Day 47: Istanbul and Amsterdam

Miles logged: 22,189
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From mosques to red light districts...I don't think I could have picked two more different cities to visit back-to-back.

I woke up late in Istanbul after a long last night, and had just enough time to complete a shopping request from Mom before heading to the airport at 11am. I really, really enjoyed Istanbul, although I felt like it was time to go, particularly because the friendlessness of one of the hostel staff was turning into more attention than I needed or wanted.

I flew Swiss Air with a connection in Zurich, so by the time I arrived in Amsterdam, it was past 8pm. I checked into my hostel, the infamous Flying Pig Downtown. When I was looking to book a room in Amsterdam months ago, I discovered that smaller dorm rooms were already gone, and not much was left. I only needed a room for two nights, so I decided to go for the full Amsterdam experience and booked the best option I could find: a 14-bed coed dorm at the infamous Flying Pig. I figured two nights couldn't kill me, and this will be my last round of hostels for a while, as Mom and I are staying in much nicer places.

The hostel actually isn't bad, but given that it's Amsterdam, it's full of stoned college students, and has a very mellow cat roaming the halls. After dropping off my stuff, I spent some time wandering the streets. My hostel is right on the border of the red light district...which I swung by, but found mostly just awkward and didn't stick around long. The canals are beautiful, the smell of pot is omnipresent, and there's a coffee shop every four storefronts. Still, the area seems relatively safe. I popped into a pub for dinner and ordered a Dutch specialty, pancakes. The pancakes were a little strange; they were more like crepes than pancakes. Nothing fluffy about them at all. After a phone call with my mom at 11pm, I headed back to my hostel and spent the evening at the hostel bar, which was in full swing. At 1am, I decided I was more than ready for bed, and headed up to the 14 bed dorm room and discovered I was the first person to decide to check in for the night. Impressive. 

With the help of ear plugs, I managed to get a great night's sleep (although I do remember the hostel bar music turning off around 6am), and woke up this morning at 9am to find that all the beds were now full, along with a extra guy sleeping on the floor. Amsterdam reminds me a lot of Bourbon street, but with the party taken up a huge notch. It seems like a fun town with clearly a very chilled out vibe. Still, Amsterdam is a little skeezy, at least the area that I'm staying in.

First shots of Amsterdam:

Coffee shops everywhere

Canal near the red-light district

The hostel cat