Amsterdam!

Sorry this has taken a bit longer than expected, but I've been really tired lately... Anyways, I loved Amsterdam! It was probably my favorite place from spring break. We did a lot here and yet there was still so much we could have done. So many interesting museums that I wanted to check out, but not enough time. We flew into Amsterdam Monday morning after staying in the Barcelona airport overnight. Luckily we were able to catch the 9:30 bus to Amsterdam, which gave us a bit of time before our walking tour. Otherwise, we would have been carrying our bags with us on the tour. We made it to our hostel pretty easily since we just had to look for a big science museum called Nemo that was in the shape of half a boat. It was really easy to spot, so we didn't really have any trouble finding the hostel. Our hostel was a boat which was kind of neat. I can now say that I stayed on a boat haha. The rooms were tiny, but the beds were super comfortable, which was really nice. We settled in a bit and then made our way over to the central station where our walking tour was supposed to leave from. We got there at 1:02 and were told that the walking tour had already left. Two minutes late! Luckily we found out where they were headed and made our way there. Eventually we caught up with them and met our tour guide, Julian. He was from Australia and was very energetic and nice. He was a great tour guide. I learned a lot about the city and felt like I got to see a ton.
In Amsterdam, names of everything are pretty straight forward. Even the name of the city speaks for itself. It started off as a dam on the Amstel river. There you go. Another example is that we saw a really old church on the tour. It is called "The Old Church." Once you learn a bit of Dutch, you can look at street signs and the names of buildings and know what they were used for or what you are near. We walked throughout Amsterdam, seeing the Jewish district, the red light district, a small community for single women over 30, and many other things. It was really cool to see all the different aspects and parts of Amsterdam that make it Amsterdam. Julian told us that a while ago, Amsterdamers didn't have last names because they just knew each other by their professions. You would know your friend Jan as Jan the Baker. When the Germans took over Amsterdam, they had citizens fill out paperwork that asked for their first and last name. Since no one had last names they just made them up. Sensible people just put their profession as their last name. Others decided to have a little fun and put down a silly name. For example, someone would put down "little poop" as their last name. To this day there are still kids running around with some of those last names. Can you imagine going to school and having the teacher call out your name: Jan "little poop"? I thought that was pretty funny. At the end of the tour, Julian showed us what is called the "Homo Monument." It is a monument for all the people in the world who have been discriminated against because of their sexuality. I really liked that because it is the only one in the world and it really goes to show how tolerant Amsterdam is. I think that was one of the things I really liked about this city. You can be who you really are and you are accepted for that. As long as you're not hurting anyone else, you're fine. I like that they have something for everyone and I immediately felt comfortable in this city. The one thing you have to watch out for are bikers. They are crazy! They will ring their bell to warn you to get out of the way or else they will hit you. It took a little getting used to to look out for bikes instead of cars. At least the cars stop for you while you're crossing the street.
After the tour, we went to the Heineken Brewery where we got a tour of that. As we were going in, a girl in our group, Marissa, got hit by a biker. She was getting out of the way and didn't make it in time. The guy gave her the dirtiest look ever and stared her down a bit. Only after about a minute or two of this did he finally ask if she was okay. It was insane! I couldn't believe that someone would get that upset over being slowed down on their bike. We made it inside and went through the brewery. It was really cool to see how they make the beer and what makes it different from other beers. We went to dinner after and then walked back through the red light district so we could see it at night. It was really interesting to see the women tapping on the windows trying to get guys to come over. It was odd and a bit shocking at first, but then I got used to it and realized that Amsterdam is known for its tolerance. This is part of it. There are no pimps, which means that these women are their own bosses. They are called sex workers, not prostitutes and they have to be 21 in order to do this.
On Tuesday, we went to the Anne Frank house in the morning. I'm really glad I did that. After reading the Anne Frank diary, it was neat to stand in the actual rooms that she talks about. It made it that much more real. One part really got to me at the end. There was a video of a couple of Anne's classmates talking. One of them said that it was really sad to go to the school reunion because there was hardly anyone there. They had all been killed during the holocaust. I just stood there shaking my head. It really hit home for me there. I started thinking to if I went to one of my school reunions and saw barely anyone there and knew that it was because of something so horrendous. It really is unbelievable to think that something this bad happened.
After that we made our way to the Van Gogh museum. On our way we came across the IAMSTERDAM and took pictures in front of it. Then we found a waffle stand and got some. They were delicious! I want another one right now! After we ate those, we went to the Van Gogh museum. It was pretty cool to see a lot of his paintings and learn a lot about him. They also showed some of the other painters that inspired him. This museum had 3 or 4 floors to it, so by the end I was pretty tired and ready to go back to the hostel and chill out for a bit. We decided to get some lunch before though and got a recommendation to go to a place nearby called Saloon. It was really good and cheap, so I'm glad we went. It took us an hour to get back to the hostel, which was a bit insane. Once we got back to the hostel, we chilled out for a while. Four of the girls we met up with in Amsterdam left to go to Prague a day earlier than us, so we decided to go to an improv comedy show called BOOM Chicago. It was alright. A couple of the comedians were really funny, but there were a couple that I didn't find funny at all. I'm glad I went though to say that I experienced it. Unfortunately, Katie ended up getting pretty sick that night. We think she got food poisoning from the salad she ate. The next day she was still feeling really weak, so she decided to stay at the hostel and do her own thing. Meanwhile, we went to rent bikes and ride them around the city. We were going to experience Amsterdam the way Amsterdamers do. Riding bikes in Amsterdam isn't as easy as it looks. Stopping is hard, especially if someone walks right in front of you. I now understood why Amsterdamers are so crazy on their bikes. It was a lot faster to get around on a bike and it was nice to have a break from walking. We went to the Waterloo Market, which is a second hand market. It was really cool and I ended up getting a ring from it. If I had more room in my backpack to bring stuff back with me, I might have gotten a couple more things. Then we went to the flower market, which was really close. Nanny would have gone crazy in this market. Every type of flower you could ever imagine was sold here. We tried to find the food market, but didn't have much time so instead went to find a pancake place. We had all been craving pancakes for a while and decided it was necessary to get them. Of course out of a million different kinds to try I go for the really sweet one. Pecan-caramel ice cream with whipped cream and mocha/caramel sauces. I look back on it now and wonder why I didn't get a savory one or at least one that was a little less sweet. Oh well. It was still good. Then we went to a photo museum, which was neat. I liked the floor that had New York Times Magazine photos. Some of them were really cool and some were really powerful. There was one in particular that caught my eye and I thought it captured the war really well. We brought the bikes back and walked to our hostel to get our stuff. We then made our way to central station to catch the train to the airport. It was time to say goodbye for now to Amsterdam. Someday I will definitely be making my way back there. :-)