I missed you guys soo much! First off, I would like to wish you all a very happy new year filled with peace, positivity and laughter. In case you haven’t read the last few posts from 2018, I announced a small break from my blog over the new year as I was travelling to Amsterdam and I thought why not share my trip with all of you, including some of the things I got for myself.
Just a quick side note before I forget: I haven’t yet posted about what I got for Christmas yet because I still need to meet my best friend to give her hers and her boyfriend’s gifts so I’ll wait for that and then publish the post, but in the meantime…
And can we admire the beauty of this photo?! This is the Alps as we passed over them on our way to Eindhoven Airport…
DAY 1
I woke up at around 4am because the flight was at 8am. I needed to pack the last few things before heading to the airport. Once we were all checked out of the airport, we headed to Efteling Park, – luggage and all – and spent the whole day there. I probably had the greatest time in a park ever that day. One of the rides gave me such a fright the photo taken was me crying with my eyes closed! Everyone had a laugh at that, including me. It was terrifying, to say the least! The park’s theme is mystical and forest-y (it’s not a word but there’s no other way to describe it). Before went to the hotel, we watched a mesmerising fountain show, which was very beautiful and colourful.
DAY 2
We were all pretty knackered after spending a whole day at Efteling Park, so we spent most of the day. In the evening, we went to a place where we could play VR games. I wasn’t the best – in fact I was the worst in my team – but it was a lot of fun and an unforgettable experience!
DAY 3
This day was the reason we actually planned the holiday in the first place: New Years’ Eve! The original plan was going partying at a very swanky and exclusive club and then head to one of the many bridges of Amsterdam (just several minutes away from the club) to see the fireworks and actually put up some ourselves!
Things didn’t exactly go to plan because all fireworks were sold out so we didn’t get to use anything, and we only spent several minutes at the club and didn’t go back in. But we still saw the fireworks and it was magical and out of this world. The fireworks people put up themselves went up until TWO IN THE MORNING. Seriously, we arrived at our hotel room at 1am and they were still going on!!
I was very tired on that day so I didn’t take too many photos.
DAY 4
Our last full day! /sad face/ After the previous night, we decided to just take things easy and not do any extravagant things. I had some girl time and went souvenir shopping (correction: only I did a spree!) and then headed to Body Worlds – which was amazing! – before meeting back with the boys. Afterwards, we went to a bar which had a Glow Golf course under it and it was… interesting. Again, I wasn’t the best but we had a laugh and it was a great night, like any other.
I won’t be including pictures of Body Worlds because it might upset some people and there’s some graphic content within it like dissected brains and skeletons. But in case you’re intrigued, everything displayed in the museum is REAL. Exhibitions consist of actual dead people and it impressed me a lot at how well-preserved they were. There are interesting facts with every display about the body and diseases. I learned a lot and some displays were… interesting, in a very weird way.
“DAY 5”
I put it in quotation marks because it’s the day we all travelled back home. We woke up at around 5am to pack the last few things before we waited for our taxi driver to drive us to Eindhoven airport.
Overall, it was one of the greatest holidays ever. I’ll definitely visit Amsterdam again in the (hopefully near) future.
HAUL
In the banner of the post, which you can read above, I listed that I will include a “mini haul” of what I got. There are some things I didn’t find online to link them in case you wanted to buy them, and I’m feeling quite poorly so I won’t post any photos, just the links, and then list the things I didn’t find and describe them as best as I could.
- Pink wireless Bluetooth headphones from Primark
- A 2-pack cucumber facial cleansing wipe from Primark
- The book William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope (which is basically A New Hope written in Shakespearean) from a comic store
- A large n.43 Vintage Blossom jar candle in the scent ‘lily & honeysuckle’ from Primark
- A black portable fast-charging power bank from Primark
- A small Newton’s cradle by Legami Milano from YoYo! Fresh Tea Bar
- Glow-in-the-dark band-aids from Yoyo! Fresh Tea Bar
- Black Friends hoodie with How you doin’ (a.k.a. the most iconic Friends quote ever) written on the top left from Primark
- Blue denim high-waisted ankle grazer skinny jeans from Primark
- Grey cropped Friends jumper with the infamous logo (and the dots are tiny pompoms!) from Primark
- Two pairs of plain joggers in black and grey from Primark
- A striped Harry Potter nightdress from Primark
Products not listed above include:
- Two fanny packs: one plain with two zippers and another one with one zipper and a chain across the middle/ The first one is for casual outings and the latter for more formal occasions.
- A collapsible shopper bag with Amsterdam-related things all over it, such as tulips, the name written and bicycles.
- A Totoro coin purse from a comic store.
- A Slytherin jumper with green and grey horizontal stripes and the house crest on the left side.
- Several souvenirs, pairs of socks and round cotton pads.
I hope you enjoyed this post, apologies for it being very long and full of photos but I believe pictures speak for themselves in my case. If you’re thinking of travelling to Amsterdam in the future let me know in the comments below! Where are you planning to visit? How long will you be staying? Let’s start a conversation!
Honestly Claire 