I (am)sterdam

At the beginning of this semester on our trip to Sevilla, we met a girl from Amsterdam named Guusje (we call her Holly from Holland as we could not form the sounds that make up her actual name) who told us if we were ever in her city that she could put us up.  So, my roommate Steph and her friend Leah took her up on her offer and we able to spend the weekend with a true Dutch.

We got to the airport at around 1:00am and got to spend a lovely evening attempting to sleep cramped up on the benches outside our gate.  Our flight left at 5:55am and needless to say we all headed straight for the coffee upon arriving in Amsterdam.  Right away, all three of us fell in love with the city.  The canals and houses that are slightly crooked that surround them and the bikes everywhere you look provide for some beautiful aesthetics.  As if that weren't enough to capture our hearts, the Dutch people were honestly the most friendly and happy people I have ever met.  They all speak English and were more than happy to help us find our way and go out of their way to ask if we needed anything.

Canals and Crooked Houses

Bikes everywhere!

After coffee, we walked around for a little bit just enjoying the atmosphere of the city and then went to meet up with Holly after she got off work at 1:00pm.  Her house is about a 15min bus ride from the center of the city which really wasn't too bad.  We put our stuff down in her cute, little apartment and then she took us to get Rookwurst (a very typical Dutch food, Rook meaning smoked)  and from there we went walked to the Van Gogh museum.  The paintings were obviously mostly by Van Gogh, a Dutch post-impressionist, but also included Manet, Monet and even an exhibition on Picasso in Paris which was really awesome to see.

Van Gogh Paintings

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After that, we decided to walk to meet up with Holly at one of the squares for dinner so that we could take in more of the city.  We got pasta and then went over to the Red Light District just to see what all the tourist hub was about. That was an interesting experience to say the least and one time through was definitely enough of a "cultural" experience for me.  At this point, it was around 9pm and while in Madrid, we'd be eating dinner, it was time to go out on the town.  We went to a Dutch birthday party with Holly at one of the bars in the center of town and got to meet a whole bar full of Dutch people.  Once again, they proved to be super nice and fun to hang out with.  There were a lot of blondes, a rare sight in Spain, and I have never felt so short in my life (and that's saying something) as the average girl was around 5'8 and I don't think I saw a guy under 6'2.

The next morning, we woke up early and went to the Anne Frank house to try to avoid the inevitably long lines and only had to wait about 45 minutes which really wasn't too bad.  While in line, we talked to the people behind us and one of the women was from LA and had two kids in college who were planning to study abroad.  We chatted with her for awhile about our experience and then she surprised us by paying for our tickets, which was so nice of her.  The museum itself was an amazing experience.  I read the Diary of Anne Frank in 3rd grade for the first time and have been interested in her story ever since and I loved being able to see the house where she actually was in hiding.  The museum was super well done with a good balance of reading, artifacts, and video supplements and personal testimonies from Otto Frank, Anne's father.

After the museum, we went and got the first bagels that we have seen since coming to Europe and supplemented by Chai tea lattes, we were in 7th heaven.  After filling our stomachs, we set out for a warm, sunny day in the city.  We walked around and went to the flower markets and saw the colorful tulips that Holland is famous for.  We meandered through town and wound up at a park where we hung out and people watched for awhile.  Later, we went on a tour of the Heineken Brewery which was really cool.  We learned how Heineken was made and went on this cool 4-D virtual experience of the whole process which was really fun and interesting.  At the end, we got two Heinekens as a part of the deal and enjoyed those before setting out for dinner.

Flower Market along one of the canals

People watching in the park

        

The e's in Heineken are called the smiling e's (good marketing)

Water + Barley + Hops+ Yeast = Heineken

 I left Amsterdam at 3:30am and with a lot of help from the locals managed to make it to the airport in time to catch my 6:00am flight which of course had multiple delays.  I would like to thank our friend Guusje for taking us in for the weekend and showing us her beautiful city, which I am now in love with..

Farewell Amsterdam...Until we meet again!