Here I am, at Dan’s place in Amsterdam and about to party for our third night in a row in the city of sin. In the past 3 days, we have seen so much craziness, I don’t even know where to start. Dan is our host we are couch surfing with, a Dutch guy who has welcomed us to Amsterdam with a jager shot at one of the two bars he works at. He has a big cat called Monster who is striking a pose right here. You’re all class baby.

The night we flew into the Dam, we celebrated in true Amsterdam style and sat by the canal in Suzy’s coffeeshop sampling the local green stuff along with some vino’s. We live in the moment while travelling, you have to. So last night we experienced the red light district and ventured out to a proper Amsterdam sex show. We asked what time it started and was told that it was “non stop”… which we later found out that it really was non stop. We paid 45 euros for the show which included any 4 drinks.

They have the best idea - to only let every person have just 4 drinks, so essentially they will leave once they have finished these drinks and allow more punters in - its also a good way of ensuring that no dodgy guys stay in there all night watching the show. I imagine it would feel pretty awkward without a drink in your hand.

When it started with the same couples all over again, it was time for us to leave. There was a group of 5 of us, Scottish, Dutch, American and Kiwi, all friends from Edinburgh plus our couchsurfing host Dan. The girls eyes when they danced were so vacant, like they were so detached from what they were doing.

We wandered along the red light district where every window has a different (almost naked) lady enticing the guys in to have sex. Those with the curtains closed are ‘occupied’  and the curtains come open again for business as soon as they’ve finished. I was told that only 5% of the customers are Dutch, lots of foreigners. Dan was telling us he walks down there to do his laundry and doesn’t even look into the windows as he’s thinking about trivial day to day stuff. Sex is everywhere here. From living here, you become almost immune to it.

You don’t have to worry about being hit by cars when walking the streets here, it’s the BIKES you have to worry about. The main mode of transport seems to be bicycles - ranging from old bikes you would imagine back in the 70’s to funky bright coloured bikes. I love the pace here, everyone’s relaxed during the day (which might have something to do with the constant smell of weed in the air), nothing’s a worry and everything is calm. But by night, Amsterdam comes alive. It’s quite unique.

So we’ve spent the last 3 nights partying it up in the Dam, what a place. And met some very interesting characters. So many stories, and this is such a colourful place.

Me and the girls are off to Munich in the morning in a very hungover state for a 7 and a half hour train ride.

Let the madness continue.

Okay so it is 12.55am in the morning and I am procrastinating going to bed. I’m not really sure why.

We have two hungarian girls couch surfing with us for the weekend called Szivlie and Boge. They partied with us last night and we are going to the Forrest Cafe for brekkie tomorrow before they head home. I am totally utterly loving the concept of couch surfing and have really started getting into it. The concept is simple - when you travel, stay with locals. It’s such an enriching way to travel, staying with a local means they will take you away from the tourist traps and into the real culture/life. You will also often meet their friends and learn about their culture.

As Couch Surfing puts it: ‘we seek to create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding.’  Of course, there are people who join it for the main reason of free accommodation all around the world. Whoever came up with the idea + created the website is a genius.

It’s all about trust and a little bit of karma, and it gives me hope that there are a lot of good people in this world. And of course, you can check the person’s references before requesting to stay. I just love it. Check it out here.

Its now 1am, better get to bed, I need my beauty sleep.