Amsterdam

So for my final trip of the semester, Andy, Pat and I went to Amsterdam. We left on Thursday night and arrived to some pouring rain. We got lost, couldn't find the hostel, and almost got hit by a car while searching for a wireless network in a square. We hadn't quite figured out the different modes of transportation.


The next morning we woke up and explored the city before meeting up with Jenny, Andy's girlfriend, and her friends. Before coming to Amsterdam I talked with some friends that had been there already and they steered me towards the free walking tour. What a great idea. It was a three hour walking tour of the city and all the sights. They give tons of history and stories that you would never know if you weren't told. It was awesome. After the tour we got some food and then went to the famous coffee shop the Bulldog. It was pretty weird because they are basically bars but don't serve alcohol. Freaky. After that we went back to the hostel for the happy hour, one euro beers, and hung out with each other and Jenny's friends. It was pretty fun.


Saturday, Pat and I went out and explored the city. We walked all over and saw tons of really great stuff. We even stumbled upon a 3-D recreation of the Nightwatch by Rembrandt. It was awesome. Amsterdam is such a gorgeous city and we had some pretty great weather. We went over to the Rijksmuseum but the line was really long and we had to meet up with Andy shortly so we contented ourselves with seeing the outside and hanging out in the park that is right next to it. After that we met up with Andy and got some dinner while Jenny and her friends went to the Heineken Brewery. After dinner we walked around at night and Andy and Pat wanted to go to the Red Light district so we paid a little visit there. We came back, hung out at the hostel bar again and then went to sleep.

3-D Rembrandt.

Sunday morning, Jenny and her friends left so we had the whole day. We woke up pretty early and went to rent bikes at the train station. After we got the bikes we took a ferry across the main canal and then biked into the countryside. It was amazing, probably one of my favorite days here. The weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous and it was awesome. We rode out to a place called Zaanse Schans. It was really fun. We got lost a couple times but some nice Dutch people helped us out and we finally made it. There are like seven or eight windmills and a clog factory and a cheese shop. The cheese was awesome, Pat and I went back through the sample line multiple time. Delicious. After we rode back we got some fish and chips and then went to bed. Our little bike ride ended up being about 55Km so we were exhausted. Our flight was at 9 the next morning so we woke up pretty early and then headed to the airport.


It was a really great trip and an awesome way to end the semester.