Amsterdam Adventures

Oh Amsterdam...a very interesting place.

I will just skip Friday night as it was a disasterous night with hostel situations, getting lost, and being told wrong information by the people I was meeting.

But Saturday did get better...alot better! I arose with my friends for an early morning canal tour. This was a narrated boat tour that went through many different canals. Seeing Amsterdam from this view, I felt was a must. The architecture of the many home lining the canals was pretty incredible...and although I haven't been to Venice...it reminded me of pictures I've seen of there. Following this tour, I did some souvenier shopping and wandered around the downtown area of Amsterdam. I grabbed a quick Dutch snack, a hot waffle topped with chocolate and nuts, and then made my way with my friends to the Riechsmuseum. I didn't think I was much of an art fan, but this ended up being a very neat place to visit. There were paintings, drawings and artifacts from many different artists, however the most known were those of Rembrandt. My favorite painting to see here was the Night Watch, one of Rembrandts most famous paintings. To see this was incredible, as the age, the large size, and the detail were just some of the fascinating features. It really was hard for me to believe that it was painted so long ago. I really do in the hour that I was at the musuem, I learned so much about art. By taking time to read what was posted next to pictures, I saw 'inside' the paintings and what the underlying meaning of them was. Outside the museum, we climbed on the I AMSTERDAM letters and got our pictures taken on this infamous photo site. After this experience, we headed to the Anne Frank House. This was an experience that was hard to take in. It was just hard to imagine that Anne Frank, herself, hid from the Nazis in the house we were standing in, and wrote her journal from the very room we walked through. The book case which hid the stairwell to the hiding spot was still there, however besides that most rooms were vacant, as it was Otto Frank's wish that no new furniture be in the museum. We walked through the downstairs rooms and offices which once consisted of the business that Otto Frank ran, then through the hidden door, and up the steep, very narrow stairs behind the bookcase which led to the annex at the back of the house. This annex could not be seen from the front streets, which is why the Nazis never saw it. At the top of the stairs, we went through the 'hiding spaces' where Anne and her family hid for so long. Walking through Anne's room was very touching, as pictures that she had used to decorate her room to make it more like home, were still glued on the wall, right where she put them. It was in this very room which she often wrote in the diary. Which after a few more rooms, we got to see. The actual, red, dairy which she recieved on her 13th birthday, which she wrote in day and night about the terrible happenings of World War II, was right in front of us. This was just so neat to see. After this tour, my friends and I headed to our new resting spot...the Marriott Hotel. After the experience we had had the night before and the condition of the hostel, 4 of us decided that it was worth the 5 extra Euros (yes, only €5 more than what the hostel was), to stay in the luxary of the hotel. After a while of relaxation, we made our way to the famous Red Light District. We decided that with 4 of us we would be safe to go at night, and honestly all felt perfectly safe. This really just was an interesting place to see. The girls in the windows, the people who were walking into these doors, knowing what was going on behind closed curtains, and the overall atmosphere of the place was just crazy. But our Red Light District experience did not stop with just wandering the streets...we decided that when in Amsterdam we need to dowhat people in Amsterdam do...so, yes, we went to a show, a live sex show. The place we went is actually known as the place which started the Red Light District (Margaret and Bryan had actually told me about it). I kept an open mind going in, not really knowing what to expect, and really was quite intrigued by what went on. Obviously it was just a performance, but I kept asking myself, what these girls and guys were thinking. It made for an interesting hour and a half, especially since we were seated in the front row, but I am glad I can say I took part in the Amsterdam experience. After the show, we made our way back to our amazing beds at the hotel.

Sunday morning I woke up and headed to the Van Gogh Musuem. After my experience at the museum on Saturday, I decided I definately wanted to see Van Gogh's paintings as well. And once again, I am glad I went because there were so many interesting paintings to see. There was also a collection of letters that Van Gogh had written to his brother, which allowed us to get an idea of what the famous painter was thinking about certain works of art. My favorite thing to see in this museum though was not a piece of artwork hanging on the wall...but it was a letter from Van Gogh to his brother with his first sketch of 'Starry Night' (the original is at a museum in NYC). It was incredible to see how a tiny sketch on a letter, became one of the most famous paintings in history. Following my time at this museum, I made my way to the Heineken Brewery where I took part in the Heineken Experience. This experience was very fascinating to me, and ton of fun. I learned the history of the beer (which began in Amsterdam, in the building which I was in), got a hands on lesson of the ingredients of the beer, went into the very factory where Heineken was first made and got to crush some barley and stir the ingredients in a boiler, then I got to see the stables and Heineken horses, this was followed by an interactive 4-D ride/movie, of the entire beer process, where I was the beer, then was the taste test where I sampled a glass of Heineken, and then I got the chance to bottle my own bottle of Heineken which I got to keep (it had a personalized label saying I bottled it on it). After all of this the tour ended at the bar where we got 2 pints of Heineken. I really was a very interactive and hands on tour that I enjoyed, and a great way to end my time in Amsterdam. Because after this, I headed to the train station, to catch the train to the airport.

All in all, Amsterdam was a good experience. I can say I went, although honestly it would probably not be at the top of my list of places to go back to. There was to much smoke, drugs and people acting stupid, for me to be around 24/7, and although it is legal there, I am still not a big fan.