Amsterdam was fantastic! We left Luxembourg on Friday and arrived, after a 5 hour train ride, in Amsterdam. Friday night we decided to go to the Van Gogh museum which was very interesting. I gained a new respect for him to be sure especially seeing the progress of his work from rural scenes to the more experimental art he attempted in his later years. We made the fatal mistake of not eating dinner before hand though so we were all famished by the end of the museum trip. We got our first taste of European fast food that night…a little bit on the gross side I must admit.
The next day we woke up early to go to the Anne Frank House before the line got too long. I never read the book (it is on my mile long summer reading list, lucky for me I work in a library!) but it was still a powerful experience. We had been discussing the Holocaust in class the week before and seeing the house where she was hidden away and seeing the video of her father discussing his daughter was very powerful. Amsterdam itself was very pretty, it reminded me a lot of Bruges with the same architecture and canals. We took another canal tour and went out towards the North Sea, it was such a gorgeous day!
Amsterdam was a pleasant surprise, I had known very little about it before the trip but was very impressed with how beautiful it was. My one complaint: The bicycles! It was absolutely insane walking around the city because you had to watch out for trams, cars and ESPECIALLY bikes. The people riding the bikes would ring the bells when they were about 2 feet away and you had to literally jump out of the way because they did not slow down. I think I will have nightmares about that sound for weeks!
Another great weekend but I have to admit, the weekend I am looking forward to the most is next…PARIS!!!
