Weekend 2 - Amsterdam

After an extremely long and challenging journey complete with getting kicked off trains, getting on the wrong bus, and feeling utterly helpless at one in the morning, we made it to our hostel. You would think this would be a relief. But no. I wasn't exactly expecting the Ritz, but I didn't think I would be sleeping with one eye open and clutching my purse. Waking up in the hostel - we ate our free breakfast and got outta there! We took a bus and the train into the city and met up with some other kids from our group.
First we did a canal tour and got to hear some history and check out the architecture. Its cool because all the buildings tilt slightly forward so they can use a pulley to get furniture upstairs without hitting the house. The weather was pretty rainy and cold, so that part wasn't so fun. Next we just hung out on the plaza for a while because there were always some kind of street performance going on and a large crowd always gathered. For lunch, we went to a bakery and got a delicious sandwich, which goes perfectly with my new favorite desert - chocolate covered waffle! :)))
After that, some of us girls just walked around and shopped a little bit. We went to the "IAMSTERDAM" sign and took a few pictures. We also found this pretty park and just sat in the grass and enjoyed the perfect weather (now sunny and high 60s). I think I fell asleep there!

After that, we went to the Anne Frank house. It was both heart breaking and heart warming. Most of us have read her diary in high school, maybe. It's one thing to read it, and its a completely different thing to be in the place where she lived in constant fear until she was ultimately discovered and murdered. This book was so important because it was the first published document that effectively personalized the Holocaust for the rest of the world.
For dinner we went to Sara's Pancake House and I had banana and chocolate waffles! Yum!
Sunday, we woke up and went for a walk on the beach (our hostel was on the beach). It was gorgeous there!
After the long bus and train ride to the city hauling all our bags, we went to another plaza and grabbed lunch to eat in the same park as the day before. Next was the Van Gogh museum. The part that most amazed me was the shear number of paintings and drawings he did in a matter of 10 years. One of my favorites was "Wheatfield with a Lark". There were also a lot he did when he lived on Monmartre in Paris (because I went there with my family two years ago) that I liked.
The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to traveling back to Bonn!


"To build a future, you have to know the past."
-Otto Frank (Anne's father)