A Guide To Amsterdam: Places to go, Transport and Things to do

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful, busy, multi-cultural and amazing places to go.
A 2-hour flight away with plenty to do, this is something that definitely needs to be on everyone's bucket list.
I have been twice in the last year or so, and I am in love with this city, so I thought I would make a post about things I know and found useful when travelling there.

Travel and Accomodation

Maps were top of my list when I visited last year, and the best one I found was a random map somebody had left on the bus, but they are available everywhere. You can buy maps from tourist shops but many places and hotels have them for free. This year I was able to use my phone contract with Vodafone the same as I would in the UK without any additional charges, which was AMAZING for a quick check up as to where we were or wanted to go.
We stayed in Hotel Vossius, which is  right next to one of the entrances to Vondelpark and a literal 2 minute walk from the Rijksmuseum and all the major bus and tram stops.
Travelling from the Schiphol Airport we caught the 197 bus to the Rijksmuseum which cost €5 and can purchased right outside the bus stop from a  red van (it looks a little sketchy but it's honestly fine). You can also buy your tickets straight from the driver too.
Hotel Vossius is where I've stayed on both visits, as it meant a lot to us personally when staying the second time, and we were able to ask for the same room as before. The staff are really lovely and friendly, and willing to help with everything. They are great to ask for recommendations of things to do or where to go and were always really kind to us. They also told us that booking directly through their website can sometimes be cheaper, especially if you've stayed before. The desk is 24 hours, with optional breakfasts too.

The most beautiful window in the world

Tourism

Next is the list of things we did over both visits (it's easier to put into one long list, as the first time we visited it was the hottest weekend of the year and it was very difficult to do much at all, this year was also extremely warm and sunny but nowhere near as bad).

• Rijksmuseum. This is a big museum full of beautiful art (and air conditioning), it cost €19.50 but was free for under 19's, so if you're 18 make sure to take ID. We didn't book tickets but bought them directly from the desk. You can't take big bags in with you but they do have a free cloakroom for rucksacks and luggage. 
• Anne Frank Huis. The Anne Frank House was extremely high on my to-do list as we weren't able to go last year due to tickets being in high demand. I can't recommend this museum enough, it was beautifully done with handset-style tour guides in different languages. Tickets were €9 each, but make sure you book as soon as possible. 
• Van Gogh Museum. Although not high up on my list this was definitely something I wanted to do. I'm not the biggest art fan in the world but it felt wrong to go all that way (especially twice) and not see the museum. I'll admit I was very hot, tired and hangry so I could've been in better spirits, but I found the museum to be very busy and overcrowded in the afternoon. People would stand right infront of the art -which I completely understand- but my polite British side came out and I ended up just walking round quite quickly and not being too overwhelmed by it all. I did find the story of Van Gogh's life extremely interesting though, and really enjoyed the way the museum was done in different parts, showing his inspirations and experiences. Tickets cost €17 each. Although something worth doing whilst there, it's not something I'll be rushing back to.
• Glow Golf. I promised my boyfriend a game of Glow Golf - crazy golf under luminous lighting and found myself surprisingly enjoying myself. Finding it turned out to be a little tricky, as it was in the basement of a random pub on the outskirts of the city, but it was definitely worth doing whilst there. I believe tickets cost around €9 each, and you can either book a slot on their website or turn up to play and have a drink if you find there's a waiting time.

 Food

In terms of eating, the only real 'delicacies' of Amsterdam are cheese, stroopwaffles and pancakes. Unfortunately, my boyfriend doesn't like any of these and the closest we got were churros. 

There are multiple places to eat dotted everywhere in Amsterdam, so it won't take much to find somewhere you fancy. I noticed most places where either eat-and-go style such as New York Pizza, Wok to Walk or little cafes that sold sweet and savoury treats such as macarons, churros, pancakes or fries. When trying to find actual restuarants we found a lot of steakhouse-style places, and a lot of Italian restaurants. The greatest thing to do here is to stroll around and try and find somewhere, rather than setting your heart on one place and it being too busy. Because we visited on the hottest weekend of the year, most restaurants allowed us to eat outside, watching the sunset and the passers-by which was absolutely beautiful.

We found a lot of waiters or store workers to either be extremely friendly or quite closed off. For example, whenever visiting the supermarket the staff were always extremely friendly and helpful, even in the busiest of times, speaking better English than us. In some restaurants though sometimes waiters would take our order and bring our food extremely fast, but it took a while to catch anyone's eye for the bill. However, when overhearing a conversation next to us between some very rude Americans, it isn't hard to see why people's mood change during a busy period of working. Put yourself in their shoes, mate, come on. 

If I think of any more good-to-know information about Amsterdam I'll be sure to update it, or let me know if there's anything you'd like to know whilst planning or booking a trip. 

Bon Voyage! 

Travelling with my Anxiety

Anxiety is experienced differently by everybody - to some it incapcitates their daily life, to others it may be more a background whisper in their mind, but I think that everybody has experienced it in some way or another at some point. I do find, however, that part of the stigma of mental health is not understanding others. You may well have experienced anxiety at some point - whether for a short period of time or on a more serious, consistent basis, but no matter what you're anxiety is different to somebody else's. We all have different brains with different thoughts and that means different experiences of mental health.
My anxiety formed a few years ago when dealing with some family related issues. My anxiety increased considerably after moving to university, and unfortunately now it does consume a large part of my daily life. One of my biggest problems with my anxiety is that it stops me from doing things I used to love. Once upon a time I was an obese, confident and outgoing person. Although I lacked confidence I could and would have a conversation with anybody. Even if I felt 'anxious' about doing something I could, if I had to, make myself do it - for example, ordering food in a restaurant was something I hated, but if needs must then it wasn't the end of the world. Nowadays, I can't eat a meal out - even in a McDonalds - without severe anxiety.
Last summer I wasn't in too bad a place - my anxiety was pretty low in comparison to what it had been throughout the year at university. I wasn't particularly outgoing but I loved meeting new people and going out with a big group of friends. I was working a lot during the summer and was very close to my now-boyfriend, Jonathan. Me and Jon were very close friends and decided to meet up in Liverpool for the day - the only time we had ever spent alone together and sober. My nerves were my biggest feeling that day and my anxiety was under control. Within a week we decided to book a holiday together.
Let me just reiterate - me and the boy I liked had only ever really spent time together once and we decided to book a holiday to Amsterdam for 4 days. This definitely could have been a terrible mistake, but as it turns out it was the best decision of my life.
Due to the fact that it was such a last minute decision I was working most days in the lead up to the holiday, and in the very few hours I had alone I was researching things to do, places to go and how to get there.
When I got to the train station to catch the train to Jon's - where I was to meet his family for the first time and stay the night in his room - I realised I had bought my train tickets for the wrong day and panic-rushed to buy another and get on the next train. Let me reiterate that being in a rush for a train and having to spend lots of money for another ticket is extremely stressful to me as is, but on the way to a boy's house to meet his family when we weren't even dating, to then spend the night in his room and go on holidays alone with him for 4 days? S. T. R. E. S. S.
I was extremely nervous about flying as I hadn't been on a plane in about 6 years - before my anxiety had developed. I was too nervous to eat the entire day, and I was stressed about landing the other end and getting on the right bus. (I will be posting another blog about 'my guide to Amsterdam' with tips on transport, hotels and tourist places so check that out too!)
We arrived safely, getting to the hotel extremely easily, and I found that once I was at the hotel I was calm. Despite having the usual stress of going away for the first time without my family, especially with a friend I didn't really know well in-person, I embraced and enjoyed my holiday.

This year, things were extremely different.
My boyfriend and I decided to go back to Amsterdam for our anniversary - as we count the first holiday as our 'first date'. However, my anxiety is much more severe this year. I struggle immensely with eating out the house, I find travelling on trains near impossible and I have been unable to work due to the daily struggles I'm having.
This year we flew from Birmingham airport,so Jon could get the train to mine and my mum could drive us there to try and save a little stress. Our flight was in the early morning so we decided to eat a Boots meal deal for our 'breakfast' as I refused to eat a big meal, as mornings are one of my most stressful times of day with my anxiety. Although I ate very little, the anxiety that I usually have with trains was still there, although nowhere near as bad. I was trying to focus as much as I could on the excitement of going back to the same hotel, and the same city that I have dreamt about constantly for the past year. Although it didn't cure me I was much, much better than I thought I would be.
As soon as I sat down in 26A my anxiety more or less turned off. Maybe holidays are how I have to beat this.
Going somewhere familiar was so good for me and my brain, being able to recognise where I was and how to get around saved me SO much stress and made my holiday so much better. I think if we do book another holiday I am going to have to do a lot of research to prepare myself as much as I can.

Some days I did think 'I just want to go back to the hotel room' - for comfort, not because I was anxious. We went out one evening to see what the city was like at night, and although my anxiety started to eat away at me a little beforehand, thinking 'what if its different', 'what if people are loud or drunk or whatever', 'what if, what if what if', but I didn't let it stop me - I knew if I wanted to go back to the hotel we could go back immediately. I made sure to stay in places where I knew my way around or how to get back to somewhere I knew, and stayed in more touristy areas where I knew people would be milling around. In the end it ended up being Jon the one that wanted to get back to the hotel because I wanted to stop to take photos of the beautiful canals at night every 5 seconds - despite them all looking relatively the same.

I struggled for the first few days with eating out, and we ended up eating a lot of sandwiches and snacks for our meals. This upset me a little, as I felt that my anxiety was winning - I wanted to have amazing meals on my amazing holiday with my amazing boyfriend, but something in my head literally just refused to let it happen. On the last two nights of our holiday, though, something else seemed to work, and we ate dinner in two lovely Italian restaurants - which really made my holiday.

On the way home, I think I was ready to be back in my little bedroom in my own comfort, and I didn't struggle with anxiety at all once we had gotten checked into the airport.

So, yes, my anxiety did fight me. And it did win sometimes, because that happens sometimes. But I won too. And it made my holiday so much better to think - yes, I did it. 

There is nothing better than winning a battle against your own mind.