Amsterdam

I am going to beat the rush and talk about Amsterdam. It started out very nicely and relaxed. We got to see the Anne Frank House which was cool to see. The secret annex was bigger than I expected. The most moving part for me was a quote by Anne saying she was still grateful to God for her gift to write. I am amazed that she was able to have a thankful heart despite her surroundings which were much worse than anything I've ever experienced.

We then ate dinner. Most people had savory pancakes but I had an omelette. It was great. I also tasted some South African wine which some other girls had bought but I didn't think it was very good. It was too strong for me.

On Saturday we ate Chinese for lunch. I enjoyed my duck even though people were giving me a hard time. The duck was actually better than the pork. We then tried to find the red light district but only found dirty stores, not the infamous girls in the windows. We then saw a large tulip selling area and then went to the Heineken museum. It was an interesting experience and I found out Heineken is GROSS. I am glad I had pepsi to mix with the bit I did not give away. We got 3 drinks, either Heineken beer or soda. That's how I know what Heineken tastes like.

After the Heineken we went on a canal cruise which was really nice and very well timed because it turned out to be the only warm dry part of the entire weekend. We then walked around town, did some shopping and ate. Some of us went searching for the girls in the windows. It was definately an interesting thing to see.

Today it has been raining all day. After putting our stuff in lockers at the train station and eating lunch the group split up and I led a group to a place called "Our Lord in the Attic". It was three buildings behind each other which had been converted into a Catholic Church in 1661 when it was illegal to be Catholic in Amsterdam. It was amazing how large it was. The actual sanctuary itself was 3 stories tall, but from the street you would never know there was a church there at all.