Amsterdam

Hello all,

So last weekend was my first time leaving Paris for a trip! I had such a great time despite some transportation setbacks, and the midterm that was waiting for me upon my return. So here is a breakdown of the weekend:

Friday: Since I was going to be in Amsterdam with Courtney on my actual birthday, my friends took me out to dinner Friday night! Even my friend Melanie was visiting from London so it was so nice to have her there! We went out to dinner in the Latin Quarter at a Greek restaurant. I got a Greek salad, chicken kebab, and caramel creme! Then, they informed the little Greek band playing that it was my birthday and they pulled out a platform, made me stand on it with a candle, while they played happy birthday for me! After our dinner, we went to a nearby bar where a bunch more of my friends from the BC program met us! It was so fun even though it meant that I only got 4 hours of sleep that night!

Saturday: SUCH an early morning. I arrived at the train station at 8 am for our train and quickly found Courtney. We got on the train without trouble but unfortunately, when we stopped in Brussels, Belgium, we were supposed to change conductors and the new one wasn't there-- we waited 45 minutes for him and continued on our trip. Later, while we were in the countryside of the Netherlands, the train "lost it's signal" (no idea what that means) but we ended up getting into Amsterdam two hours late-- a 5 hour train ride instead of 3 hours! Courtney and I checked into our hostel which is right in the middle on the city center and got some sandwiches. That afternoon, we walked around the city and covered a lot of ground... Amsterdam is surprisingly a tiny city! We decided to go on a Canal Tour and got some nice views of the canals and the North Sea. The houses are so cute in Amsterdam (pictures below). They also have 2,500 houseboats that floats on the sides of the canal where people actually live! We returned to our hostel, showered and got ready to go out to dinner! One thing about Amsterdam-- the Dutch are much nicer than the French, they all speak English but do so happily, not like we are putting them out by not speaking Dutch! After dinner, we perused the Red Light District a bit but it was pretty gross/trashy and we returned pretty early to our hostel since we were both so exhausted from the night before!

Sunday: We woke up and checked out of our hostel and got breakfast-- the BEST waffles ever! Imagine a waffle, dipped in chocolate, covered in whipped cream and strawberries YUM! Then, we took the "Tram" to the Anne Frank House to see the museum. The line was about an hour long, but it was worth it-- such a powerful museum! It's amazing to walk through the Secret Annex and see the posters Anne hung on her wall. It made the diary so real-- especially seeing the real red, plaid diary in one of the rooms. The stories are horrible but it was inspiring to see that after the horrors she saw and everything she went through, her final words were still, "And in the end, I still believe that there is good in all people." After that museum, we explored the area around her house, grabbed some hot dogs, and I bought a couple souvenirs (postcards & a nice warm hat!) We took the Tram again to the Van Gogh museum which is huge! We spend a good couple hours walking through each room, which was separated by each place he lived while he painted (Paris, Arles, Martinique, Tahiti etc.) My favorite paintings were the sunflowers and the Japanese cherry blossoms. Next, we took the Tram back to the train station, walked around for a while, grabbed some bagels for the ride back (yes they have bagels! +1 for the Dutch!) We then sat in a Starbucks until our train left and actually studied since we both had an exam the next day! The train ride home seemed like it would go without issue until we got to Brussels and there was some type of issue with our train (I don't know what issue because they only announced it in Dutch!) so we followed the crowd to another train heading for Paris and arrived in Paris and hour late!

Overall, I was not pleased with the train rides, issues both ways but that's Europe for you. I really enjoyed Amsterdam, more so during the day when you could appreciate how quaint the buildings and canals are. During the night, its completely different, interesting to see, but at the same time, you can't help but feel that all the bars and drugs have lessened the scenery. When on the train it was easy to pass the windmills and farms and remember that I was in the Netherlands but in Amsterdam, it's easy to forget! I'm glad I got to see the city but I had no idea it was so small- you can truly see everything in two days... I don't feel like I missed out being there 2 days and 1 night! Hope everyone enjoyed their week-- enjoy the pictures below!

The Dutch have far too many vowels for proper pronunciation. Example: the directions to my hostel read: From Central Station, follow Damrack until you reach Ouderkerksplein, then take a left onto Warmoesstraat.

Courtney and I at the famous "I AMsterdam" sign outside the Van Gogh museum!
Me in my new hat-- The Netherlands are a bit nippy in March! The ear flaps on my hat came in handy!
One of my favorite Van Gogh paintings outside the museum...no pictures inside :O(
One of the houseboats that I mentioned above. People really live there as their permanent home!
Anne Frank House/Museum. This is the front, the back was the secret annex so you can't even tell there's anything back there since all the windows were completely covered.
My waffle and I... this tasty treat merited a photo

Our hostel room right in the Center... walking distance from the Red Light District as well... haha
My future Dutch home... their houses are so skinny!

View of a Museum boat from our canal tour!
Taken from a bridge on the canal... I didn't know Amsterdam had so many canals! Must be overshadowed by Venice...
Big fan of the Dutch houses if you can't tell by the number of pictures I took...

Tourism

Hello! Sorry for the lack of blogs the last two weeks. I was sick for about a week and nothing that I did really merited any type of blog. I mostly went to class that week, and slept a lot. I was feeling better by last weekend though, and decided to do a little tourism around the city!

On Friday night, after class I met up with Courtney. We hung out at her host family's apartment then heading over to Montmartre, the artist "village within a city" of Paris. Montmartre actually has some beautiful views of Paris because it is so high up, on a huge hill at the edge of the city. From there, there is a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower, and all of Paris lit up by night. We walked around the area and watched artists painting portraits then Courtney got some gelato and I went for the ham and cheese crepe! After Montmartre, we walked down to Pigalle, where the famous Moulin Rouge is located.

Saturday, I got up and met Renee on the edge of the city at a huge flea market that she heard about. It was pretty cool, lots of scarves, shoes, jewelry, and clothes, but I'm not a huge flea market person so I didn't get anything there. Afterwards, we headed to Pere Lachaise Cemetary which is a famous cemetary in Paris where Edith Piaf, Moliere, Chopin, Jim Morrison, and Oscar Wilde are buried. It was a beautiful day so we walked around most of the afternoon, stumbling upon some very famous tombs! The coolest was Oscar Wilde's. Since he was a such a romantic writer, as a thank you for his work, woman put on lipstick and kiss his grave. His huge headstone is absolutely covered in lipstick marks and comments such as "You are my everything." It was also in the movie Paris, Je T'aime for those of you who have seen it.

Then this past week I had a break (though I didn't even know it!) My coordinator happened to forget to tell our school that we had a break so it was too late to make plans. However, my roommate Amy has her sister visiting so I visited some touristy sites with them this week. My favorite was the Jardin de Luxembourg, which will be absolutely beautiful in the spring when all the flowers are blooming. Right now, there are chairs around a fountain to sit and enjoy the sun. After the Garden, we headed over to a food exposition that had specific foods from different parts of France (Alsace, Nice, Toulouse, Calais etc. etc.) I got some ham that is apparently from the south but it tasted the same to me! Then I got some chocolate ice cream in a waffle CUP (so good). We were so full afterwards, that all we could do was drag ourselves home and watch a movie.

Anways, here are some pictures from the past couple weeks. Up next weekend: Amsterdam!


This is a picture of the Pantheon, near the Jardin de Luxembourg. According to the title on the building, it is where good men are buried. They are currently in the process of moving Albert Camus to this site.


The picturesque Jardin de Luxembourg. It was so sunny out this day, but unfortunately very cold, so we only lasted about an hour. But come spring, I'll be frequenting this park with a book and and a baguette (clearly channeling my inner French)
This is Oscar Wilde's grave at Pere Lachaise cemetary. All the mark are the lipstick kisses of woman who have visited the grave. My friend Renee and I left our mark on the side!
Oscar and I. "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. " (The only Wilde quote I can remember!)
The grave... again :-)
Edith Piaf's grave... she sings "La Vie en Rose" for those who don't know who she is :)
Some of the small monouments to remember those who died in the internment camps during the German occupation in World War II.
Very intense statues... this was in the back of the cemetary so it was eerily quiet....
Jim Morrison's grave
Chopin's grave
This was on one of the newer tombs. The bottom reads: "Tears of love for those who are longer"
The infamous Moulin Rouge
Artists corner in Montmartre
My attempt at an artsy photo... ended up looking more like the Prideland in the Lion King than Paris...
The view from Montmartre
The Sacre Coeur Church at the top of the stairs