October 12th: Amsterdam, Day 7

This is mostly a travel day but it was still interesting!

Walking Around

Before lunch, I decided to just walk around the city. I dropped off my luggage in the pub and wandered. While walking around, I accidentally stumbled on to a film set. I might be in the background of a random Dutch film, so if anyone happens to see me in anything, let me know and I'll add them to my resume. I walked up the canals, down some side streets, and decided to go to take the tram back to the Albert Cyup Market.

The film crew on my way to the market

Albert Cyup Market

I checked out of my room and decided to go back to the market because I have no shame :) When I got off the train and into the main part of the market, there was a film crew walking through filming the stalls (I was filmed by accident for the second time that day), and give me a call if y'all see me in anything!

This time, I went to the places I saw during my last walk through but didn't get. I got myself an "Arabuccino"; it was coffee in a small copper pot that they buried and moved around in hot sand to heat up before making the rest of my drink. I'd seen the technique before but had never had one, so I treated myself and it was good! However, next time either Lactaid or oat milk... ANYWAYS, I had a decent pork belly bao (because I was itching for some more Asian food (legit can't go more than a couple days without it)) and poffertjes. The poffertjes were my favorite thing that I had that day and honestly, you can't go wrong with tiny pancakes doused in white chocolate. There were a bunch of topping options but I went with the white chocolate and it did not disappoint.

In the market, there are also a lot of clothing vendors and artists. I have decided to start to try and pick up art from local artists wherever I travel so I will keep you all updated on how that goes. I ended up not getting anything art wise and I tend to avoid buying clothes when I travel because nothing ever fits properly, and I just did't want to be disappointed if something cute didn't fit lol. But, they did have a lot of cute pieces out across all the different stores and vendors and it's definitely a good place to visit if you want some cool statement pieces. I walked to the train station and made my way back to Centraal to grab my luggage then hang out in the station before my train.

Train to London

I picked up my luggage from the same weird kitchen space at the pub and walked to the train station. I looked around for something to drink and found a new (at the time) Coca-Cola flavor, 3000, allegedly created with the help of AI. It tasted very fruity; almost like you mixed a fruit punch into a Coca-Cola. Not my favorite thing in the world, but I wouldn't say no to having another one. I wandered around the stores and found an office supply store which I am a sucker for. I actually bought a pad of paper that I take with me while traveling now to put in all the little details of my adventures. I also saw a Dutch translation of the Stephen King novel "Holly" which was relatively new at the time. However, I did not know that the book was in Dutch and went to read the back and thought I was having a stroke until I realized that I couldn't read it because it wasn't English. It was the jump scare of the trip. After buying some other craft supplies for my big scrapbook, it was time to head to the train. I bought my ticket before my trip so it was seamless getting on the train. I found my seat and almost immediately fell asleep for the duration of the trip before waking up at St. Pancras train station.

King's Cross Station

Once we pulled in to St. Pancras and I mapped my way to my hotel for the night, I realized that I was right next to King's Cross Station and if you know me, you know that I am a fan of the Harry Potter series. The station was open but quite literally empty so it was the perfect time to get a picture of platform 9 3/4. It was the only time I wished I was traveling with someone so I could pose with a cart going through the wall. After I walked out of the station, I saw a building with a clock that looked like it had a man painting the hands of the clock every minute. It spooked me at first, but it was very cool to see the piece. I then took a bus to my last stop of my first ever solo trip, my hotel. It was some random hotel near the airport so I could make my morning flight. It was dark and rainy since I got into the city around 11pm and I did my best to navigate the bus system but I got off a stop too early and ended up having to walk another several blocks in the freezing rain to my hotel. I played myself on that one but I was just glad to get to go to bed after a warm shower. I made sure I had everything packed before crawling into the bed and knocking out.

The clock art piece with a man inside