Amsterdam!

Taken by some tourists on bikes. I asked them to take this photo after they had me take their picture on bikes.

The trip to Amsterdam took place November 12-16. Though the first and the last day were all spend travelling.

When you are feeling a little sad, what better way to cure your ails than to go to Amsterdam? My parents asked me if there was a school trip I could go on to cheer me up on Wednesday, and sure enough that weekend there was one to Amsterdam (and it was £30 off since they were trying to fill up spaces last minute).

We left on Thursday at around 7 and did not arrive in the city until about 10 the next day (keeping in mind that Amsterdam is an hour ahead of Swansea). To get there we traveled by bus and ferry. 

 

Late night ferry ride.

They were huge.

I slept the whole way there, so luckily I was pretty energized. I was with another American girl and my flatmate from Canada. There was some time between when we arrived and when we had to check back to the hostel to get our keys. This meant we got to go out and explore the city for a bit. Mainly we just got a feel for the city, but also made our way to a cheese shop.

 The genuine article. Dutch cheese. And might I say, it was fantastic. This was just a tiny little store that we all had to squeeze into, but it was definitely still fun. I found it interesting that the majority of their cheeses were not refrigerated. It would seem that a lot of commonly refrigerated items are not necessary to refrigerate. Like eggs. You buy them in the UK stacked in an aisle as opposed to in a cold case.

Of course there were the amazing views. This is Amsterdam after all. 

Just the regular city landscape.

Canals. Canals. Canals are everywhere! :)

It was such nice weather too.

I wish I knew what these buildings acctually were instead of say, "That's pretty."
But we weren't on a tour and had to be our own uneducated guides.

I did learn that this is the Royal Palace in the Dam Square.

 We went back to the hostel to check into our rooms after a basic look of the city. I had heard some good and bad about the Hans-Brinker, but mainly that it wasn't as bad as it was advertised. They try and get away with marketing it as the worst hostel ever. There's even a warning sign.

But reviews online stated that it wasn't really that bad. And I personally found that the rooms were just very basic, but still nicer than the adirondaks at Girl Scout camp. If I could survive a week out of my summer every summer in those, surely I could manage bunkbeds in an actual room. Plus it had an ensuite, which I hear is a luxory. 

While I was settling down, connecting to the internet, and generally resting, I found my cousin Katie posting on FaceBook a picture of her in Amsterdam. I commented saying that I was there too. Soon enough, I was on my way to meet her at the Van Gogh museum. Luckily I had bought my tickets in advance at a little ticket shop while we did our initial exploring, and so I didn't have a long wait. Which was good because my cousin was already inside.

The one thing I do regret is that we never took a picture together there. Although it was our intention to do so, we woumd up forgetting to do so as she had to hurry a bit in order to get to her next destination in time. 

I did look around a little bit with her, but stayed longer after she left. You aren't allowed to take pictures of the paintings, but there are certain things that are photo-allowed. And so I took advantage of that.

Various quotes on the walls.

I thought this was a recreation, but got yelled at after taking a photo. So perhaps the original?

For those who got too overwhelmed with the art around them, there were sensory
deprivation boxes so that they could compose themselves.

Basically just a giant poster. One of the designated photo areas.

View of Amsterdam from one of the few windows. Weather turned on us.

Found in one of the gift shops.

The other American I was travelling with joined me towards the end. After each of us had seen the museum (without others, I spend proabably a good two hours there since it essentially told his story as you walked through and looked at all of the paintings by him and people who inspired him/were inspired by him), we made a slow start back to the hostel, still taking in the sights. I also got one of the Amsterdam hats you see everyone wearing with the big pom pom on top.

From Google Images since I didn't actually take a picture of it.
It's fuzzy on the inside and perfect for Tahoe in the snow.

There is a giant sign in Amsterdam that essensially says "I am Amsterdam". All of the tourists take a photo with it (in fact, Katie's picture with it is how I found out that she was there). Of course I was no exception.

Among all of the other people.

Gorgeous sunset to end the first day in Amsterdam.

Although I was supposed to meet with Katie for dinner that night, she had difficulty accessing wi-fi and unfortunately that plan never came into fruition. Instead, I headed off to the red light district with my fellow American to see those sights. Although drugs, alcohol, and sex isn't something I am interested in, the Red Light District is famous in Amsterdam and still a sight worth seeing.

Bikes parked everywhere. Bikes in general were everywhere. You were more likely to get hit
by a bike than a car.

 On our way over, we found another cheese shop. This one was a lot bigger than the last. But Dutch cheese...amazing!!! I love aged gouda and they had that in spades! I would have bought some, but it was quite pricey. So I settled for just trying every flavor of sample in the store.

Next stop...Italian food? We weren't quite sure what constituted as Dutch food, and made the silly mistake of assuming that there would be plenty of restaurants specializing in their food. In the end, we saw nothing but multicultural food. So maybe Amsterdam is like America and is a melting pot of food cultures. I don't know. All I know was that I had some of the best pasta I've ever had. The restaurant was small and operated all by one guy who I'm pretty sure came here from Italy. He cooked all the food himself, waited the few tables by himself, and was his own cashier as well.

 With full and satisfied bellies, we finally made our way into the red light district. Expectations were high. Jenea wanted to get a picture of a stripper working the streets.

However, we found that things were actually pretty calm. Sure there were some...specialty shops...but all in all, activities seemed to occur behind closed doors.

Straight to the point.

Coffee shops have an entirely different meaning here. Let's just say "Stone" is not referring to a rock.
These were all over Asterdam and their customers gave the city a certain...arouma.

City streets decked out for the upcoming holidays.

I think we were a little underwhelmed, but enjoyed the experience nonetheless. The problem was...we had to get back. Jenea's internet worked over here and she pulled up Google Maps. The problem was, it kept directing us in circles and essentially did not know where it was going. Perhaps the internet wasn't strong enough and thus a glitch was occurring. We were wandering for literally hours trying to get to the hostel. Our feet hurt and...have I mentioned my biggest fear in travelling? Not planes. Not getting in a car accident. Not having language trouble. I have a big fear of getting lost. I like the idea of getting lost in Europe...as long as at the end of it you have a secure way of getting back. But at night while leaving the red light district? Not fun! We wound up having to call a taxi. We were so close at the end, but just couldn't figure out that extra little bit. It was very late at night by the time we went to bed...only to wake up early to see the Anne Frank House.

You can't get tickets in advance for that unless you want the uber expensive VIP package. No thanks. The guide at the ticket shop suggested getting there at least an hour before it opens to save ourselves the four hour wait. So despite a late night, we would still need to get up early fors breakfast and then waiting in line.

But even though I thought I might get at least some decent sleep, I got a rather alarming message from my mom. Paris was under terrorist attacks. She urged me to see if my friends were alright. At the time I had not understood the extent of it and thought that perhaps it was something small. I said that they would probably be asleep.

No one in Paris was asleep that night.

I was a little worried when one of my firends did not respond right away, but then saw her post on facebook that she was alright. No one I knew died that night, though I am sure they all were scared. I would be.

From the combination of getting lost and the news of Paris, I was a little stressed out the following day. Constantly afriad that I wouldn't be able to make it back to the hostel and constantly trying to flit out the thoughts of the terrible things that had just occured in Paris. I was stressed out before the trip and it would seem that travelling had not been the magical cure I was hoping for. And the more stressed I got, the more stressed I became about being stressed in Amsterdam. It was a vicious cycle.

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed for the Anne Frank House. This is what I was most looking forward to. Breakfast at the hostel has the tradaitional pancakes, though they weren't the best. Continental breakfasts never are. In Europe you can always upgrade and pay for things like eggs instead of just eating toast, pancakes, and yogurt, but that would require money. No thanks. At least the walk over was pretty.

It wasn't fun standing there in line for an hour before it opened, but as the line gradually grew longer and longer behind us, I was very thankful.

Ad on the way over.

Where we were in line. Right by the building.

Behind us. Couldn't fit the whole line in the photo. And it quadrupled in size (at least) by the time we got out.

 You aren't allowed to take photos inside the Anne Frank House. Although no one was there to check whether or not you did...no one was. It was too disrespectful to the family who lived there. It was just a museum in the storehouse leading up the the Anne Frank House. This is where Otta Frank worked. But it no longer resembled it's former buisness and was instead turned into a documentation of the time and lives of the Franks. Once we approached the bookcase, my whole being seemed to change.

There is nothing more incredible and soul-moving as seeing something like that with so much history. Even the original binders and books still stood on the shelves. Plastic encased them to protect from anyone with theivery on their minds. I can't entirely explain the emotional impact of the experience. It felt very surreal.

It is so intense and emotional, that my mind almost put up a barrier. I had to keep reminding myself that this is where they lived. I stared at the bookshelf for a long time, just taking it in, before moving on. I was initially struck with how big it was. Sure it was still small compared to the places we live, but it was roomier than I expected it to be. Now mind you with the amount of people who lived there, I imagine it got cramped really fast. Especially since no ome could leave the house and so it was always full. But without any furnature or people it seemed spacious. What did strike me was how dark it was. Shades were drawn over the windows so that no one could see inside. Although it kept them safe, the light inside was very dim and artificial. And that was with modern lighting.

From Google Images. This was displayed there as well and gives you a breakdown of the area.
The Anne Frank House it the right side of this model.

Plus they had to be careful about using the bathroom and sinks, lest someone hear them in the storehouse. Everything they did had to be quiet. No loud movements and quiet voices. Every single day for a little over two year. Torturous.

When I arrived inside Anne Frank's room, I was amazed to see that they still had the posters she hung up on the wall (behind a preserving piece of plastic). Many photos of famous actresses. Her father was able to collect them for her. It was sad to imagine a girl trapped, dreaming of Hollywood and all of her own potential, and knowing what her fate eventually turned out to be. Anne Frank wanted fame. She wanted others to know her story.

From Google Images

There was a room filled with all of her diaries, and they showed pages of her original writings (with translations) and also pages that she had gone onto edit. This was a diary intended for publication. Anne Frank had a story to tell the world, and her dad was brave enough to show it.

One of the most disheartening things came at the end, when they tell of Otto Frank being the lone survivor and finding out that his whole family died. There was a photo of him revisiting the house after discovering that his family was dead.

From Google images.

At the end there was a special exhibit on Anne Frank's roommate as well as a video presentation of various people's impressions on Anne Frank. They reflected on the hope and courage of her story. There were some ordinary people as well as some famous ones. John Green was included as his book The Fault in Our Stars had a section in the Anne Frank House.

It was a very surreal experience and one I never thought I would have in this lifetime. But tat does seem to be the trend on this study abroad experience. Before we exited the museum, I put my name on the guestbook. A permanent representation of my time here.

We had hop on hop off bus/canal tickets that we wanted to utilize next. We toured around Amsterdam on the bus, with complimentary headphones to plug in and tell us about attractions as we drove by them. There was a stopby the train station to look around for 15 minutes. We got off there, looked around, then switched to the canal tour.

M is for metro.

Prettiest train station I've ever seen.

It was right on the water.

The canal tour took us to a complimentary diamond factory tour. Amsterdam is famous for diamonds as well as Anne Frank, and so this was our next stop. Plus everything was so darn expensive that a free activity was very much appreciated.

Lots of displays of their jewlry.

In the case are the various stages of the diamond during creation.

The master at work.

Also lots of displays of the old equiptment used.

Of course at the end they tried to sell us all diamonds. They were pretty and I would love to have been one of those people rich enough to follow through. But no, I would just move onto the hop on/hop off tour bus again with Jenea. We decided to get lunch on the next stop as well.

The next stop was a little flea market. The driver seemed confused that we wanted off there. But I thought it was interesting to see a less touristy area of the city.

We saw some of the same touisty crap that we saw everywhere else mixed in with weird, old, traditional flea market stuff. Jeanea was tempted by some hand caved wooden clogs, but didn't have the cash on hand for them. I liked the idea of them as well, but had settled earlier with a little carved keychain of one during our explorations yesterday when we checked out all the shops in the main shopping centre.

Again, we struggled to fin anything good. We tried an Italian place, but since we didn't order quick enough, we essentially got thrown out. If we didn't order right then and there, he said we had to leave. And we hadn't been sitting for more than ten minutes I'd say. "This is a restaurant, not a pub." There weren't any other people in there. What did he need the table for so desperately?

We moved to a Mexican food restaurant nearby instead since there really wasn't anything we wanted there anyways. In Amsterdam if you want a water with your meal, you have to buy an expensive bottle. If I wanted to drink out of my own, I had to step outside the restaurant. Nothing spicy for me.

Still had to go out a couple of times.

We headed back to the hostel after lunch. While Jenea rested, I went out to see if I could get data for my phone at the Vodaphone in the main city area. That way I could safely navigate myself to a Harley Davidson store to get my dad an Amsterdam Harley shirt. Unfortunately the Amsterdam vodaphone operates separately from the UK Vodaphone. Still, it was a cool walk.

Flower shop right by the canal. And a whole bunch of stores in a line behind it.

Face graffiti.

Sketchy alleyway that a bunch of school kids popped out of.

Nutella car by the Vodaphone store.

Though my stress levels had been up since Anne Frank still (could barely eat I was so stressed for no good reason) and this didn't help. Wi-fi to navigate back home was scarce, but I did find some. And once you get the route loaded, Google Maps will navigate you without requiring any additional internet. Jenea was asleep and Ariana just chilling in the hostel. I wanted to wait for Jenea to wake up so that we could do something, as we said we would when I got back, but at the same time she was asleep for longer than stated.

One of our fellow hostel-mates was going to the pub area to meet up with a friend and invited me to join her. I agreed to do so while I waited for my fellow American to wake up. I got Bitterballen (some traditional Amsterdam food) for dinner. It was essentially fried mashed potatoes with a little bit of meat inside that you ate with mustard.

I hung out with them for a bit and then went out to hit some charity shops with another girl from Chicago (the friend my hostel roomate was meeting up with). She really wanted a ring from one of the shops she saw as it would be a non-touristy gift to take back with her. But they were all vastly out of a student budget. There were also some cool clocks at another shop, all which had the same issue.

Jenea joined us later and showed us some of the more touisty shops she found. They were by the flower stores I was by earlier. I thought I might get some bulbs to plant when I got back (if I could get them through customs), and the girl from Chicago found a kit. But it was for growing marijuana. Nope. But they are famous for their tulips in Amsterdam and even gave one to Canada as a present.

I did get a cheese tray for my parents at one of the shops, while resisting some of their finer options.

Definition of fine art. Elegant. In no way childish like all the genetalia-related objects found.

We headed back to the hostel, but then the girl from Chicago decided that she wanted to try a weed muffin. The night before a girl had a bad reaction to eating the whole one and thought she was going to die. She ultimately went to the hospital. Didn't need to really, but felt she did. Really was just worried about her parents finding out.

But the girl from Chicago heard this and knew to only eat half. So yes. I have been inside a coffeeshop. And no. I did not get a weed muffin for myself. This one had a nautical theme to it, but I didn't really want to take a picture of a bunch of people getting high in a very tiny and stinky area.

After that, my first night in Amsterdam was almost complete. Just one more stop. Ariana, Jenea, and I had bought tickets for the ice bar and made reservations for ten that night. So we walked over in the rain (which had started a few hours earlier, even when Chicago girl and I were traversing through shops) to this pirate themed bar.

Cool even from the outside.

We had tokens for three drinks with our pre-paid tickets. One in the waiting area as seen above. I didn't want to get hammered, and so for this drink I settled for a shirley temple. But they didn't know how to make one, so I had to tell them a sprite with grenadine.

After a bit, we dressed in warm jackets and gloves to go into the real ice bar. Where everything was frozen in ice and the cups for the drinks were put in cups made of ice. Unfortunately all they had was vodka and orange juice. So I had an orange juice before making my way up to the vodka. Spoiler alert. Vodka tastes AWFUL!!!!

But it was still a really cool and unique experience. We were guided in by a pirate and the bartender was dressed as a pirate. Though there were also polar bears, so these pirates must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

In celcious, the temperature of the Icebar.

Me with the polar bear.

shot glass made of ice.

This guy took a wrong turn and couldn't get back.

Pirate bartender.

We didn't stay long. I got cold and Ariana got bored. It was nothing like Winterlude in Canada, which apparently is a lot bigger and cooler than this. And colder too. Jenea  was disappointed as she had been to bigger and better icebars. I thought it was cool though.

We got back quicker this time with Ariana's functional GPS. Tomorrow morning we would be on our way back to Swansea. But in the morning we found out that the travels this time would include a trip to a chocolate factory in Belgium. Helped keep up the excitement despite leaving Amsterdam. Although if I'm being honest I didn't mind leaving too much as I was still very stressed. So although I enjoyed my time there, I didn't feel myself the entire time.

But chocolate? Nothing better than that to put you in a good mood. I was able to get the best advent calander ever (even though it was technically made of German chocolate) and a Christmas gift for my grandma. Some Belgium chocolate. For my parents, chocolate covered cherries with liquor in the middle. I also got lots of other fun and tasty stuff.

Inside the store. The factory area is to the right.

Christmas came early.

They were already going all out.

Giant chocolate fountain!

There was a section behind a black curtain with chocolate boobs and penises. Europe is a lot more risque than the states. I stuck with non-sexual chocolates but did get a laugh at the ones I saw.

All in all, it was an excellent trip, but with a lot of travelling. And on the ferry ride back I got pelted with what I thought was rain, but later discoved was sea water from the salt forming on my jacket and dripping into my mouth.

I do wish i had felt better for it, but still got a chance to see my cousin and experience things many only dream of. This whole experience has been turning impossibles to possibles and I am thankful everyday for it.