Adventures in Amsterdam

Our Adventure began early Thursday morning with a speedy Tube ride over the Heathrow Airport. The hour long ride was actually shorter than the flight over to Amsterdam (only 45 min!) When we arrived in the Amsterdam airport we got thoroughly confused by the train system and spent a good 20 min running around, up and down escalators trying to find the train to central Amsterdam. Eventually we gave up on our own "good sense of direction" and asked someone at an information desk. 15 min later we had arrived! We immediately picked up a map, circled the street our hostel was on and off we went!

There were bikes everywhere in Amsterdam. We originally were going to rent bikes for the weekend but we decided we were probably better off walking. 

I feel like I've been on a canal tour of Europe, Venice, Bruges and now Amsterdam. The canals make for beautiful cities but they are also very helpful when trying to find yourself on a map! 

Me and Emily on a bridge on our walk to the hostel

After we found our hostel and dropped off all of our bags we set out to explore the area. We didn't have any agenda for the afternoon- we experienced the local culture wandering in an out of stores, cafes, and coffee shops. Even though it was bitter cold we spent a while just sitting on a bench by the canal and chatting as we watched people wander (or speed on their bikes) down the streets.  

On Friday we woke up early and went to the Anne Frank House and took the tour. It was, of course, an emotional  and powerful experience. At the end there was an interactive section that I thought was a particularly good way to tie it up. They had a video loop playing of different current day questions about freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and other humanitarian questions. At the end of the clip you're asked to vote (on little buttons next to your chair) on if you agree if certain things should be allowed or outlawed. I think the genius of this was that when we left the museum we weren't talking about how depressed we felt but rather about our interpretations of those last questions and what we believed was fair and just. After that we wandered south and found the I Amsterdam sign and obviously had an epic photo shoot! (The rest of these pictures are up on facebook if you want to see!)

The building behind the I Amsterdam sign is the Rijsk Museum which was the next stop on our adventure. Things to remember for the future: read all signs before entering a building! We were going to go to the Van Gogh museum but thought the Rijsk, which is Amsterdam's main art museum, would be all encompassing and thus everyone would get to see something they liked. It wasn't until after we paid our 12.50 euro that we realized everything but one wing (the Rembrandt and Dutch history section) was closed for renovation. Oops. We still saw some amazing things and had a great time but it was disappointing. On our way out we saw the big red sign on the gate saying that most of the museum was closed for renovations. Shoot! Next time I'll remember to read first, pay later. 

Later, we went on the Heineken Brewery tour. It was really fun and we got to see how the beer is made and of course drink some along the way!  

Our last day we wandered around Central Amsterdam and the Red Light District- not so freaky in the daytime!

We found our way back to the train pretty early and got the airport with plenty of time. It was quite and interesting airport too. There were comfortable chairs and fake fireplaces and bookshelves (with books!). We ended up taking a short nap before our flight since the couches were so cozy! 

After our nap we found our gate- at this airport they don't do security when you walk in. Instead, they have security at each individual gate. It was bizarre and didn't make much sense to us. It was also unfortunate because if you got a bottle of water in the airport you had to finish it before you got on the plane. Our flight back was quick and easy but when we got back to London we found out that part of the Tube was closed. It's always doing that! Anyway, we got directions about which bus to get on and where to get back on the Tube. It ended up being easy to figure out and we made it home in just over an hour. Another adventure where we traveled by plane, train and automobile!



Today we're going to see the new [P]Opera about Anna Nicole!