Netherlands

This weekend was amazing! We were able to travel to Amsterdam and Brugge, and we had enough time to see all of the major sites we had wanted to see in Amsterdam. The trains were a fun experiece. The train we were supposed to take from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam was late by about 20 minutes, which messed up all of our other connections. Fortunately, we made it there only 30 minutes later than expected and had a great time! Anne Frank's house was interesting and a little disturbing at the same time, but I am glad we waited to see it. It was a lot bigger than I had expected, and I was suprised to see no furniture. She had decorated her room with pictures from old magazines and cartoons, and the pictures were still there on the wall. I cannot imagine living there for as long as she did never being able to go outside. Her diary is also preserved there. Its amazing to look at something that has touched so many lives. We also went to the Brewery although we weren't a big fan of the beer. I think it is very much an acquired taste that I am just going to have to pass on. Although I did like this better than the Alt beers that are supposedly so good. They still taste like pickled woodchips to me. We also went to the Rikjs Museum, walked through the red light district, and dodged big boats while paddling boats down the canals. Brugge was also a great city to see. We arrived really late a night though, so walking through town alone at 2 in the morning was a tad bit disturbing, but we made it there safely. We were able to go to the top of the Belfry, and we arrived right at noon, so we were able to see the carillon play. More later...