What do you think about Amsterdam?

So we left for Amsterdam bright and early on Thursday.  We all slept most of the way up there, but for the few parts I was awake for, I saw tons of businesses.  Their was corporate buildings for all types of companies such as Sony and lots of european car companies.  Our first stop on the trip was the Rijksmuseum.  This was an art museum with a focus on Rembrandt.  We got the audio tour, which is just headphones and a radio player.  I tried to take some pictures, but without the flash, they didn't turn out so well.  Not all the pictures had audio commentaries, and that was really the only thing I was looking for.  I thought it was a little boring and I wish I had a greater appreciation for art.  Some of the stuff they discussed really made me enjoy the painting much more, so if I was to make a suggestion it would be to have more audio spots.  Oh, and on top of all this, it was absolutely freezing.  They made us wait outside in the cold until they bought all our tickets.  And thats about all that happened there.

We had a small amount of free time, so we headed off to find some food.  We at something that reminded me of gyro in a tiny restaurant.  After this we maneuvered our way through the city, to meet the rest of the group for a boat tour.  We were the first to arrive, which made us question if we were in the right spot.  After 15 minutes, another group arrived and we boarded the boat (I have a picture of the boat).  The boat tour was ok, but the windows fogged up and then our pictures looked hazy.  Also I was not right next to the window and all my shots have the back of Stu's head or his hand.  The boat tour actually lasted around an hour and a half.  After this we were off to the best part of the day...Anne Frank Huis.

Spend a day or two in Amsterdam if you come to visit, no more.

We walked longer than I would have liked in the cold but I shouldn't complain given Kelly's current temperature situation.  When we got there it didn't really look like a house, but a steel museum.  But actually, the secret annex is in a back house that you don't see from the street.  So we went into a private room where a kid that looked about 15, gave us a presentation of Anne Frank.  It was very informative, but we were all anxious to see the bookcase!  So he let us loose, but we couldn't take any pictures.  We walked up the super narrow staircases, and through the book shelf, and then we saw everything.  Otto Franks said that they couldn't put in new furniture in the house because he wanted it left just the way they had left it.  But the cool thing is they have parts of the wall sectioned off and there are taped up pictures from when they were actually there!  So amazing.  They also have movies playing in different rooms where they have people talking about the house and the family.  It was the best thing I saw in ALL of Amsterdam and I would highly suggest it for anyone traveling there.

Today I really miss Kelly.  I talked to her for about 45 minutes today, but it never seems long enough.  There is always so many things I want to ask her, but I get so excited to talk to her that I forget what I wanted to ask.  After reading her travel journal, I think she is in a little tougher place than me...but she is so strong that I have no doubt she will make it through all of it with NO PROBLEMS.  I just miss her thats all :(

Well after the Anne Frank Huis we picked up our bags from the bus, and then we were on our own to navigate the city.  We had no idea where to go, so we all huddled around a map (not looking like tourists at all) and I of course took a picture of this.  So once we got our bearings we were off to the hostel we booked at the very last minute the night before.  We really had no idea what to expect, where it was, what it was close to, what we needed to bring.

Once we made it to the hostel, we checked in and received a key and a PAD LOCK!  Thats when we knew we were in trouble.  When we made it to the room, you first pass through a locker room where you have a locker and store your stuff and utilize the padlock.  Then you pass through into your room.  We all went in and picked our beds and started to put our sheets on them.  After this it was off to the Hostel bar for happy hour.  I played some fooseball (not sure if that is how its spelled) and of course I won.  They play tons of that around here, which I love.  Then we went out to a pub.  We were there until  it closed and then we began our long and trying journey of finding a club in a city that nobody knew how to get around.  We kept asking random people where it was and everybody said we were only about 10 min away.  So we kept walking and walking.  Finally we gave up, but we had no idea where we were.  So we all (8) piled into a taxi van and they took us to a restaurant that we knew.

By this time I was sick of walking around lost and it was late and I was tired.  So I left the group behind and said I knew my way home.  In reality this wasn't true, and I ended up seeing things that I recognized, but didn't know what way to go from them.  So I wandered some more and got sick of it, and finally got a taxi...again.  I told him where to go, and he drove me all around the city, and it was an 8,50 euro trip, but I made it home.

Later that night I was waken up by somebody snoring.  This was inevitable because I was sharing the room with 19 other people.  So there was about 5 different people medaly snoring.  When it was all said and done, it wasn't the worste sleep of my life, but next I might consider a cheap HOTEL!

I woke up before everybody in the morning, and I decided to try and find some breakfast.  I walked around (this time with a good map) and found a nice little steak and pancake restaurant.  In The Netherlands, their pancakes a slightly different that what we're used to, by this I mean very thin (like a crepe).  But I got them with bananas.  It was really good.  Also they have weird syrup over here, but I used one that looked like honey, but it didn't taste like honey.

It took me forever to get my check, which is something else you have to do over here...always ask for the check.  And when I got back to the hostel everybody was gone.  I called them and they said they were at some breakfast place, and it was about 25 minutes away!  They gave me rough directions knowing I probably wouldn't find them, and that was it.  I asked the receptionist how to get to the Barney's and she kinda knew where it was.  So I pulled out the map and I was off.  To make this long story short, I found it without any trouble and everybody was pretty impressed.  Truth be told I have no problem navigating if I have a good map.

Once they were finished eating we were off to the Heineken Brewery.  This was a super far walk so we went to the train station to get our tickets to get back to Maastricht for the following day and found out what train to ride to get close to Heineken.  We wandered the train station, and finally figured out how to get on and find the train we needed.

We ended up a block from where we needed to be which was great.  Also during this time in  Amsterdam we were fighting the cold.  So we were happy to get a small break.  Now the Heineken experience was amazing, you pay 10 euro and end up getting 3 beers and a glass.  Not a bad price at all.  Also it was interesting and we got to ride a ride.  It was really cool, they put you on this stand and you watch this movie which shows the brewery through the eyes of a bottle.  The floor moves and it was a cool idea.  After this we were off to find some food.

We ate at a place that looked like a Texas steak house.  The food was TERRIBLE!  And it took forever to get the food.  I was very thirsty and water is soo expensive, so I got a sprite.  My meat was burnt and everybody really did not like what they got.  From here we went to a really great pub and sat around for a few hours waiting for the club next door to open.  Now it was time for my first european club experience.

We waited in line, and while we were waiting we watched a cracked out homeless lady put on a nice little show.  She was spitting and yelling it was funny and scary all at the same time.  Then we got in and found out it was a 17.50 cover charge.  Nobody was going to spend that, but they told us if we had 20 people we could each get in for 10.  So we picked up to random asian people and we were in.  And WOW!  The europeans love their clubs.  They are all dressed to impress and the music was crazy and just WOW.  It was a good experience, but I don't know if the dance club is my scene.  We did watch this guy/girl (we weren't sure) who was dressed like Michael Jackson bust some sweet moves with a couple people, but that was about it.  We decided to leave around 3 in the morning.

We followed this with a trip to the red light district looking for food.  We found a pizza place open and I picked up a Shrorma pizza.  It was really good.  We saw the sights of the red light district while we ate pizza, and then it was back to the hostel for an early departure the next morning around 10.

We walked for about 20 minutes towards the train station with all our luggage.  We decided to stop and eat some lunch at a restaurant along the way.  I ordered the English Breakfast which was fried eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, toast, tea, and orange juice.  The bacon was like ham, the sausage was really squishy, the baked beans were just weird for breakfast and in conclusion...no more English breakfasts for me.  We made it to the train station and tried to figure out what platform we were supposed to be on.  We thought we knew, but we were wrong.  We asked for help and found our way.  The train came right on time and we boarded.  We each had our own seat which was really nice.  I dozed off for over an hour and was awaken by the conductor.  He asked for my ticket, and I gave it to him.  Then he was saying something in Dutch, and I didn't understand.  Finally he started speaking english and everything turned out alright.  He was just asking about my ticket and how I got a discount, no big deal.  Then it was back to sleep for me.

When the train pulled into the station, it was already 3.  We took all our stuff, and  went to wait for a bus.  The bus came after about 20 minutes of waiting in the cold.  We all got on and we were off back to the Guesthouse.  It was a good trip.  Amsterdam did not hold up to my expectations, but maybe thats because I live in the the best city in The Netherlands...MAASTRICHT!!!  Oh well, its definitely something you should see and I am glad I did.  I will probably go back for a day trip to see some of the museums and such that I missed the first time.  I also was glad to have one stay at a hostel under my belt.  My suggestion: Spend a day or two in Amsterdam if you come to visit, no more.  Maastricht has better shops, better restaurants, cleaner roads, nicer people, and the list can go on forever.