Amsterdam: A DAM great city!!

This post brought to you by the letter D!

Hello friends! I do apologize for my two week absence, but I’ve been super busy (and still am super busy!). I have returned from an amazing weekend in Amsterdam, but figured I’d give you all a quick update on what happened before that.  Besides, its helping me procrastinate!

As you all may know, I went to England the weekend before last, where I stayed with my my cousin Sarah and her husband Nick, as well as their lovely dog Lucy. I had an amazing weekend with them, and it was so nice to be somewhere where I not only had family, but where everyone spoke English! On Friday, we drove up to nearby Portsmouth, where we did a little bit of shopping, and went to the top of the Spinnaker Tower, which was really cool! Saturday, I was able to go to Marks and Spencers and Sainsburys to stock up on some goodies (I am now fully stocked on cookies and chocolate!) and, that night, went to a pub to meet up with some of the family, which was lovely. I was sad to leave on Sunday, and apparently London wasn’t ready for me to leave either…my plane broke (on the ground) and I ended up having to wait 8 hours for another flight!! But, after reading all of Bossypants and learning all there is to know about Heathrow’s Terminal 3, I got home okay and can’t wait to head back in April!

Everyone at the pub!

But the fun didn’t stop there! Last Wednesday, Alex and I paid a visit to Copenhagen’s most famous resident.  No, not the Queen, but the Little Mermaid! After weeks of planning our visit and watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid and purchasing the original story at the bookstore (for $6, mind you) we ventured out to see her.

"I wanna be where the people are...."

Nearly every person I’ve met has told me how small the statue is, and so I went with the mindset that the statue would be about the size of a Coke bottle. Therefore, I was actually surprised by how much bigger the statue was than I originally expected. She was about the size of an actual person, and placed out on a large rock near the shore, looking out to the sea. Overall, definitely worth the walk and the wait!

That night, after returning to our apartment, Alex and I decided we needed to get out and go somewhere. We thus began frantically searching all the travel websites, looking for a cheap place to go for the weekend. After trying for Oslo, Norway (which would involve us traveling on some sketchy ferry)and almost settling on going to Basel, Switzerland ($77 flight) we found a cheap flight to Amsterdam! We couldn’t believe it, and seriously thought God (or StudentUniverse) was playing some trick on us. But once the credit card info went through and we got a confirmation e-mail, reality hit us: we were going to Amsterdam! We frantically began looking for a place to stay (Best Western in the Museum district for $112 a night? Sounds good!) and things to do!

Our lovely Best Western Hotel!

We left on Friday afternoon after class, and arrived in Amsterdam around 5:00. With the help of a nice lady at the airport, we took a bus to our Best Western Hotel, where we checked in, freshened up, then headed out to explore! After wandering around our neighborhood, we stumbled upon a cozy, modern-looking bar called Simple…which sold fish and chips and hamburgers! For 10 euro! After our delicious meal, we decided to be spontaneous and wander around the city, heading towards Amsterdam’s infamous Red Light District. Of course, our spontaneity meant we ended up getting semi-lost, and unable to find it (we thought it’d be kind of weird to ask people where it was). But fate was on our side, because we ended up finding the most delicious waffle place in the entire world!

After devouring our waffles (strawberries and cream for me, and a chocolate waffle for Alex), we headed out again in our search for the Red Light District, and, after seeing a few “Headshops” and dodgy bars, knew we were close. Eventually, we found it, and it was crazy! Prostitution is legal here, and prostitutes just stand in the windows, looking out, talking, winking, and even texting, trying to lure people inside. Once they have a “customer,” negotiations are made and the curtains are pulled shut! ! Insane, and so very different from America! We found our way back to our hotel, and passed out in our beds, exhausted.

Van Gogh Museum

The next day, we woke up bright and early to head to the nearby Van Gogh Museum, which was absolutely fantastic! There, we were able to see some of Van Gogh’s most famous works, such as “Sunflowers” and “The Bedroom,”  as well as the artwork of his contemporaries and teachers. Afterwards, we headed out to explore the city again, enjoying the quaint streets and canals while searching for a place to eat lunch. We happened to find a small Italian restaurant where we split a margherita pizza, which was not as good as our beloved Bertucci’s, but yummy nonetheless!

Doorway to the "Secret Annex"

We then went to visit Anne Frank’s House, which was my favorite part of the trip. I’ve always been an admirer of Anne Frank, because of her ability to remain hopeful and to hold on to her spirit and dreams despite her situation, and getting to see the attic where she lived with 7 other people for 2 years was an incredible experience. The house, which was set up by her father, Otto Frank, was very well done: it began with videos and photos describing what was going on at the time as well as a little about the Frank family. After climbing a steep staircase and going through a hidden door behind a bookcase, we found ourselves in the annex. According to Otto Frank’s wishes, the rooms were left unfurnished and exactly the way they were, which led to a surreal experience. The curtains were still blacked out and, in Anne’s room, pictures of famous celebrities adorned the walls, hung there by Anne herself. Afterwards, there was a room describing what happened to the Frank family (sadly, everyone in the annex died except for Otto Frank), as well as pages from Anne’s real diary on display. While it was truly a sad experience, I highly recommend a visit there for anyone who travels to Amsterdam.

Houseboat (I'm sure the view is spectacular!)

Afterwards, we decided to take a canal boat tour of Amsterdam, which provided usa great way to see more of the city’s sights, as well as to head into various districts we would not have ventured to on our own and to see even more of the city’s sights, such as some of the houseboats docked in the canals! Afterwards, we went back to our room to freshen up (translation: lay in our beds) and then headed out for dinner, this time at a nearby stir-fry restaurant called “Wok to Walk,” which was surprisingly good. We then decided to wander around the city yet again, letting our feet decide where we would end up. Of course, both of us were subconsciously heading in the direction of our beloved waffle shop, which we visited a second time. The waffles were just as delicious (this time, a waffle with vanilla ice cream for me and a waffle with syrup for Alex), but it was a bittersweet experience, because we both knew we would probably never get waffles there again.

I wish I could eat this for breakfast every day.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early yet again to enjoy our last day in Amsterdam. We first headed over to the Rijksmuseum, or, as the narration on the canal boat put it, “Amsterdam’s National Treasure” (say it in a female British accent for full effect). But before heading inside, we took a few minutes to enjoy the giant “I AMsterdam” sign in the back, which presented us with many photo ops (see one at the top). After I almost broke my arm trying to climb one of the letters (my legs were too short) we decided it was time to head inside and enjoy the museum, which did not disappoint. We saw some giant dollhouses, beautiful china dishes, a huge model ship, some of Rembrandt’s artwork including his most famous painting The Nightwatch, and, finally, some drawings found from an Arctic exploration in which the explorers were constantly attacked by polar bears (the description of the work would go something like this: “they decided to head out and explore, but were attacked by polar bears).

The Nightwatch, or as much of the painting as I could fit into the frame

Once we’d had our fill of Dutch artwork and history and polar bear attacks, we purchased some stroop waffle (caramel sandwiched between two thin waffles…so good!) and walked to nearby Vondelpark. After sitting down on a bench to people watch and enjoy our tasty snack, we started getting a few odd stares from joggers and walkers (not sure what’s wrong with what we were doing…but on the plus side we saw a dog pick a beer can off of the ground and put it into a trash can!) so we decided to instead wander around the park and enjoy the scenery. Once we’d done a lap around the park and finished our stroop waffle, we again wandered towards the Red Light District, only this time to find the Oude Kerk, or Old Church (and no, we didn’t get waffles again). We stopped at a small cafe for lunch and looked through the flower market, then searched for the church. After wandering for what seemed like an hour, we finally saw it, then realized it was almost time to head back to our hotel to pick up our bags and head to the airport!

We walked back through Amsterdam, taking in all the sights and enjoying our last few hours in Amsterdam. Although we were sad to leave, it was nice to be back in Copenhagen and to get ourselves ready for our future adventures! I’m sorry to say, but looks like you won’t be hearing from me for awhile yet again…I’m headed off to Prague for next week on a school sponsored study tour (aka my school pays for me to go to Prague for 6 days and to eat at nice restaurants and stay in nice hotels!) Have a great weekend, and happy March!