City of Lights: 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.