Amsterdam

Just getting to Amsterdam was an adventure! Jess and I were supposed to meet at Liz's house so that we could all split the price of the taxi since the buses weren't running that early in the morning. This required that I left the house before five in the morning! Once we were there we went to call a taxi and they weren't running yet either. It turns out that we should have called the night before. So what we ended up doing was running to the nearest bike rental stop and then biking as fast as we could across town. Once we reached downtown we returned the bikes and ran the rest of the way to the train station. The funicular wasn't running yet so we had to run zig zag down a huge hill. When we made it to the last stretch we were running like we were finishing a race and we made it with five minutes to spare! After that, sitting on a train for hours was very nice. Then when we reached the Paris train station for our connection we had only a half an hour to switch to the other train station! There was a huge line for metro tickets so we went to front and gave the guy money to buy ours in addition to his. Then we literally ran through the metro station, found the correct line and sat out of breath panting on the metro, impatient to arrive. And to our amazement we actually made our train! So after much running, biking and swimming (okay not swimming, but it'd complete the triathlon!) we made it to Amsterdam on time! We found our hostel which was called the Flying Pig. It was by far the best hostel that I have stayed in this whole trip! There were cats lounging about, they had a sweet DJ and it was all so youthful and fun!

Once we were settled in we walked around the city a bit. The very first thing that I saw there was a miniature statue of liberty, which I found ironic. The architecture is different than anything I've ever seen and I absolutely adored it! The city is formed around canals in a half circle. The houses don't have yards, but look at them!

We tried some fries and passed through the red light district. What a culture shock! There were women standing there in lingerie (the chambers actually have red lights) and children would just walk pass it like it was no big deal. The roads smelled pretty badly of weed since it is legal in Amsterdam. But outside of that district, the town is so charming and old fashioned that I loved it! We went to cafe called The Bulldog which is the most famous there and played some Jinga.

The next day we walked around the town a bit to start out the morning. It was beautiful with all the fall leaves floating in the river.

Our first touristic stop was to see Anne Franks House. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside. Also all the furniture was removed when they were discovered and Otto Frank decided he did not want it to be remade, so it was really just empty rooms, but the history was alive in them. In Anne Frank's room all of the photos and magazine clippings that she had glued to the wall were there. It was wonderful and sad in these circumstances to have a story that I had read brought the life. It was a pretty decently sized space- until one accounts for the amount of people and the fact that they couldn't open the windows or leave the house. At the end of the tour I was able to see the original journal and other notebooks of hers as well. I did sneak one photo in the museum of the moving bookcase which always fascinated me.

From the outside

Next we went to the VanGogh museum where I got to follow the progression of his life through his paintings. Starting with his influences and then watching and he progressed into his own style. It was very cool to see how his style was effected by the things in his life. I snuck a couple photos again.

We all went out to lunch after that and I tried some Dutch pancakes. It was very good, but a lot thinner than I had thought!

Next we saw the Amsterdam equivalent of the Hollywood sign and had a miniature photo-shoot!

(I amsterdam)

I am at the top of the m with Sheridan

Next we did our tourist shopping looking for postcards and such and then it started to rain so we had to take cover by stopping for some hot chocolate :) After that we had a girls nice by going to the House of Bols. It is this sweet interactive museum where you taste and smell different things and try to guess the scent/ flavor. Then at the end you chose a mixed drink based on what you liked and they make it right in front of you! They had a dance room, a book of secret recipes, a lounging room, a colored hallway of scents, a room for juggling bottles and other such fun things. Also it turns out that Bols was friends with Rembrandt who would pay off his alcohol debt with his paintings, so there were a few of those inside.

The room of scents

Look at those freshly made beauties :D

Girls night (Look at those beautiful blonds!)

The next day we finished off our stay in Amsterdam with a private canal tour on an old antique boat. Our tour guide was from Chicago ironically. On the tour we saw the smallest house in Amsterdam which is so tiny and narrow that they have to pull down the stairs to the second floor like an attic staircase, but there were people inside! We also saw a house with 6 statues of heads outside. Legend has it that six burglars tried to enter and the nanny chopped off all of their heads. Then the Dad put them on stakes outside the house to warn off others. We also saw an animal shelter for cats that is a boat. They just chill, floating on the river all day :) The tour really was a perfect way to finished off the city.