February 10-13: Amsterdam

Taken at Rembrandtplein 

Ahhhh yes Amsterdam, know for great pancakes and a highly efficient public transportation system...just kidding. Craziest place I've ever been, but the pancakes ARE amazing. 

Travel: I traveled alone to Amsterdam because I was meeting my friends from school (Meena, Amy, Erin) there. The Florence Airport is small and convenient, comparable to Albany airport, so getting to my connecting flight in Paris was easy. I was struggling that day as I had a cold that I thought had turned into a sinus infection, yet the trip was booked and I still wanted to try to make the best of it. I pushed water hard and filled my pockets with toilet paper and paper towels in preparation for being "that guy" on the plane who makes you want to wear a surgical mask due to incessant sniffling and coughing. We all have to be that guy though sometimes. 

 I was still feeling icky when I arrived in Paris, to find that I couldn't just walk to my next gate; I had to get on bus and then find my gate. Charles De Gaulle is a HUGE airport. After a long day of traveling and waiting, I finally arrived in Amsterdam, luckily just a few minutes before the plane from Barcelona carrying my friends arrived. We found the train station which is conveniently connected to and indistinguishable from the airport, and bought a ticket to ride. As soon as we arrived in the city central, the general feeling among our group was, "this is not real life". Amsterdam isn't all about drugs and hookers; it has an energy you can feel--we were all so excited.

Accommodations: A few weeks earlier I had booked a room for Amy, Meena and I in a hostel called The Flying Pig Downtown, after it was recommended to us by our experienced traveler friend, Cate. As we entered out hostel/bar our jaws dropped. One of the coolest places I've ever been, way too cool for me but fun to experience for a weekend. The people who worked there are extremely friendly and efficient and the room wasn't THAT bad. As soon as we unlocked the door to our 6 person room, we found that all 3 of our mystery roommates were male. Of course. No worries though because they were very nice and polite and were sleeping for almost the entire weekend for some strange reason. They were from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

What we saw upon arriving at the Flying Pig. The Dutch love their cats.

Food: I ate way too much of it. Pancakes, falafel, thai food, fries, pastries, waffles you name it and it's there.

Fun: There is a lot to do in Amsterdam. There are the obvious illicit activities which I will abstain from commenting on because I hope to be employed some day. BUT there are so many museums, parks, architectural sights, and things to be experienced. We hit the major attractions, starting with the Ann Frank House at 9:15am on Friday. I had heard mixed reviews about this and wasn't thrilled to be waking up that early to do anything, but the museum was just wonderful. It's a story I've heard many times but as I walked through the museum decorated with quotes from The Diary of Anne Frank, and observed all of the images and film clips, I was enthralled. By the time I walked up the steps to the annex I felt the weight of her story as if I was hearing it for the first time. I was in tears as I walked out of the house but the museum does a great job of ending with a hopeful note. 

We went to the Van Gogh museum the following day. Luckily we had bought tickets in advance and avoided waiting in line in the freezing rain. The museum was packed and I would have much rather had the intimate viewing experience of the Ann Frank House. But, Van Gogh is Van Gogh and his paintings are amazing. The Museum included work from his influences and teachers so that I left feeling like I better understand Van Gogh's work and life. Similar to the Ann Frank House, the museum was decorated with quotes, exerts, passages etc. from Van Gogh and his brother Theo, lending a sense of intimacy to the museum and allowing patrons to read the story of his life as they viewed his life's work.

proof that we went

From there we went to the Heineken Experience, which our Norwegian roommate accurately described as one long advertisement for one product. Regardless it was awesome, sort of like Disney Land for people who love beer. We took plenty of goofy pictures and even ran into some Michigan friends. 

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Greena 

Next we Went to Waterlooplein to see the Jewish Quarter and the Jewish History Museum. The Museum was once a synagogue and chronicled the experiences of Jews living in Amsterdam from the late middle ages. After this we went home because we were sick of marching around in the cold rainy weather that plagued our entire trip.

Trams were a great break from the rain

We spent most of the 3 nights that we were there just walking around and witnessing the craziness of the city. Of course we had to see the red-light district which is VERY busy at night. Amsterdam is one of those places that requires you to abandon all of your judgement and sense of embarrassment at the airport . Still, all of my naive expectations were exceeded in ways that I couldn't have imagined. 

A few things I learned:

Dutch is a vile sounding language. I'm sorry, it just is. Too much throat clearing involved in speaking it.

Hookers are real.

People from Northern Europe speak great English.

The Dutch really know their way around a pastry.

Beer is 94% water.

Van Gogh shot himself in the chest.

You need to bring your own towel to a hostel.

A sinus infection won't stop you from having an amazing weekend in Amsterdam as long as you have lot's of water, toilet paper in your pocket at all times and a good attitude :) 

Side-note: my dad told me I need to make my blog more organized. Hence, the bolded section headers.