Amsterdam ’18

In November of 2018 I was blessed to go on a weekend trip to Amsterdam with one of my bezzie-mates Gwenny ♡

She had surprised me with this idea as my 21st birthday present because she knew how much I loved & admired Anne Frank and wanted to explore the city in which she spent majority of her life in. Apart from that, we love travelling together and Gwen + Tolz travels is such an enjoyable aspect of our friendship. It was the most incredible trip and I’d love to share some special moments from it with you:

DAY ONE: Arrivals

So the first day didn’t consist of much. We had arrived in Amsterdam quite late and were simply starving. Thankfully there was a Papa Johns closeby and we were able to get an order in right before they were about to close! Isn’t God the greatest?

DAY TWO: Anne Frank Museum, Artis Zoo & MaMa Kelly

I honestly don’t know how we were able to accomplish so much within one day, like even typing that I’m in awe! But anyways, this was such a beautiful day!!! We set out early so that we could make it to the Anne Frank Museum and God did a madness because even though we were still on the train when our time slot had elapsed, and despite the ‘strict’ terms & conditions of sticking to one’s time slot, we were able to walk in to the building – no questions asked. I was astounded and so happy I hadn’t overstressed about it.

I had actually visited the Anne Frank Museum once before, about 6 or 7 years ago when I had just moved to the U.K. My Dad – knowing my obsession with the young writer, took my sisters and I there. But despite this, I don’t think I could ever get tired of experiencing this amazing piece of History. I was filled with even more inspiration this time around as I soaked in the refurbished layout. I also loved the fact that no photography was allowed – it forced us all to be immersed in the experience and truly understand the gravity of what we were being told. Words from her reknowned diary were plastered on the wall and I couldn’t help but document some of them on my notes:

“When I write I can shake off all my cares.
My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived”
– Anne Frank

“Memories mean more to me than dresses”
– Anne Frank

The next thing on our agenda was…TAKING PICS! I mean, it wouldn’t be a Gwen + Tolz travel if we didn’t commemorate the day (& our cute outfits) without some lovely pictures of ourselves:

That iPhone X is honestly such an investment – Lmao, for the camera mainly, can’t lie that’s the main attraction 😂

Moving on…we then headed off to the zoo! Now this was a big deal and really showed me just how much Gwenny loves me because Gwen is not the biggest fan of animals 🙃 Tbvh, neither am I, I feel I have a love-hate relationship with them because a lot of them freak me out but then again I have a soft spot in my heart for them, especially when I get to visit a zoo. You see, I’ve grown up loving zoos and I think that’s mainly because my Dad is such an animal lover. Anyways, I digress. We were blessed to make it to Artis Zoo – which is well known for being one of the oldest zoos in both The Netherlands and all of Europe!

Every time I go to the zoo, I feel like I’m blessed to create a ‘bond’ with one of the animals. Like seriously speaking I leave loving a different animal and getting a plush toy to commemorate and solidify this love (#DTRing guys…if you know, you know..teehee!) This time, the elephants stole my heart BUT, I was saving my coin for dinner that evening so an elephant plush toy will have to be gotten in addition to whatever animal I end up bonding with at my next trip to the zoo!

Next up was..Dinner at MaMa Kelly! So I had stumbled upon this beautiful restaurant on my instagram one day and told Gwenny that when we went to Amsterdam I would love if we went there! And dreams truly came true! Anyone who knows me will realise why this place was such a dream for me once they see these pictures:

Everything about the restaurant was PINK! It was honestly the best thing ever and I ended up falling in love with Risotto – a dish I had always felt looked like vomit. And (she will deny this😅) but Gwenny loved it too!

DAY THREE: Bus Tour, Shopping & New York Pizza

Our final day in ‘Dam😢 (lmao I never called it this but Gwen seemed to have a field day with this phrase). On this day, we stumbled upon so much it was ridiculous. We joined a bus tour so we could see as much of the city as possible and even though the tour didn’t stop at specific sites e.g. the IAmsterdam sign, we were fortunate enough to see it anyway! Some interesting aspects of the tour were: the Gasson diamond house where we learnt about the extravagance of diamonds and explained why they’re said to be ‘a girl’s best friend’:

We also made a stop to visit the designer stores because that’s where we finna be shopping in a few years (Amen!). On the way, we saw a lot of the iconic museums e.g. the Rijksmuseum and eventually ended up trying on some Louboutins just for the bants y’know:

We also got to see the most famous, 150-year old hotel, the Amstel Hotel. I’m very proud of this picture considering it was taken from the top of our bus as I rushed to a backseat to get it:

After our tour ended, we were hungry for lunch – well more like dinner tbvh. When I tell you this is the BEST PIZZA I HAVE EVER HAD, I’m not kidding! It was too good to be true and sometimes I wish I owned a private jet so I could go back for this pizza. Yes, it was that good 🤤

We did some light shopping. I pretended I was vlogger and have a lot of our trip on video but I won’t bore you with that, LMAO. Future Youtuber maybe? 👀 #watchthispaceeeee Haha! Anyways, after shopping we made our way back to our hotel so we could catch the shuttle to the airport. Our trip had come to an end! But honestly, it was one of the most magical yet simple and incredible weekends and I am so so grateful to have a friend like Gwen who will go out of her way to make her loved ones happy. She’s a real one! And I wouldn’t have wanted to spend this trip with anyone else but her. Here’s to ‘Dam & the Memories ♡