My new book ‘The Floral Scene’ is on sale now.
You can buy it here: http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/9263879-the-floral-scene?ebook=687543
In the first week of December the pole girls and I went on a mini city break to Amsterdam where we ate edibles, ate a lot of yummy, shitty food and visited a few of the big hot spots around the Amsterdam area.
I haven’t had a holiday since Tokyo (Berlin was a business trip and I cried there so it doesn’t count as a holiday) and that was two years ago so I was very excited to get away for a few days, not have to think about retail or career and just enjoy some time away!
We visited many different coffee shops in Amsterdam so we could taste some of their speciality cakes. One of my favourites was Kooi Coffeeshop which had this really nice welcoming vibe and looked like your run-of-the-mill hipster coffeeshop. It had some really nice and quaint decorations. The edibles on the other left much to be desired. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of my favourite coffeeshop but it has a massive neon sign outside so you won’t be able to miss it. I loved that place in particular because it was very relaxing and everyone was chilled (obviously, they were stoned).
We obviously went to The Bulldog and there are tonnes of them about. There is a street in the Red Light District that has three Bulldog cafes. I’m not even kidding.
Obviously we went down the Red Light District and I was really shocked to hear the welsh accent coming from every corner! A lot of welsh people were in Amsterdam! The Red Light District has to be one of my favourite places on earth. I love the neon signs, the seediness of it and people watching…as they come out from having their 6-12 minutes in heaven.
Lottie wasn’t particularly fussed on seeing a Sex Show so we gave that a miss but we did go to the Prostitute Museum as well as the 2 minute Peep Show. The Red Light District wasn’t really that busy this time of year so party, tourist vibe wasn’t really there, but it was nice a chilled which is what I needed.
We also went to the Heineken Museum which I really enjoyed!! You got two free Heineken’s at the end of the tour, which was also really interesting. What I’ve only just come to realise is that the Dutch, when speaking english, had very strong American accents, and everything was very theatrical. Obviously the dramatics was catered to a very specific type of tourist and if you’re like me and you just want a grown-up tour of something just grin and bare it as it’s over in 10 minutes.
We also went to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam which I loved!! I didn’t know they had the tiny statue of Venus (which was parodied in The Simpsons as a very precious confectionary) and I was in awe. The artwork was absolutely incredible and the museum is HUGE!! It would literally take a whole day to see everything.
We also went to the Icebar which I’ve wanted to do since my first trip to Amsterdam. It was not what I pictured in my head so I’m slightly disappointed as it was so small and it looked like a half-ass job but the nestle vodka shots made up for it! They were sooo good!! You get three drinks with your ticket and you can spend as much time as you want in the bar but it’s soo cold you’ll be there at least 20 minutes max.
One thing I didn’t expect even though I should’ve was that the Christmas decorations were up in Amsterdam!! It was so pretty even the tram had a Santa hat on.
It was nice to get away from the city for a while and I cannot wait to return next year to do some hardcore partying!!
Model: Asha Hall
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