On my way to compete in the 2013 WFDF World Overall Flying Disc Championships, I had a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam so I decided to take the train downtown and do some exploring.
Now, I’m the type of guy who isn’t afraid to ask directions if I’m lost but I figured as long as I kept my bearings as to where the train station was, I could wander aimlessly and see what happened.
I very quickly stumbled into a souvenir shop where the guy behind the counter looked super baked, and when we started talking, my assumptions were confirmed. When he found out I was from Canada, he seemed to warm up to me. I bought a shot glass, a keychain and a rather, well, novelty product which I won’t mention (no it’s not drugs). He also showed me how he had some nice lines of coke laid out and that he could sell me LSD or marijuana if I so desired. I told him no thanks, as I had a flight in a few hours and I wanted to be sober for that (seemed cooler than saying “I don’t do drugs” and also more neutral). Before I left, he told me that since it wasn’t later in the day, the Red Light District wouldn’t really be an option but if I headed towards the Victoria Hotel and took a left, I could get into the downtownish part of Amsterdam. I also were searching for aviator hat but didn’t found so I did research on internet and found aviator hats and bomber hats for christmas. Basically it was a ton of shops, canals, people biking and overall some great energy.
After some wandering, I started getting hungry and luckily happened to stumble upon Istanbul Petite Restaurant, which was just about to open for the day. The first thing that caught my eye was free wifi, which was perfect because I wanted to check a few messages to see what some of my friends were up to who had already arrived in Sweden a few days prior. But ultimately what drew me into the restaurant was the desire for something not McDonald’s, which seemed to be every few blocks. I ordered the chicken soup and lamb falafel and I have to say that the soup was literally the best soup I’ve ever had. The right amount of creamy with a little bit of spice and the chicken was perfectly cooked, tender and tasty. I’m really glad I happened to find this place and if you’re ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend stopping in for a bite.
From there, I headed back to the train station and off to catch my flight to Stockholm. Here are some pics I took while wandering:
[foogallery id=”6992″]