If I was a Duck, I would live here.

Day two in Amsterdam... Rise and shine! Or, in our case, sleep in and curse the church bells. While Taylor slept like an actual rock (that is some next level talent) Shaunessa and I were woken up every half an hpur by the beautiful church bells. I mean I think they could have been beautiful IF WE WERENT TRYING TO SLEEP.

Oh well, we had to get up sometime, so at around 1030 we got dressed and ready, made ourselves pb&banana sandwiches for lunch and headed out on our next adventure!

First stop: souvenir shopping! We scoured shops high and low to find souvenirs for all of our friends at home. Or just ourselves, you won't know until we are home!! So we ambled around the city getting lost and swttled ourselves into a cute park for some tasty lunch. As we were eating, however, aome people decided to feed the pigeons right beaide us and let me tell you... Those birds are much more agressive out here in amsterdam. So we quickly finished up and realized it was getting close to our bike tour of Amsterdam!

We found our way to the bike shop (eventually...) and got fitted with a bright red bike and given a rundown of how biking works here. Let me tell you, biking is THE way to get around Amstersam. Honestly, its like everyone stays out of your way and the lights always give favour to the bikers. And it helps that these bikes are absolutely magical in that with only three gears, they feel like you are doing absolutely nothing at all but gliding across the streets!

Our guide, Sylvia, proceeded to take us to several places in Amsterdam and tell us about why the city is so beautiful and lively. She told us how the entire city used to be a port for launching ships and one day, they decided to build ARTIFICIAL LAND and create canals throughout the city to encourage growth ans trade! We biked through central station and a few of the nicer neighborhoods and Syliva told us why Amsterdam is associated with the three red X's (as youve probably seen in many of my posts).

The red Xs originally belonged to a prestigious family that settled in Amsterdam prior to the artificial land building days. Amsterdam decided to adopt it as their own to represent the three huge problems they have had to overcome as a nation: Floods, Fires, and the Black Plague.

Next, we biked over to the largest park in Amsterdam where we found out it was once part of the hippie trail in the 1970s, and many people used to camp here to avoid paying for hostels. The government made this illegal in the late 70s and now, that area is one of the most expensive to stay in.

After, we biked through the museum district and near the red I AMSTERDAM sign the city errcted in 2004. The sign is supposed to represent the multicultural nature of Amsterdam and how the city is abput more that just drugs, sex, and windmills - it's about leaving a bit of you here and taking a bit of the culture back!

Next up, skinny bridge! This is a small bridge (that used to be smaller) close to the locks in the canal system where boats come through and the city regulates the flow of the water. It is a drawbridge to let tall ships through, and is a famous landmark in the city today.

Last stop: one of the oldest working windmills left in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, you are allowed to actually live in a windmill if you take a year long course on how to manage it and provide proper maintenance! This one had a small brewery attached to it, and we each had a glass of amazing beer for only 2.5 euro! Fortunately for us, we didn't even have to actually pay for the beer as we ran into a bit of luck and found 10 euro a little while earlier. Score!

Afterwards we cycled back to the buke shop to drop off our bikes, and headed back to our hostel to get ready for the rest of the evening. We decided we wanted to check out the red light district tonight, so we bundled up (it was getting quite chilly!) and went out in search of food.

Shaunessa had recommended an asian atir fry place she tried last time she was here called wok to walk, and LET ME TELL YOU it was so so good! Honeslty the ingredients and sauces were so flavorful, it might have been one of the best stir fry I have ever had in my life!

After we finished eating we set out to explore the (in)famous red light district! We walked along the main strip and quite a few of the side streets, and honestly I don't have that much to report. It was so much more tame than I expected it to be: the girls were all covered up, most of them texting and seemed bored. Maybebit was a slow night, I don't know for sure... But there definitely wasn't as much scandal as I thought there was going to be!

We strolled for a few hours anyway, sitting by the canal to take in thebsights and sounds before heading back to get a good nights rest, again.

Tomorrow ia our last full day - talk to you then!Read more