This was my first trip to Amsterdam. We had a cruise scheduled to leave from there and I wanted a chance to explore before we left. My husband had been there before once on his own, so it was up to me to figure out what I wanted to see with some suggestions from him.

Our flight landed at 7:30am and we got through customs very quickly. We took a taxi to our hotel, but it turned out not to be our hotel. My husband got it confused with the hotel in Copenhagen because it had the same name. The clerk at the hotel was so nice to us. She called another taxi for us, confirmed where our actual hotel was located, and even offered us some free coffee. It was lovely to have such courtesy offered to us when we were clearly sleep deprived. We arrived at our new hotel and were told that we could leave our bags, but our room would not be ready until 2, but maybe earlier if we checked. I packed a backpack and off we went to explore while half awake.

Our hotel, Urban Lodge, was located around half a mile from the Amsterdam Sloterdijk train station. We could easily get to Amsterdam Centraal from there. There were trains that ran often and were about 6 euros for a round trip. After we arrived we found a bakery and bought a baguette and some pain au chocolate to hold us over until lunch. The narrow streets had few stores open, but were packed with trucks making deliveries. We stopped to look at one store that was selling several types of mushrooms and pot with vivid descriptions of what kind of high they would induce. It was different.

We arrived at the Royal Palace and it opened shortly after we got in line at 9:50. We didn’t need an online ticket, but they have it available with a separate line so you can get in faster. The ticket came with a free audio tour. We had to put the backpack in the cloakroom, which was free as well. You only get to see the ground floor and first floor of the palace. However, it is very grand. The chandeliers alone are worth stopping to see.

The main hall is carved in marble. Each corner has different Greek Gods. My favorite carving was the one of Jupiter. I also found Atlas holding up the Earth to be quite impressive. Every room you enter has a main message on the audio tour, but some have extra ones about certain objects, paintings, or the time period. Each room had amazing furniture from the French King Louis Bonaparte, who turned the building from a town hall into a palace.

Amsterdam still has a king (although in the past the rulers were mostly queens from the history I learned at the Palace). King Willem and his wife, Queen Maxima got married at the Royal Palace and they now have two children. He was instated as the king after his mother abdicated to him.

The Royal Palace is now mostly used for visiting dignitaries. They may even stay in some of the rooms that we viewed. The royal family does not stay there often and we were not privy to their private apartments. Apparently there was only one queen who enjoyed staying in the Royal Palace and was there for a consistent period of time. They say it is very drafty in the winter.

We left the Palace and my husband wanted to show me the Red Light District. I preferred to check it out in the light of day. Yes, there really are red lights. There are also windows with red velvet curtains. If the curtains are open, there is a woman standing there waiting for a customer. It was really weird to witness because I wanted to look at the women to see what they were wearing and doing, but I felt awkward looking at them. We saw maybe seven woman while we walked around. Most were wearing bathing suit type clothes that were a little more fancy, a few had on bustiers, and one had what looked like electrical tape wrapped around her chest, just covering her nipples. Almost all of them had distinctly fake boobs and a bored look on their face.

There is also a section of blue lights. This is designated as the transgender women section, just so you are fully aware of what you are purchasing. We only saw one women in a window there. The streets in the red light district are filled with sex toy shops, peep show rooms, and some casinos. There are signs everywhere that tell you there are fines of 90 euros for taking pictures of the sex workers.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a cheese shop and tasted some delicious cheese. We had just enough energy to throw ourselves into bed at 1pm and woke up only to eat some dinner.