Amsterdam, Je t'aime pas

As much as I love Paris, it's always nice to go somewhere a little (a lot) less stressful; more laid-back. So, last weekend my flatmate and I embarked upon a trip to Amsterdam, perhaps perceived to be a city that defines the expression 'laid-back'. However, after spending two days there it didn't really live up to its reputation. There were only three incidents that left me with this impression but they were three incidents in pretty much one day.

The first was being dug in the arm by an angry cyclist. The cycle paths are not at all clearly marked for a city which has a multi-story parking space...for bikes, and I found myself unintentionally walking on one. An angry man careered towards me shouting in Dutch so I did my best to move out of the way and he still felt the need to discipline me, and hit me in the arm as he went past. The second incident was when my flatmate paid for the bus with a 20 euro note, she was met with a snotty "Get the right change next time." Finally, there was the guy trying to break into the hostel by charging the door and subsequently cracking the glass.

I met up with a friend who happened to be there the same weekend and when I asked her what she thought of Amsterdam she replied: "The people are quite rude, aren't they?" By this point I hadn't had a chance to experience said rudeness but I definitely left with the same impression.

Perhaps I was in a bad mood because it rained all weekend and being a Brit, this doesn't bode well; cue two grumpy girls lamenting the wind/rain combination and wrestling with fly-away umbrellas. The hostel we stayed in was really good; clean and spacious and it is a very pretty city. I can't make the generalisation that everyone there was rude as I did ask for directions and came accross a very polite man who was even concerned for our welfare: "Vondelpark? Well it's quite a long walk and you don't want to go there at night."

I think the bad experiences were increased ten-fold today when I went to Gare du Nord with an optimistic disposition and some faith left in humanity, only to find out that no-one had handed in my ipod which I left on the train. I suppose I can't really blame the Dutch for this...but, I bet it was a Frenchie that stole it!