Amsterdam

This past October saw my boyfriends birthday, and to celebrate this we booked a weekend away to Amsterdam - a place that both of us had always wanted to go for slightly different reasons. Whilst the idea of coffeeshops and bars appealed to Benjy, the eccentric nightlife of the red light district and the sex museums appealed to me, particularly in the spirit of where I work being so heavily revolved around lingerie and sexual aids.

  Staying a little bit further out from the centre of    Amsterdam, we did  have to take a 10 minute bus back and forward, however with a 48hr  bus pass costing €12.50 and the transport being so frequent we were  more than happy to do this. The hotel itself was based around artwork  and rather modern compared to some of the smaller, more traditional  looking hotels in the city centre. 

Our first night there we decided to do a canal cruise, and after booking our trip during the Light Festival we managed to get tickets for a cruise focused on all the various light artwork around the city. After spending our first afternoon relaxing and having a general mooch around the city it was a perfect way to finish the night off.

One of my favourite parts of the trip was visiting the Van Gogh museum, and whilst not being a massive art fan, I've developed a deeper respect from Van Gogh and his brother's relationship. Sadly photos weren't allowed inside the museum apart from one giant portrait of the man himself.

With both Benjy and I being massive fans of going out for a drink or two, it would have been stupid of us to head to Amsterdam and not visit the Bols Academy/Museum.

Greeted with a free shot upon entry, we were instructed to hold onto the bottle and leave it untouched until told. Part way through the museum, we were ushered into cubicles and filmed taking the shot, whilst various lights and parts of the room moved in order to demonstrate the effect our various senses can have on taste. With your ticket covering a free cocktail of your choice at the end of the tour, I cannot recommend it enough to anybody looking to kill an hour or two in the city.                                          

Basically the whole trip was booked on the foundation of myself wanting to visit the sex museum, and it did not disappoint. I finally got my photo with the 6ft penis chair and watched Benjy get slightly more mentally scarred with every room we visited. We did go relatively later on in the night so I could see why the narrow staircases and small rooms could be off putting if you were to visit during peak time, as well as it being quite overwhelming if you are maybe a bit shyer when it comes to sex.

With Benjy starting back at college on Monday we did have to keep the visit short, however I would happily go back for another weekend in the summer (it was bloody freezing and snowed on our last day) to explore the city a bit more as there was still so much to see.