Soaked

Soaked.

That's the word I have choosen to explain my weekend in Amsterdam. Soaked and maybe exhausted.

Let me explain.

Last Monday or so, my friend Willa and I decided to plan a trip out of France. We contemplated going to Switzerland and other surrounding countries but in the end chose Amsterdam! Last minute booking always leads to expensive fares but we managed to find bus tickets for a round trip of 79€--only catch was that we would be leaving Paris at 11 pm and getting in at 6 am, but hey YOSAO, right? We bought our tickets and found a place on AirBnB for relatively cheap and we were off! Thursday night Willa and I met up on the metro which would then take us to the bus depot. We got there early, checked in, and got on the bus 10 minutes before it left. For anyone taking a bus, GET YOU'RE OWN ROW!!! Willa and I opted to share one and it was exceptionally uncomfortable! My long legs cramped as I was next to the window and it was impossible to fall asleep. So make it easier on yourself and grabs row for yourself. Also, it didn't help that there weren't any bathrooms on the bus going there. So I wouldn't say that traveling to Amsterdam was miserable, but maybe one step up from there. We arrived at 6 am and managed to make our way to the apartment we would be staying in for the weekend. Our host lady was a nice alternative woman who put simply was a hippie. She was definitely not a morning person so our initial meeting was very quick and rather cold. But, she showed us to our room where we were SO excited to take a three hour nap before taking on Amsterdam. When we finally made our way back out the door we went to the central station where we bought the I Amsterdam card which got us into many of the museums that are well known in Amsterdam. It was pouring out as well so the card basically saved us by getting us into more museums than we probably could've imagine going to. We went to the Tulip Museum, the Houseboat museum, this really odd photography museum, FOAM which is another photography museum which was much cooler than the first, and finally the Van Gogh Museum. It was super col because we were able to go to the Van Gogh museum at night since it's hours were extended on Fridays. Plus they had some DJ playing and it was basically like a night club--cool but also weird. Willa and I decided to go to a tapas place for dinner and after made our way back to the apartment where we got to hang out with our host, Anna. She was great because she gave us tips for places to go that we're off the beaten path!

We had had plans to get up early and try to beat the line for Anne Frank, but Anna told us of this market that was near her apartment that was only on Saturdays and it was in a traditional Dutch neighborhood where we would find cafés serving the traditional Dutch breakfast. We decided to go to the market instead and were so happy to have done that. We found this adorable cafe that served the traditional Dutch breakfast which is basically apple pie with whipped cream and a big cafe au lait. It was delish! Plus we were able to sit outside since it was the only day that didn't have rain in the forecast. We walked around the market and were successful shoppers! We then made our way into the center of the city and hopped on a canal tour where we met two very nice Brits who suggested to visit the Anne Frank house around 7 pm because that's when the line dies down. After our canal tour we hopped on one of the ferries that connects central Amsterdam with northern Amsterdam and went over to check out this warehouse Anna suggested. She mentioned that there was a place that had good sandwiches and this huge warehouse that has a a skatepark and where you can normally see people practicing graffiti. We grabbed some sandwiches and then headed over to check out the warehouse. There was this huge market going on inside of the warehouse so we were unableto see any fresh graffiti but it was still really awesome in there. Also, the little kids in the skate park were really impressive and well. After spending some time there and snacking on a fresh waffle while waiting for the ferry, we made our way back to central Amsterdam and Anne Frank's house. Our wait for the house was only 30 or so minutes which was good since it started to rain--again. We were able to go in and see the original jam factory and secret annex that housed the Franks as well as another small family and family friend. It was a very humbling experience to see where they lived, the small quarters, and the very diary that would become a best seller. After spending some time in there, it was getting late and we still hadn't has dinner so we wandered around trying to find somewhere cheap with big portions--can you say hungry American college students? We finally made it back to the apartment around 1230ish and fell fast asleep. Sunday morning we woke early as we still had things we wanted to do and it was our last day.

No surprise that Sunday's forecast was rain and 45 degrees. We bundled up, packed our backpacks, and made our way to central station where we dropped off our backpacks for they day. We then walked to the red light district where we walked around for a short time. It definitely was an uncomfortable place to be in my opinion. I know that it's part of Amsterdam and I guess you could say its part of their culture, but having half naked woman standing in windows trying to sell themselves is really bizarre to me and I don't fully understand why it's still acceptable, but hey t hats just me and my western ideas! We walked around for a little bit and then made our way to one of the cafés nearby. In case you didn't know, Amsterdam has two types of coffee shops. There's the typical cute coffee shop with lattes and biscuits and then there's the coffee shops with lattes and joints. Yup, drugs are legal in Amsterdam! Willa and I decided to venture into one of these coffee shops and no, we didn't do any drugs! But, we did watch people grind, roll, and smoke joints. It was definitely interesting! After enjoying our drug-free coffee we made our way over to the Hermitage museum which was once a woman's hospital but is now a museum with an art gallery. We spent our time walking around because at that point we were both soaked. After Hermitage, we walked over to the botanical gardens which took us longer to find than the amount of time we actually spent into there. We were both kind of miserably wet and cold so we decided to do the one thing that would make u both feel better and that was eat. Pancakes are big in Amsterdam so we opted for this small pancake cafe where I got this delicious pancake that slightly resembled a quiche and a hot chocolate. Willa and I then shared a choclate pancake with ice cream and were basically in heaven. It was exactly what we needed. We were all museumed out so we left the cafe, went to the grocery store where we bought our dinner of bread and cheese, and then found another cafe where we could keep warm &dry before our seven hour bus ride back. We hung around the cafe for a while and then made our way to central station to grab our backpacks and take the train to the bus depot area. We got there early, changed into drier clothes, and eventually boarded the bus. We each got our own rows until around 3 am when one of the stop had like 20 people come on. This bus ride wasn't as uncomfortable as the first one, but I was still lightly cramped and still partially damp from the rain. We pulled into Paris at 6 am where we got off the bus and took the metro home. At 730 I walked in the door to my apartment where I dropped my stuff, made a nice warm breakfast and took a hot shower because...I had french class at 9!! I'm not sure how I managed today but I've made it all day without a nap so I'm sure you can imagine how tired I am now! I'll try and post pictures later as well as catch you guys up on my trip to Nice as well as Amboise and Chenonceau! Hope all is well in the States! I'm definitely missing the Vermont fall foliage and my mom's homemade apple crisp so enjoy it for me!