Amsterdam: Canals, Dam Square, Rembrandt Museum, Reypenaer Cheese Tasting, Anne Frankhauis & Red Light District ~ this is vanessa

Another lovely pic with a canal!

A full on day today! The weather was nice! At least it wasn't raining and not as cold as London!

We headed off to the Rembrandt Museum, but on the way strolled through Dam Square. We checked it out for a bit, took some photos near canals while getting there. We also found one of those frijte places in one of the alleyways and decided to have some. I ordered the large size but didn't realise that it was that big! Oh well we still managed to eat it all! It was t-t-tasty!

Cute alleyways everywhere in Amsterdam

Me and my big fat tub of frites!

So yes, Dam square, where everyone hangs out, people at cafes and restaurants drinking and smoking with their chairs faced out to see the view. Everyone here is quite chilled and relaxed. Maybe it's all the weed that they've been smoking? haha who knows! It was a nice area and I knew that we were going to be back there!

Dam Square during the day

And Dam Square at night. Still buzzing at around 1am!

We got lost a bit trying to find the Rembrandt Museum, ok make that half hour or something! haha. My fault I'm never good at directions! The museum itself is Rembrandt's house where he used to live. It was a real interesting place and you could see where he would paint etc. It was also good as you got a free audio guide! It was a great place and I would definitely recommend seeing the place for yourself!

A monument dedicated to Rembrandt

Rembrandt's kitchen!

Part of his house with some of his paintings. Amazing!

His easel and his studio where he worked

Some of the things Rembrandt used to collect

Next Stop, Reypenaer Cheese Tasting. On the way there we decided to get some hash cookies which we did (that is a different post in itself!) Anyway, after having a few cookies let's just say I was a bit happy! This place I found on TripAdvisor so I decided that we should do it as I love cheese and of course wine! We weren't disappointed! We sampled about 5 cheeses either Goats or Cows cheese with matching wines. And they were so good! I didn't know that Gouda was made in the Netherlands so there you go! It was pretty much unlimited cheese and alcohol, how could you not say no? The lady kept looking at me cause I was giggling but I was just happy hehehe. The cheeses were so tasty and I recommend this place too! You can bring the cheese with you while travelling as it doesn't need to be refrigerated and you get 15% discount if you buy something after you've done the tasting. Oh, and you also get a cheese tasting certificate. Hooray!

Helloooo cheese tasting!

Our cheese rubbish bin!

Yay I got my tasting certificate! Ask me anything about cheese haha

Us getting ready for some tasting!

Ok, now we were off to the Anne Frank House which when we got there, the line was quite long. I didn't mind waiting. It was actually a piece of history that I would want to wait in line for! It started off with some information about Anne Frank and her family before you ended up in the actual house where they hid. Unfortunately you weren't allowed to take any photos but I strongly suggest that you see if for yourself if you're in Amsterdam. The rooms where they hid felt so cold and isolated, that you could actually feel what Anne Frank was writing about. It was a surreal experience that I would recommend anyone coming to Amsterdam do!

The line into the Anne Frank House. Long but well worth it!

A monument dedicated to Anne Frank.

Because the sun doesn't set here until 10:30-11ish, we decided to head back home for a rest and nap for a night out into the Red Light district. Because there was an Indonesian colony here back in there day, there are heaps of Indonesian restaurants, so we decided to check one out in the Red Light District. The food was yummy, and was a good lining for our stomachs as we were planning to hit a coffeeshop later on in the evening (this will be a separate post!)

I love Indonesian food!

We walked around the Red Light District, you weren't allowed to take the photos of the actual prostitutes, but people were taking photos anyway! There were so many red windows scattered around and in small alleyways. And there were all sorts of women, tall & short, large and petite, some even pregnant! Sometimes I laughed and sometimes I fake vomited but hey people have to do what they gotta do. You could probably just sit down somewhere and watch what goes on. It's quite interesting! There were live sex shows but we didn't watch them, they were catered to more hens and bucks and young men! It's pretty hustling and bustling around the area, and packed until the wee hours of the morning! You're definitely not going to see anything like it!