us out so we crashed in the hotel for awhile before we headed out again.

Because it was less cloudy and foggy, we were excited to see Budapest at night.

For good reason.

One thing you must absolutely try in Budapest is going to a ruin bar. Our tour guide told us that the idea came from two guys who were bored and decided to open a bar but didn’t have any money. So they found this rundown building and chucked in a lot of unwanted furniture and voila! Now you can easily find ruin bars all over the city centre.

I would have loved to take a picture of the inside but Sam said I might look like a loser. So I took a picture off the internet to show you what it looks like.

Hoping you’ll read more about our trip to Budapest,

Sam and Isabel

Note: Sam edited this picture because he thinks he looks better in black and white.

Dear Sam,

One of the best things about Europe is the gorgeous little cities that you can wander around in even for just a day. Brugge is definitely one of those cities.

My ultimate top tip about Brugge is: Do not go on a Sunday.

If you’re just looking at exploring for a day, a lot of things are closed on a Sunday so you may end up sad, like me. Ha ha.

But nah, there’s still a lot of shops open. Not to mention the chocolatiers! Along the tiny streets of this beautiful medieval town are cute little chocolate shops bursting for tourists to come in.

So I went in.

To probably 4 or 5.

And bought all the pralines I could get my greedy little hands on.

Catching a break from eating, it was time to explore the city centre.

Fun fact: It’s only a hectare so it’s pretty small.

You’ll see the belfry which is probably the tallest building in all of Brugge so it’s a great meeting point if you break up in groups or anything. Just across the Belfry is the town hall and lined up restaurants that are an array of different delicacies.

Similar to Amsterdam, Brugge also has pretty canals.

And some museums worth going to like the Frittes Museum, Gruuthuse Museum and this one I thought you’d like-

The Beer Museum.

I did a bit more walking before a bit more eating.

This here is the Lover’s Lake, which is meant to bring good luck to lovers who visit it. But my lover was nowhere to be found.. again. Lol

Okay, top two things that you have to eat in Brugge:

Hands down, best waffle I’ve ever had in my life.

Hands down, best fries I’ve ever had in my life.

I don’t know? There is something about their fries and their mayonnaise that tastes different!

I probably gained three kilos in one day with the amount of food I ate. But all worth it.

Still hoping you’d come exploring with me,

Isabel

Dear Sam,

There is no better way to start your second day in Amsterdam than by waking up 30 minutes before call time. Thanks to my amazing shower skills, fortunately made it to breakfast. Which I Inhaled just in time to make it to the bus.

After a forty five minute drive, we arrived at Zaanse Schans- a well preserved historical site in the Netherlands. So pretty and I felt like I was transported back in time.

It’s like a little town with little houses and little factories.

We first went into this wooden clogs factory where some guys showed us how they made them.

Do people still wear wooden clogs, you ask? Yes, apparently they do.

We then went to my favorite part of the place- the cheese making factory! (Yes, I died.) Best part of the place was that it had free flowing testers.

Our guide gave us time to wander around and go into the other shops.

We drove back into the city just before lunch to get on a boat for our canal cruise.

After the cruise, we all went to our little groups to do our own thing. I went with Nunthinee, Cassie and Kaitlyn and we knew exactly where to go first- Heineken Experience.

The museum is set in one of their old factories and the entrance fee included two free drinks and lots of good fun. We learned how their beer was made, saw a couple of their machines and went to the top to see an awesome view of Amsterdam.

We got hungry so we decided to grab something to eat. We saw a restaurant nearby and just went for it.

We also ordered more of those Poffertjes.

Next on our list was the iconic Amsterdam sign in the Museum square. I think no one leaves Amsterdam without a picture of it.

Anne Frank was next. Piece of advice: book a ticket online. If you don’t, you spend a lot of time queuing outside in -2 weather. Enough said.

I’ve read the book and going through all the rooms and memorabilia just gave me a strong surge of mixed emotions. Sad mostly, but I think it’s something you have to see especially if you’re into WWII and stuff.

We got hungry again. (There’s something about being in an unfamiliar place and your stomach just wants attention all the time.) And the two American girls wanted the one thing I never thought I’d eat on this trip- Chinese. Naturally, Nunthinee and I, being Asians, were game for it. Hesitant, but game. (Cassie and Kaitlyn, if you’re reading this, I still think you guys are half Asians too. Haha)

We ended our day in Sea Palace which is apparently the second largest floating Chinese restaurant in the world.

They also had, in my opinion, the best crispy duck ever.. in Europe.

Also, I failed to mention that it was Nunthinee’s birthday and I have been telling everyone all day and this is the third surprise + crappy happy birthday singing she got.

Amsterdam was fun. 

So much more I wanted to do and see but only gives me more reason to go back. Maybe you won’t shun me next time and actually come with.

Still wishing you had come with me,

Isabel

Dear Sam,

After you have brutally declined my request for your company to go to Amsterdam, I decided to go by myself-but with a tour group. (#yolo)

I booked the weekend tour with this company called International Friends who do a lot of day/weekend tours from London.

Friday started out by waking up painfully early to meet the coach at my meeting point. It came late and I was freaking out but luckily met three other girls who could freak out with me.

We drove to Dover and rode a ferry that went all the way to Calais (That’s in France, if you didn’t know. Ha ha)

We got on the road again and made our way to Amsterdam. Can I just say that I did not mentally prepare myself for all the hours sitting down? As I’m so used to standing up all day at work, sitting down for 5/6 hours straight was a bitch.

But I made a cool new friend with an equally cool name (Nunthinee) who is equally as chatty as I am so we both talked  the whole bus ride. (I now know her hopes and dreams in life. Shall share to you when I get home.)

First thing we did when we got there was check in the hotel. Thanks to the 30 something Argentenian kids on a school trip with us, we all got upgraded to a very nice hotel. (Nice, as in, more than what I expected for what I paid for.)

After freshening up, we headed out to the Red Light District.

Fun Fact: They used the red lights because it was easier for sailors back then who were docking to spot.

Fun Fact #2: You can’t use cameras at all because the families of the girls have no idea why they disappear from home months at a time.

After our guided tour, my new friends and I strolled around the streets. Amsterdam was celebrating the Lights Festival so it looked absolutely amazing at night.

We’ve been walking for over an hour when we decided that we have had enough “fresh air” and needed to go inside something and because it is Amsterdam after all, we thought “Hey, what the hell, let’s watch a sex show.”

Can I please point out that they didn’t even  ID me before entering?

I took some notes, don’t worry. Ha ha. But there was really a variety of shit going down there. Obviously I couldn’t take pictures so I’ll paint a picture for you- it’s basically like a theatre where there’s a revolving stage and everyone’s seated with their complimentary drink gawking at the 5 minute sessions per “star/stars.” (Should we call them stars?)

After we’ve reached our quota for the number of punanis we could see in one night, we went out and did what tourists do best-eat.

We first went to a pastry shop where they sold classic Poffertjes which is a traditional Dutch batter treat. And boy, was it a treat.

(But really, they’re just tiny pancakes smothered in chocolate.)

Naturally, we had to go for some more food so we decided to try Febo. Febo’s all over Amsterdam and it’s a walk-up fast food restaurant. It’s basically just a bunch of vending machines with hot food and a counter if you want some fresh chips.

At the end of our greasy experience, we decided we have had enough exploring and needed to get back to the hotel.

Walking back, I decided to sum Amsterdam in three words after spending half a day there- sex, drugs and (not rock and roll) bikes. There are far too many bikes chained up in their streets, it’s hard to miss them!

Fun Fact #3: People are crazy in Amsterdam. But fun-crazy, you know?

P.S. Yes, those are hand-shaped condoms.

Hoping you’ll still hear about my second day,

Isabel