I AM.STERDAM.
Fun, lazy, decent weather, food, drinks- all describe this past week/weekend in Amsterdam. Almost forgot… prostitution.
It was a 516 reunion in Amsterdam :) it is actually pretty funny when I think about how I am abroad with people that I knew since I was little or went to middle school with. I guess I just never imagined I’d be going to a foreign country with my friends from back home. I met Eddie, Kristy, Matt, Dirk, & Acri on Wednesday night. Our hostel Heart of Amsterdam was located in the Red Light District. Well, if you don’t know about the RLD, let me explain. It is all of these shop windows that literally have red lights on the top of the door signaling that there is a prostitute waiting for your $ or pleasure or company, but if I was to place a safe bet, I’d go with the $.
--first thoughts were: is this real?, how can this be real, nakedness everywhere, my guy friends are loving it, we are living right across the street from these people.
Nonetheless, it was a good experience, a learning one too: I will never resort to this profession, (as it is legal in Amsterdam). Seeeee Mom & Dad: I am learning GREAT & USEFUL things abroad ! ha
Moving onto Thursday. 6 people.1 shower= 2 hours to leave the hostel to start our day. BUTTT it was a really nice day outside, only a light jacket was needed, so it made everything much better. We went to the Anne Frank House which was very interesting and something that I never even thought of going to or heard of before. I was just told be everyone that you needed to see it and indeed you really do need to see it. You can actually see the bookcase that was used to hide the staircase and go into Anne’s room where she would write in her diary. They still had the original decorative wall pictures, postcards, etc.. that Anne put up to make her room less bare. It was just a crazy experience. I wish I knew more about the Anne Frank story, I mean I do, but just not the little details that would clarify a few things for me. Well, that’s what Google is for :) After we just roamed the city getting lost through all the different side streets etc.. We ended up in a Coffeeshop called Barneys in the northern part of the city. I think we were at this place for hours. It was a great time which meant a lot of money spent because we just kept eating, drinking, etc.. ohhh boy. PANCAKE BAKERY...ohhhh yeahhh ! The most famous pancake bakery of them all in Amsterdam and it was also highly recommended. It is not the traditional pancakes that you think of like IHOP but more like crepes. It just a flat pancake and you can get ice cream & whip cream on it or you can opt for the chicken, cheese, and bacon. I might have had both of them( we went back on Saturday before our flights) J It was a very YUMMMYYYYYYY place.
Kristy & I split the Ice Cream Pancake !
Fridayyy: weather, booo it was a light rain & cloudy. But again, we just roamed around the city, ate, went into different shops( and by shops I mean there was sex-stores everywhere) I can’t believe what this city has, SO not NEW YORK or anything like in the States. We all then took a tram to the Van Gogh Museum. The museum itself was really expensive, 14 euro, but still worth it. I wish I would have a audio tour to know what I was looking at etc.. but it didn’t seem necessary at the time. Kristy & I then went to the Sex Museum by the Central Station. It is the first and oldest sex museum. Que interesante is all that comes to mind when I think about my experience here.
Note worthy: “ Coffeeshops” in Amsterdam are NOT the same as Coffeeshops elsewhere in the world. In Amsterdam, it means weed is sold there and you can smoke inside or out on their front terrace because it is legal in this city. It is just a crazy thing to imagine because you grow up knowing that weed is illegal in the States. Every place was really relaxed and chill and there was just no arguments etc… I think the calming effect really has an impact. One thing that is strictly prohibited is hard drugs! SAY NO TO DRUGS WOOOOOOOOOO.
Also noteworthy: I would like to go back. There was many things I did not get to see or do which makes me sad but I wouldn’t take the weekend back at all. In the future I would like to see the Tulip gardens that are world famous, take a bike tour, go to the top of the public library to get an amazing view of the city, see the other museums that were there, etc.. Always a next time , I hope.
P.P.P.P.S.
SPRING BREAK IS ALMOST HERE. I CANT BELIEVE THIS. I only have a month and a half left here. WHERE did the time go? I have NO IDEA. I need to start completing my bucket list that I have for Madrid. Not okay that nothing has been crossed off. Like the Real World show puts it or maybe just my own words : “ I need to stop being lazy and start getting real” Did that make sense? Ehh oh well.SERIOUSLY though, I do not want to have any regrets about not doing activies and being adventourous. I decided that the night before is when I am going to plan what I want to do the next day so there is no ifs &'s or butts. But this is all for after spring break because I have midterms this week. By the way, this should be interesting. I am not sure how I am supposed to study in my bedroom where I can really talk to myself outloud( my fav way of studying, I know weird) and I am distracted by everything. AHhhhhhhhhh. BUENA SUERTE to meeeeeeee!
Muchos Besos xx !
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