46 Hours of Amsterdam

Personally, I have wanted to go to Amsterdam for a really long time, and I was unable to find anyone willing to go. So I had to wait until the end of the program when some people agreed to come only if we don't book a hostel, seeing as it was 50 euro per night. At the end of my summer program, we were all packed to go back to America and one last trip in Europe.

Four of us went Friday morning while another is meeting us later that night. Knowing that lodging wasn't available to us, we all decided to sleep on the 3 hour train ride to Amsterdam. Great idea right? Right? NoOoOo, there were some German jackasses yelling the entire fucking time. They never even took a breather from yelling. I didn't want to start anything on the train, since I am a foreigner and don't speak the language, I just sucked it up. But serious, what a bitch.

The moment we got off the train, we witnessed why Amsterdam is one of the greatest cities on earth, through a mini-tour guide we bought from the gift shop at the train station. Did you really think we saw the whole city right after the train ride? Idiot. Like most tourist, the first site we visited was the fries shop, and it was delicious. Then we visited Amsterdam's world class coffee shop, and we bought the best coffee in the world. I swore I had a caffeine rush, but afterward, my limbs were controlling me. My arms were rising involuntarily, and my torso would twist one direction until someone stopped me. 

As tourist, we had to tour the city, but after an hour of walking around, we were all exhausted. Therefore, as clear thinking college students, the four of us crammed into a circular bench and took a nap there. Of course we were good enough to not bring anything valuable. I can't remember how long we slept, but that nap rejuvenated everyone. We were all excited and wanted to do things.

And of course, we visited the Red Light District. It was cleaner that I expected. And I felt sad for all those women. They just stand in a tiny room with a glass window in a bikini, trying to look sexy so guys would buy them. To my surprise, they were all very attractive. Although there was no guarantee that they were women their entire lives. From what I heard, they get gradually hotter as you walk toward the center. However, the hottest ones are on the outside, they are also half man.

I was still on my caffeine rush and I bought a cheeseburger off the street. Then we tried a special type of Amsterdam nut, I forgot what it was called, but it had the horrible after taste. The taste is so bad that this happened after I ate some of it: I walked toward the bathroom and just couldn't hold it in anymore, so I ran to the closest trash can and throw up in it. 2 more steps later, I realized more is coming and I ran to another trash can and threw up in it. I finally made it to the bathroom gate where we pay, but more came up, and I rushed in without paying. The guard stopped him and asked me to pay, I just pointed at my mouth then the toilet and I assumed he understood what I meant. If you are counting, this is the 3rd time. I'm sure the cheeseburger I bought before had something to do with me upset stomach.

Then came the bad news, one of us apparently had to wait for her friend at a tower in Amsterdam, so for the next 10 hours, we walked around that tower and did nothing else. So let's fast forward to 3AM.

No one is really to go to bed yet, and we heard about a club called Paradigo, and it was on the tourist map. So we all agreed to check it out. We got to the door and realized that the cover charge is 16 euros, since no one is willing to pay if the club is bad, we decided to send me in to check it out. And I wasn't lying when I say this club is one of the best I have ever been too. It have several small dance floors, and a huge one with lasers shooting out everywhere, a DJ in the center, and a second floor where you can look down at the hundreds of people dancing at the bottom.

I am a little pissed about the sign on the club. I saw the sign say "24 Hours". So I assumed it opens, well, 24 hours. Then, at around 4:30, I heard announcements about last call for beer; of course, as a semi-alcoholic, my first reaction was to buy beer as I possibly can. I remember complaining that the club is closing and how it doesn't open 24 hours. We got outside and I took a closer look at the sign, it said "24 Hour to 5 Hour". Damn Europeans, you got us again.

Now we are actually tired, and someone suggested a place we can sleep in. It turned out to be an area between two buildings that had a roof. Perfect, because it was raining that night. I got comfortable and went to sleep.
...
Suddenly, someone woke me up and told me we had to leave. I didn't ask at the moment, and I just went with them. Apparently, an off duty cop came over and told us we need to leave or his partner will come and fine us 100 euros. I don't know if we are lucky or not, but as long as we are not fined, we are good to go. So we headed to the one place we know we can take a nap: the train station. Too bad the weather wasn't on our side, and it was freezing that morning, we all just got 2 hours of sleep.

On Saturday, we all decided to just stay sober the entire day so we can enjoy Amsterdam. So this day, we went and saw the IAmsterdam sign twice in two different locations, went into some shops, sneaked into a science museum, and overall had a relaxing day.

We went our separate ways at 8PM, thus ending our 46 crazy hours in Amsterdam.