Day 19: This is the day...

After waking up we early in the morning,  we were all set for the exploration, to feel the place for what it was. We started to search for city map and places of our interest. There we came to know about the Amsterdam City Pass.

For your information, many cities in Europe where tourism is a major part of daily life of people, places which attract a lot of tourists, they usually have the City Pass which includes cost for using public transport and gives you access to many of the attractions for free (or to say, at a reduced price) and many free goodies (treasure hunt).

The Amsterdam pass provides you with two free canal rides + free entry to many museums and many free goodies such as- free chocolate box, tea, coffee, silver key ring, bottle opener and many more + concession on many other places. In Amsterdam there were three types of passes- 1 day, 2 day or 3 day. As our plan was for 3 days including a short visit to Brussels(Belgium), we bought 3 day pass for €58 and a one day pass (for Mr. A) for €45. (JFYI: The tourist office opens at 9am, it is situated just outside of the central station of Amsterdam)

So we were all set to roll by 9:30am and started planning the place to visit for today. We first went on a canal ride, to enjoy the city view. We followed with a visit to some of the famous museums – the Amsterdam national sculpture art museum, sex museum, museum on bible. This took us all the day, we covered a great distance of the days trip by foot too. Finally in the evening we went to the famous Van Gogh museum, its art collection mainly consist of Van Gogh’s paintings, but also has art work by done by some other famous artists.

This time around there was a special exhibition there, so we had to pay €2.5 (otherwise its covered in the pass). There was also a live stage performance by a singer. She sounded nice although couldn't understand a bit because it was all in native language. Though none of us had any interest or taste for art, but we liked the art work there and there was some crowd that day, adding to our impression. It was nice all in all. we came out from there around 8pm, than we straight went to the French fries shop, as we were hungry. French fries did save us in Europe (the default vegetarian's food for Europe I would say).

Back to planning for next day, we book a guided tour plan for Brussels and Antwerp (Belgium) for €57 each. That was the quickest way to go there and come back to Amsterdam in time. The tour was scheduled from 9 am to 5 pm.  Coming back to the french fries shot, we ate as much as we can, then we went for the night roaming in Amsterdam (We tried to search for hostels in the day but couldn't find one). So finally me, Mr. L and Mr. A Junior decided to camp at the bridge near the station but Mr. S insisted on staying in a hotel which to be true was very expensive comparing to what all we had in our pockets (for budget travel in Europe, book in advance or be ready to pay high). 

But to check out in any case, went to a hostel and the owner demanded €50 for each and we were not in the mood to pay this much just for a nights stay. But who can convince Mr. S. For your information he just like to spent money, may be the political history of his family had some influence on him. He just likes to a live luxury life. 

So we three backed out and Mr. A followed Mr. S. The night again was the same, till 2 am inside the station, then take your pick and go around. We set down in place and started thinking what for tomorrow and the day after that. So far the Amsterdam experience was not the same or not the one we had heard of. Yes we had seen some explicit museums, seen some historic places, but even this all does not feel like Amsterdam. That my friends we came to know on the night next day. That was all together pure Amsterdam... !!!