The City of Hookers, Hash and Houses Where People Hid

I survived my weekend getaway to Brussels and Amsterdam, although there were a few close calls thanks to the obscene amount of people riding very fast on bikes. I went with the expectations of a dirty, trashy, sex-crazed city where the locals were always high and looking to sell sex and drugs, but in reality Amsterdam was one of the cleanest, most intriguingly gorgeous cities I've ever seen. The combination of history, architecture and local surprises (along with the sexed up Red Light District) made the city fun and extremely entertaining.
I laughed out loud when we accidently ran into the Red Light District for the first time...I was walking along minding my own business when I look up from the cobbled road to see an ancient, overweight, lingerie-wearing prostitute posing scandalously in a window, tempting us to come closer with a "come hither" wiggle of her finger. Although I had been expecting it, it still blew my mind and gave all six of us a good laugh. We walked through shops that sold obscenely hilarious toys, museums dedicated solely to the history of marijuana and by theaters advertising the "Best Live Show in Town!" Clearly it was every 20-something's dream city.
But outside the small area that makes up Sin City, Amsterdam was one of the coolest and classiest places I've been, with loads of museums, art galleries, historical monuments and beautiful markets filled with anything and everything you could imagine. We visited the Anne Frank House and Museum (my personal favorite), the Van Gogh Art Museum, the Tulip Museum and found a flea market that sold everything from freshly made crepes to hand-carved antiques. The more intellectual side of the city made for a nice variety and balance for the wild night life and shady dealings of the RLD. I felt like I got to experience two completely different atmospheres and cities in one trip, which is one of the best things about Amsterdam, the variety of things there are to explore.
Traveling there was half of the adventure. My group left Limerick Thursday night by train to Dublin, where we stayed in a nice hostel and listened to a traditional band at a pub next door. We woke up early Friday to catch a flight to Brussels, where after exploring, gorging ourselves on Belgian Waffles and taking pictures of a peeing statue, we finally boarded a bus to Amsterdam. We celebrated my friend Matt's 22nd birthday by going out to Royalties night club where we got our groove on to some crazy European techno music. We were exhausted and ready to come home Sunday night, but the trip to, from and through Amsterdam was definitely a highlight of my European experience so far. And I made it the whole weekend without getting arrested or killed by crazy bike-riders, which is always a good thing :)