Amsterdam: The land of illicit behavior, canals, and...bad ribs?

So a few days ago I went to Amsterdam for a night with a few friends. The trip was kind of on a whim, but seeing as its close to Lille, why not?

First off the train ride there was absolutely horrible. Some advice: Don't take four-hour train rides when you are deathly hung over. It makes the trip seem twice as long. Despite all four of us having awful hang overs, we made it to Amsterdam without too much trouble. Other than nearly missing our connecting train...

Any one who has been to Amsterdam knows that place is packed to the brim with people, and can be kind of overwhelming. There are bike lanes between the sidewalk and street (everyone...and I mean everyone rides a bike there). I even saw a bicycle traffic-jam. True story. I used to think crossing streets in foreign cities could be tricky at times, but Amsterdam takes the cake so far. Not only do you have to maneuver around cars, but immediately after wards, deal with dozens of cyclists coming right at you.

Its kind of a shock to your system. Especially after heavily medicating at one of the various coffee shops around the city. The first few hours of being Amsterdam were almost terrifying. Buskers everywhere asking for money, the sweet aroma of various controlled substances pouring out of shop entrances, signs that print a language that is more confusing than anything I have ever seen, Italians trying to coax you into their shitty eateries. By the way, it turns out that in the more tourist-centric part of town, all that is offered in terms of food are Argentinian steakhouses, (who happen to all serve the 'best all-you-can-eat ribs in town'!) and Italian pasta bars. You know something is awry when every steak house has the word 'rancho' somewhere in its title, and literally every one of those 'rancho's' serve the best ribs in town. No joke, there were about four of them all within a one block radius of one another. As it turns out, these ribs are terrible. Surprised? I wasn't. I guess in my altered state of mind I simply could not resist the call of 'all you can eat' ribs for under thirteen euro. Needless to say I did not get a second round. Lesson learned.

Aside from the tourist-centric parts of the city, its actually quite a beautiful place. I have never wanted to own a boat more than at that moment. The idea of cruising down a canal in a small motor boat to get to where you need to be made me want to throw my Canadian passport in the trash. Probably would have regretted that one.

All in all I truly enjoyed my time in Amsterdam. If I can suggest one thing, visit the torture museum. It will make you extremely thankful that you do not live in the Middle Ages. Not the most cultured place to visit, but we were short on time. And we got a discount from some nut handing out cards for the museum. The Van Goh museum will have to wait for another trip.