Jun. 5: Plinky ~ Fun city

Today’s Plinky prompt:

What city were you surprised to like?

Describe when you had a good time someplace you didn't expect to.

My answer is Amsterdam. We went in 2001, just overnight at the end of a trip in which we’d already gone to London, Paris, Brussels and Bruges. I loved a lot of things about all those cities, and Paris is still my favorite city in the world. But on our way to Amsterdam, it was hard to imagine it being as fun or interesting compared to what we’d already seen on this trip. Here’s what made Amsterdam so much cooler than we expected:

• The first thing I saw when we got off the train was a guy in a duct tape bikini. Awesome.
• Our hotel room, booked on Expedia with little idea of what we’d get, was huge and overlooked the Dam Square. The bed was also huge—I swear, it was like two queen-size mattresses shoved together. There was a down comforter for each side, and huge feathery pillows that made it the best night’s sleep I’d had in a long time (I was five months pregnant and walking with a broken foot and was absolutely exhausted). To be honest, the view and the pleasant-ness of the room would have made the trip great even if we’d never seen the city.
• The tulips. It was May, so the tulip fields were cleared, but there were still plenty to see in the stores in various forms.
• The pastries, my god, the pastries!
• Two huge restaurant signs we saw, not too far apart; one said Vic’s Terrace Brasserie, and the other was Jennifer Croissanterie/Tearoom. Funny.
• Gift shops. All that Delftware was beautiful. I bought wooden shoes for baby Katie. We did not buy any drugs, nor were we offered any. That was the only disappointing part—wouldn’t a fun story have been a nice souvenir?
• The canals. I haven’t been to Italy, so this was really the first I’d seen of a city built this way. I thought they were really unusual and interesting. Very scenic.
• Anne Frank House. This was definitely the highlight of our tourist activities in Amsterdam, and the only must-see museum we had time to see. It was worth waiting in the very long line.
• Friendly people. I found Londoners incredibly rude. Paris was so-so and Brussels was about the same. Amsterdam was the only place that people were not only nice, they were friendly and helpful. It was a lovely change.

I’d go back to Amsterdam again, in a heartbeat.