Coordinating a trip to Amsterdam with five guys in five different time zones was not easy, but we did it. We all became best friends in high school or earlier, but are all scattered around the planet at the moment. Austin works in Oregon on the west coast of the US, meaning he is 8 hours behind Belfast. Shaun is finishing his CPA work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which is 6 hours behind Belfast. Josh works in Philadelphia which is 5 hours behind Belfast, and Preston (who missed this picture) is currently living in Cologne, Germany which is an hour ahead of Belfast! To say the least, finding time to do a group Facetime call to organize this trip was difficult.
They all were doing a two-part trip: four days in Amsterdam and four in Prague. I elected to just join for the first half of the trip, but we made the most out of those days. We saw the famous Rembrandt’s exhibit which was temporarily in the Rijksmuseum, we explored the Van Gogh museum, and did the “Heineken Experience” at their original brewery. Aside from that, we spent pretty much all day just traversing the city by foot, taking pictures of the seemingly endless canals and doing our best to avoid getting hit by bicycles. I’m not kidding about the bikes – I’ve never seen anything like it. People don’t slow down. They just ring their bell and keep trucking at top speed, evidently willing to plow into you if you don’t get out of their way.
Overall, Amsterdam was a fun and unique experience. It is not the kind of place you could have a ton of fun by yourself, but with a group it is tough to beat. I was especially impressed by how clean, organized, and beautiful the city is. Amsterdam can get a bad reputation sometimes for how laid-back their laws are, but I would say it is one of the safest, friendliest places I have ever been and I hope to one day return.
