Amsterdam

So I got up early Thursday morning to head to the airport to catch my train to Amsterdam. My train was late plus I got there really early so I waited in the airport for quite a while, but it allowed me to get a lot of homework done so I guess that was a good thing. I would rather be early for everything than running to catch my train.

I then took my train to Antwerp Station (I didn’t know it at the time but that is in the Netherlands) It was a huge station! Nothing really of note happened at the station itself but when I got on the train there was someone in my seat so I told him in French “I think that is my seat” to which he responded “Do you speak English?” Well that’s a first! It’s just funny that my first reaction was to speak French, forgetting that it’s not really the universal language. So I got to Amsterdam without a problem and then got to the hotel.  The hotel was super nice! It was weird going up to the concierge and not speaking French. You would think that would feel normal, but after talking to every stranger in French for 2 months, it is strange not to. The lady was very helpful and even let me go up to the room even though I was there well before check in time. After two rather stressful days in Brussels, I took the day while I waited for Joyce to relax. I even took a bath! It was nice!

Joyce got in around nine and we stayed up late planning our Friday and just catching up! We didn’t get to bed until around one. The next day we got up and got the pleasure of eating in the Club Lounge thanks to Joyce’s father being a gold member with Marriot (Alas my father is only a silver). So that breakfast was excellent!! We even took some food for breakfast the next morning when we wouldn’t have access to the lounge.

After breakfast we headed to Anne Frank Huis. It’s a good thing we got there early because by the time we left there was a huge line out the door. I walked through the very places where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis. It was extremely sobering! The rooms were left empty per request of Mr. Frank, but despite them being empty there were still things on the walls that showed that people actually lived there. There were lines on the walls measuring Anne her sister’s heights. (They were taller me by the way). The walls in Anne’s bedroom were covered in pictures. It was just so sad! Even thinking about it now makes me want to cry. They also had the original diary of Anne Frank there, seeing her handwriting was very cool.

After Anne Frank house we went to the red light district. Yes we went; you can’t go to Amsterdam and not go. Also another thing Amsterdam is well known for is the fact that pot is legal…no we did not try smoking pot you could smell it on every corner and that was more than enough for me. Gosh that stuff smells so incredibly bad. Anyway, back to the red light district. Since we went so early in the day it was essentially empty and it looked like just about every other street in Amsterdam. But yes, we did see some women showcasing their wares in the windows even in daylight. I think Joyce was more shocked than I was to see them.

After the red light district we walked around a bit and stumbled upon the Amsterdam Museum. So we went in to learn a bit of the history of Amsterdam. Apparently the entire city is set upon pillars of wood (I don’t know why I can’t think of the word for that right now…I am actually forgetting English words here). It was pretty cool. After the museum we went to the museum café to eat. We had open-faced tuna sandwiches that were absolutely delicious!

Since we went that museum we got a discount off of another museum of our choice (from a very small list). So we chose to check out the Bible Museum since it was the closest and potentially the most interesting. The guy who opened this place made it his life’s project to create a scale model of the tabernacle. So that was really cool. He also had a vast collection of Egyptian artifacts. There was also in the basement some cool try it yourself crafts that I think were meant for kids, but whatever, I’m a kid at heart! There were also two guys at the museum who spoke English and when we left we kind of thought they might be trying to follow us, but we got ourselves somewhat turned around so we ditched them pretty fast. We then returned to the hotel to take a little rest and get tickets for a night time canal tour.

We got quite lost on our way back but in the process we stumbled upon some cheese shops and sampled some very delicious cheeses. (Including green cheese?) It’s actually just pesto cheese. 

We also stumbled upon men playing the traditional form of street music...sorry the video doesn't work but at least you can hear it! 

So we took a rest, got our tickets and then went to Subway for dinner. We then headed down to the docks to get on our boat. I descend into the boat down the stairs without a problem. But when I get to the bottom of the steps and start going farther into the boat I turn around to see Joyce falling to the ground. She attempts to grab for the door but the door slides and eventually she is on the ground. Now mind you we are at the front of the boat and there are quite a few people already on the boat. They ALL saw her fall. But Joyce, always strong, jumps up and announces that she is okay! We then quickly make our way to the back of the boat. We end up sitting across from a guy from China. He was friendly but nothing exciting about him.

Side note on this picture you can see 7 bridges of the canal! Pretty cool right?

After the boat tour we were quite tired so we headed back to the hotel (plus, Amsterdam’s nightlife is a bit more than I would want to experience). We went to sleep quite pleased with our day! And we still had another whole day to spend together, my birthday!