You gotta go with the flow

Julia and I were planning on leaving for Arnhem (an open air museum) at 6 the next morning. People at the pub tour kept laughing at us saying that there was no way that we were going to make it. Turns out they were right.

Julia woke up late, and messaged me saying that she hadn't woken up and that I should meet them in Amsterdam. I had decided to not go to sleep and just stay up and hang out with my British friends. Until about an hour before we were supposed to leave. I changed my mind and decided to take a quick nap... without an alarm. Translation: I was dead to the world.

I awoke to Julia standing over me. Now, mind you, she was staying at a different hostel. My morning brain couldn't wrap around the concept that she was in my room. Here's what happened... Excerpts from Julia's Facebook messages to me:

So...I missed the train.

I can't believe it! I may just be going to Amsterdam after all. Did u end up leaving? 

I realized you can't leave without a ticket, and I don't think you have €30 . . . Steve just left for Amsterdam, and I'm currently at Starbucks at the train station. When you wake up, let me know.

I'm contemplating coming to your hostel to wake you up, but I don't feel like your hostel owners are going to be thrilled with me going through all the rooms...

Not to be creepy, but I'm at your hostel :)

I figured Julia's messages would explain the ordeal much better than I could. So Julia's standing over my bed and she said, "It's almost 11am." I laughed... "What time is it really?" 
"11am."

OH. Wellll Amsterdam here we come! Good thing we like it there. As most travel days go, we enjoy them as much as other days but there's not much to tell... we slept, we chatted, we read, we slept. It was GREAT.

I got someone at Starbucks to give me free water. THAT was awesome.

When we arrived in Amsterdam, I bade Julia farewell, and ventured into the city to find a cheap hostel. This is the first time I had arrived in a city without a reservation. Definitely more work to walk around with a backpack asking people if they have room than it is to just surf the web. 

I finally found one within my price range. Well, within my price range for one night. The price, of course, doubles on the weekends. So I booked for one night. Julia, Stephen and I then met up to watch the sunset at the library. Or watch the nighttime rather... It was rather dark by the time we got up there, but it was gorgeous! 

It's always fun to meet up with each other again after splitting up. We got to hear all about Stephen's first day exploring Amsterdam and Julia and I got to tell what we thought were awesome travel day stories.

We then walked through the red light district to get to Dam Square and it was then (as we passed my hostel) that I realized that I had booked my hostel in the red light district. I mean, it really is a great location though... close to everything. 

We then split up and I went back to the hostel to work. Shortly after, one of my new roommates arrived and five minutes later I was out exploring the red light district with Max (my roommate) and a Canadian guy, John, that he had met earlier that day. Now, this may sound super sketchy to you, but it's really not. I mean I had already seen Max in his boxers (because we were staying in the same room, mind you) so why not go exploring with him? THAT is one thing that I learned from this trip... travelers are nice. If they want to hang out... HANG OUT. 

Now, I know what you're thinking... "This, coming from the girl who just had her wallet stolen?" That is totally different.

Anyway. I, somehow, immediately became the guide. They didn't realize at the time how horrible of a decision that was. It does help that, as a girl, you can ask just about anyone for directions and they are more than happy to assist you. So I guess I did a lot more of that than actually guiding. Never found where we wanted to go BUT we did find some exquisite bars and explored some cool coffeeshops. 

Since this was my fourth time in Amsterdam, I think it is about time that I explored the nightlife and it was AWESOME. Since marijuana is legal in Amsterdam, everyone there is just relaxing at night, not going berzerk like in many other cities. Just another reason to love it.

We ran through the rain, chatted by the canals and made plans for the next day. 

Will I move there? ...Someday. Hopefully.