Day 1- Amsterdam

After an extremely long day of travel (12 hours flying and 11 total hours of layovers) I have finally arrived in Amsterdam!! And I must say, it's pretty exciting. Once I walked for ages and ages through the absolutely massive airport, (think huge mall, but also with airplanes and terminals and trains) I finally got my luggage and decided to just walk around and see what was in the airport. If huge mall isn't description enough, consider that there is a Victorias secret store opening there... Continuing on, I've had enough of airports and decided not to stick around there so I found a bus and hopped on. Only having the word "leidseplein" to tell me when to get off. I started calling it Led Zepplin, I thought it seemed easier to remember. I've gathered that it is something more than just the bus stop but I have yet to find out what it is, I do know that it isn't a rock band though. On top of that, I was distracted watching the city and trying to figure out how the crazy roads work. I didn't figure them out. Good thing I don't drive ...
Next I found myself quite lost looking for my hostel on foot and carrying 70 total pounds of luggage. Sounds fun, right?? It wasn't. But in the end I did find it, thanks mostly to a nice dutch man. I am placed in a dorm style room with 20 beds, 4 showers and 2 toilets. It's not so bad surprisingly.
After getting myself checked in and putting away my luggage I went to wander the area of the city where my hostel is. Vondel park. It's a lush green space brimming with people. Biking, running, playing, tanning and just generally enjoying the beautiful day. Across a crazy road and over a bridge/canal you find yourself in a shopping and eating area. Or you should find yourself there if you haven't been run over by the crazy bikers. Restaurants with every kind of food, McDonalds, pizza, sushi... And shops with trinkets, clothing, and general touristy stuff.


Observation about Amsterdam:
-everyone rides a bike
-buses are everywhere
-don't be surprised, it frequently smells like weed
-canals are dirty
-wifi is failing me
-mopeds and bikes drive in there own lanes, but also on the sidewalk
-and craziest of all, they have weird peeing stalls on the side of the road. Is that what it is actually for? I couldn't tell you, but that is how it's used. .... So weird

That's about all for day 1. I didn't have energy left to discover more.