It’s adventure time! Trip number one of 2024 and I am buzzing. In 2023 I managed six adventures and with the competitive human that I am, I wanna try and beat it this year! I’ve got a few planned already and some more ideas for a few more but if I can get to 30 countries by the end of this year I’ll be elated (currently on 22 so got a bit of a mission!).

I planned three days in the Netherlands so wanted to make sure I made the most of the time that I had, I had a whole agenda planned from the minute I landed! Touchdown and straight to my hotel to checkin, the airport was super close to the city centre via public transport so it didn’t take long at all to swing through customs, jump on a train and get going.

Stop number one was MOCO Amsterdam. Any country I go to, if there is a contemporary art museum, I’m heading there. I went to a MOCO in Barcelona last year and loved it, so was very excited to go to it’s partner museum. The art in these places is incredible. Some people probably just think what on earth but I love looking at all the details and reading about the artwork, and even listening to the audio for some of them! I could spend ages walking around, sitting and observing, and just ‘being’ there. Some really cool Banksy pieces were there, as well as some other incredible artists, so really enjoyed spending some time here.

Day two involved a visit to Anne Frank’s House, a canal cruise and a visit to the Heineken Experience, amongst some general exploring. First up, Anne Frank’s House. It was truly incredible. No photos allowed inside so the only photo I got was of the front, and there were sooo many people here taking the same pic! It really was breathtaking though and an experience I will never forget. The first part wandering around all of the museum was really insightful and learnt a lot, and then heading up the stairs and seeing the spaces in real life really was something else. I could have spent ages just being there. The museum finished off with the opportunity to see some of Anne Frank’s diaries and learn more about them. An expereince I will never forget.

I had some time to kill in the afternoon where I hadn’t booked anything and just had some explore time factored in, so jumped on a last minute canal cruise around the city. It cost me around €15 and was well worth it. It took around an hour and went out to see some of the sights before heading back in a loop through the different canals, where some key areas were pointed out. It was really chilled out and allowed some time to sit and listen rather than going at 100mph which I seem to get into a habit of doing sometimes.

Last stop of the day was the Heineken Experience. I booked the last tour of the night hoping that it would be less busy (not a fan of crowds) and so that I’d have some free time to wander and explore at my pace. I also sometimes really struggle for things to do in the evenings whilst I’m away, in some places, I’ve found bar crawls, theatre performances or other bits to get involved in, but other times, there hasn’t really been much and I’ve ended up going back to where I’m staying and putting a film on, which isn’t a bad thing, but also makes me feel like I’m not making the most of my time I have.

Anyway, back to the experience. I had a really fun time wandering around and seeing all the different bits and pieces, learning about the history of Heineken, and having a beer or two! It said that the experience would take around 2 hours to complete, I maybe managed just under 1.5 hours, and there was a cool immersive experience at the end which was fun. It filled an evening for me which was great.

Day three I checked out and jumped on a train to Rotterdam. I realised how close it actually was to Amsterdam via public transport and just had to do it. I didn’t really have a plan of what I wanted to do here, but ran out of things I wanted to do and see in Amsterdam so figured I may as well make the most of exploring a different part of the Netherlands. I ventured to check out Kijk-Kubus, the famous yellow houses, and also went to Markthal, which was full on incredible food and drink, I really had to try and refrain from trying everything! I also took the time to just enjoy having a wander around the city to see what it had to offer. There was some really cool street art and a nice harbour area which I spent some time hanging out at.

I’m never shy about giving honest opinions about the places I visit, and if I’m being really truthful, both Amsterdam and Rotterdam weren’t really all they were cracked up to be! I definitely don’t regret my trip here and I’m glad that I’ve been, there were some things I was super keen to see and do and I’m happy that I’ve been able to do them, but I won’t be rushing back like I’ve said I’d love to for other places I have been.

A late night flight home has meant a bit of time at the airport to sit and catchup on some of my posts and get going. Next trip pending, 2024 is going to be a good one! See ya soon, Mads x