We chose a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Dublin with a stopover in Amsterdam, with the aim of seeing something of the city, since we would have to pass through there anyway. We knew that the total of 8 hours between one flight and the next would not be enough to see everything and that it would only leave us wanting more, and that is exactly what happened.

Our bags went straight to Dublin and we didn't need to check in again, which made our lives a lot easier. We got off the plane and went straight to find lockers to leave our backpacks. We were unlucky enough to find all the lockers in the lobby full, so we ended up going to a huge warehouse that is on a lower floor. Further away, but with more options lockers too. Seriously, there are all sizes and prices, and we got a small one for 6 euros, totally in style self-service.

Inside the Amsterdam airport lobby, we found the machines that sell train tickets and despite our anxiety, we managed to buy them very quickly. Wow!!! It hit me that moment and I realized that I was really in Europe!!! My first European city and everything was going well… Best wishes. =)

Getting to know Amsterdam (and Europe)

We took the train without any problems and in less than half an hour, we arrived at Amsterdam Central, which is the station in the city center and is this cutie (sorry for the cropped photo, but I only had my cell phone with me at the time):

We started walking a little lost, but we decided to go see the famous canals first (area known as The Jordan. I read so much on the internet, but at the time, maybe because I was so excited, my mind went blank… lol. We walked slowly through the streets, following a walking route that the TripAdvisor app suggested, and I fell in love with the city. We stopped to buy some cheese fries, sold in crowded mini-snack shops, and they were really delicious. I was impressed by the number of bicycles on the streets and by how clean and organized the city was. Look how beautiful it is…

We found it quite easy to get around the city, but we also had the app on the whole time. We were just worried about getting run over by the amount of cyclists passing us. Be careful, okay! We passed by several tourist attractions, but we didn't actually go inside any of them. We just did it to get an idea of what they were.

We stopped to eat at a really cute bistro recommended by the app, Winkel 43, and we ordered the house specialty, Apple Pie. It was really delicious! We kept walking and passed by a cheese shop, Reypenaer, where we tried several options and ended up taking a super kit to eat in our new house in Dublin.

After this store, we headed towards the famous Red Light District, which is the area with the call girls in the shop windows. I have to admit that I was quite curious, but I was quite disappointed. I thought there would be some glamour from the women, but what we found were women on the phone, getting their nails done, getting waxed, practically sleeping, etc. etc. I thought it was a huge stretch. In addition, near these shop windows, there are several coffee shops where people can consume marijuana and mushrooms as much as they want. We came across people who were very crazy, even falling to the ground, which left us speechless. vibe of the place half heavy.

I have absolutely nothing against it, but I really wanted to start this new life on the right foot and with good energy, so I think that if I could go back in time and choose what to do in our few hours in Amsterdam, I would have stayed in the canal area and gone to the city's famous sign, which I didn't have time to visit this time.

Anyway… We left that region straight to the train station, where we bought our tickets to the airport. We picked up our backpacks at the lockers, we had a snack while we waited for the plane and used the wifi from the airport to let us know we were okay.

Although the tour was rushed, the feeling at the end of it all was that it was worth it. We will definitely be back to get to know the city better! 🙂

If you want to know what you can do in the city, see the options that Civitatis offers below: