A Weekend in Amsterdam

I just realized that two of my posts somehow did not publish; "The Tour de France!" and "Sightseeing!" Oops. Published them so now you can hear all about them.

Thursday night almost everyone from the program went to IceBarcelona, which was fun but obviously super cold. Kris managed to eat his ice cup, to everyone's astonishment.

This weekend I was in Amsterdam. We departed at five in the morning on Friday, arriving in Amsterdam to check into our hotel by 11 or so, which meant that they were not ready for us. We were given one of the three rooms to put our bags in. Rather than a room in the actual hotel, they pointed to an auxiliary building across the parking lot, loomed over by huge green trees.

This building was actually a portable, if you know what I mean. Everything inside of it was shaped and sized as if you were on a ship; an incredibly narrow hallway on the side of the trees had windows open to multitudes of mosquitoes. Spiders had made their homes in the corners in the hallway. We were nervous about what our room would look like.

We got in, and it was incredibly cramped to have six people in the room. It was composed of two twin beds with an aisle way perhaps two feet wide, a "desk" (rather, a fake-wood board the size of a lunch tray nailed to the wall), and the most horrifying toxic-waste bathroom I have ever seen.

Opening the door to the bathroom was an experience in itself. The rank smell of urine wafted out. Mold caressed the corners of the portion of the room which housed the sink and toilet. The mirror was installed at the proper height for a six foot person; any shorter and you could only see your forehead.

The shower deserves its own paragraph. Rather than installing (or bothering to clean) a proper shower, there is a spigot resembling the end of a hose in the wall. There is a divider between the toilet and this "shower area," which perhaps would have prevented water from leaking everywhere had I been brave enough to take a shower. The shower portion was literally carpeted in mold. I almost retched just looking at it. The boys in the group, who had until then been positive about the cramped room, realized we had to move. I vowed to reek rather than end up with tetanus or tuberculosis from the shower.

Luckily Sam, with a little help from her father, gave Travellocity a piece of her mind, thus helping us relocate to the Tulip Hotel. Though the location of this hotel was not ideal, it was absolutely worth staying there. The service was wonderful, the rooms were clean (and spacious), and it felt much safer than an auxiliary hotel ever could.

In between hotels, we went to the Anne Frank House. It was really interesting to see the location and layout of where they lived in hiding for so long, though I read the book almost ten years ago. The museum was set up wonderfully. I really enjoyed it, but it's not something you can describe; you kind of have to visit for yourself.

We went back and got situated in our new hotel and then went out to get dinner. Unfortunately we took the metro too far and ended up in a location we didn't recognize. We managed to wander into the Red Light District, which was interesting to walk through I guess. Culture shock. I'd go into detail but again, it's best if you see it yourself.

The next day we woke up late, exhausted from the previous day's early start. We had a huge, lengthy Dutch breakfast of enormous Dutch pancakes with all kinds of toppings. We then walked to the Van Gogh Museum and explored the city by foot. The Van Gogh museum is great, organizing his works on the second floor chronologically by location with details about his life accompanying almost every painting. The next two floors house a collectors' works, which include those of Cezanne and others of Van Gogh's peers.

Amsterdam is beautiful. They call it 'the Venice of the North' because of its many canals and boats and bridges. I actually prefer it to Venice. It is tranquil, and everyone is friendly. There are fewer tourists, though the architecture in each city is remarkable. The one largest difference, however, is how the people in Amsterdam treat their city. The trash that floats in the canals of Venice, reeking and clogging the views does not exist in Amsterdam.

We retired early and woke early on Sunday to get a head start museum-hopping. We ate at Bagels and Beans, an organic coffee/bagel joint that hit the spot both of the times we went. Next stop was the Rijksmuseum, which houses many Vermeers, Rembrandts, Frans Hals, and Jan Steens. I really liked that.

Okay I'll finish later, I'm tired of typing.