Amsterdam

After my amazing trip to Belgium, Lauren and I hopped aboard a 2 hour train to the Netherlands where we would meet a group of our friends in Amsterdam.  I was trying to conserve camera battery, so I don't have as many pictures from the trip, but I will definitely remember every bit without pictures.  Amsterdam is a very picturesque town, it sort of looks like a pleasant Sleepy Hollow or HalloweenTown (Disney movie) and is located in a web of little canals which are all cross-able via cute bridges.  Biking and taking trolleys is the main form of transportation, and just walking around the town is a fun way to spend time.  We arrived very late on Sunday, and were actually placed in an alternative hotel for a night since our hostel couldn't put us up, so we went to bed without doing much of anything - and so we could prepare to meet our friends and have an active next couple of days.

At night, the streets of Amsterdam are lit in a Christmas-like fashion.

 On Monday, we had to spend time in the early afternoon finding an internet cafe and registering for Spring classes at Vandy, but after that we were ready to go explore.  We had lunch at a fun restaurant and walked through the many mazes of streets and canals.  Since we were with some of our guy friends as protection, we ventured to the Red Light District.  My jaw was probably dragging on the ground as we walked by the different "shops" - none of us could believe how crazy, yet legal, this area was in Amsterdam.  Furthermore, the legal use and sale of marijuana in Amsterdam was quite a unique thing to witness.  Although the city is infamous for marijuana and prostitution being legal, I did not feel threatened or awkward because there were plentiful of wholesome, historical, and beautiful things to see.

On Tuesday, we woke up for our museum day which went very smoothly since we had pre-ordered tickets to skip lines.  We started at The Heineken Experience, since the company is a family business born in Amsterdam.  We had an interactive tour, complete with a ride called "Brew You" where we were beer bottles going through the brewing and production process, and were given three free Heineken's with our ticket! Heineken has only four ingredients: water, barley, hops, and grade 'A' yeast - it's one of the only well known beers that I actually might enjoy drinking now and then.  The tour was a fun way to start our day, and I even got a souvenir for somebody (who is a secret for now).

Before the tour, with Heineken bikes.

After the Heineken Experience, we headed to another part of town to visit the Anne Frank House.  Taking pictures was prohibited in the house and museum, but it was an incredible place to be.  I was actually in the secret annex where Anne Frank hid with her parents, Otto and Edith, her sister, Margot, and another Jewish family.  I touched the walls in her secret room and got to see the magazine clippings and postcards she pasted onto her walls to have some sort of connection with the outside world.  I read her diary in middle school, but relearning her story and the history of her family and friends in the Holocaust was quite something, and I had chills almost the whole time.  I was able to sign a visitors book at the end after seeing her actual diary and a big map of her family tree, which actually extends to a couple first cousins thrice removed that are my age!

After visiting the museums and grabbing some dinner and waffles with ice cream, we headed back towards our hostel.  The "I Am Amsterdam" sign, a city monument and touristy photo opportunity area, was pretty close to our place, so we stopped for a dusk photo shoot.  We walked around a bit more, but went to bed early to wake up at 5am to catch our early flight.  We went straight from the airport to our program's "La Casa" where I take my linguistics class with our carry-ons.  Needless to say, I called off work and went home after class to Skype with my mom and dad and take a nap.

Climbing the I Am Amsterdam letters

Full view of the sign.

Plaza close to our hostel.

Taylor and me in a Dutch shoe on one of the main roads of town.

I loved Amsterdam! I would recommend a visit to anyone and would say to be sure to visit the two museums I saw along with others, like the Van Gogh Gallery.  My trip to the Netherlands is one I will never forget.