Where did I leave off?
REST OF BELGIUM:
After I blogged, Courtney, Adam and I went to Delirium, which was fun. The entire bar was so complex and had a cool atmosphere. Of course, a Lil Wayne song was playing when we first sat down in the main bar. It's like they knew I was there. We only stayed for me to have one beer and to see the atmosphere. Then we had the most interesting experience at a Mexican restaurant. I swear, everyone in Europe is just so relaxed. It took forever to get the check- literally about 30 minutes. Then we just headed back to relax and sleep before the rest of the journey. Courtney and I got to sleep in, but Adam left early to meet a friend in South Holland before heading to Amsterdam. Courtney and I got lost on our way to find a frittery (can't spell apparently). We just hung out before heading to our bus (which was AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE).
AMSTERDAM:
I've fallen in love with this city. I could write AT LEAST 5 pages about my time in Amsterdam and still be cutting corners. If you've kept up with my blog, you already know that I've been there once already on my study abroad journey, but once was clearly not enough (plus it just worked out this way).
Courtney and I arrived relatively late on Weds night, so when we finally got to the hostel and met up with Adam, all we really had time/ energy for was eating. Since it was an early night, we realized the next day was going to be a long day and got up relatively early (basically not completely sleeping in). We all walked together towards the Anne Frank house, but they went to the line and I got breakfast/ lunch. I had already seen it and didn't really want to spend more money on it not even three weeks later, plus it was a really long line. I had a "savory" pancake which pancakes are apparently a Dutch thing to have. After lunch, I went to see if they were done with the house, but they weren't even to the front of the line. So I decided to go and walk around Amsterdam a little bit more. I found a cheese factory, a tulip museum and really cool architecture. I loved to get lost in the city by walking around and enjoying the day. After they were done with the museum, we headed to Dam Square to "create our own Magnum bars" which basically was picking a coating (dark chocolate for me- obvs) and 3 toppings for a Magnum Ice Cream Bar. It was so yummy. We then decided to hit up Red Light District... This was a journey because we stopped at like 7 different shops on the way out of Dam Square. Experiencing the Red Light District during the daytime was much different and a lot less overwhelming than at night. It was less crowded and you could actually see the streets. I also realized that the actual district wasn't as large as it had seemed the first time I had went. After that, we walked towards the "IAMSTERDAM" sign to take pictures. It was a mission to get up on the A, but I semi made it! We ended up walking towards the Heineken Factory afterwards so I could get a gift for one of my best friends, Danae, since she's obsessed with Heineken. We then decided to grab dinner at Wagon Mama's. I don't really know if it's spelled that way, but oh well. The three of us headed back to the hostel for what seemed like it was going to be an early night... False. We hung out with one of the people staying in our hostel- Dean. The four of us went back to the Red Light District and got lost in the streets near Dam Square. We all just hung out and talked.
The next day, Courtney and Adam decided to go to the Tulip Fields, but I really wanted to try out this bike tour instead, so I stayed back in Amsterdam to do so. Best. Decision. Ever. The bike tour was BEYOND amazing. But before I get ahead of myself, I want to say how wonderful it is to truly just walk around Amsterdam and appreciate the beauty of the city and the architecture of the city. Before going on the bike tour, I had the chance to walk around a different area of Amsterdam and explore. It truly makes you realize how small the city is but how much there is to do there. I was SO nervous to go on this damn bike tour, but I did. It was frightening and terrifying, but amazing. At first, I forgot how to use a bike (for a hot minute), then I realized how easy it was. We went to this area where you can see this bridge two sisters who lived across a canal from each other had built to be able to easily reach one another. I wish I would have wrote this sooner, so I could be more specific of the buildings we saw and stuff, but I forget the names easily and that's kind of a problem. The group moved on... We saw the place where Rembrandt begun his art.. In fact, the building where he taught himself about the anatomy of the human body has been used for so many different purposes.. for example, right now it's a restaurant, but it used to be a city wall at one point. The place also had been used for "doctors" to take the bodies of executed people (from the square right in front of it) and dissect them to study the parts of the body. The thing is... anyone who wanted to see the process was able to view it. We moved on to the Red Light District, where we had a very interesting conversation afterwards. Biked to Dam Square, then to different neighborhoods in Amsterdam and finally at the Anne Frank House area before arriving to a square near the hostel. I'll write some of the things I found out on the tour in a hot minute. After the tour was over, I realized Courtney and Adam weren't back yet, but I had terrible wifi in the hostel room (plus it's rather boring alone). I went to the bar/ common area of our hostel and ended up meeting three American guests of the hostel as well. They were on their own Eurotrip and we ended up going to grab dinner together and talking about our experiences in Europe. Afterwards, I just ended up going back to my hostel room and calling it a night (7 miles of a bike ride and non stop on the go was tiring).
The final day was quite short. I really just had enough time to walk a little bit and grab a bite to eat before the three of us headed to Berlin (6 hour train ride..).
FUN FACTS I LEARNED ON THE BIKE TOUR:
1) This is one of the only cities/ countries (if not the only one) that went from being a Republic to a Monarchy.
2) Because the property tax is/was ridiculous, people purposely made their houses skinny but super tall..
3) Because of the above statement, some houses are curved forward so that when they are moving their stuff in/ out of the house (there is a hook at the top of the houses), the furniture doesn't swing into the windows.
4) Other houses are just curved to the left/ right/ backwards, because something about the city sinking.
5) Amsterdam is under the sea level (I THINK by 7 meters, but I might be wrong.. It's been a few days).. But according to the tour guide, the Dutch are smart and created plans in case there is flooding or in case the water level consequently rises in the future.
6) The three "X"'s in the Coat of Arms DOES NOT represent dirty things... In fact, it represents the three dangers Amsterdam has had to face: fire, floods and plague.
7) Prostitution is an actual job in Amsterdam. They are tax payers, have retirement plans, get healthcare benefits, etc.
8) MARIJUANA IS NOT LEGAL IN AMSTERDAM. It is TOLERATED. There is a clause in their constitution/ laws that has a "no harm" part to it, which basically says two things.. 1) If the crime isn't hurting anyone, then there should be no punishment.. 2) If the punishment for said crime would cause more harm than the crime itself, then there should be no punishment. This is a huge misconception about Amsterdam.
9) Drugs and prostitution happens everywhere.. SURPRISE. No, but really, if you didn't know that, I don't even know what to tell you. The Dutch just go about it in their own way. They have coffeeshops so that there isn't as much violence and that hard drugs don't get into the mix with marijuana. This has made Amsterdam a lot safer as far as violence and extreme crimes go. They did try to make a law (NOT IN AMSTERDAM) in a city of the Netherlands to see if allowing only locals to be able to have a "marijuana card" would be a better idea. It was not. Crime went up overnight. So it was repealed.
10) The canals are also semi shaped like a horse shoe so if you see the canal curving in a certain direction and follow it, you will probably end up in Dam Square.
Okay, I'm done for now.. I'll write about my time in Berlin soon! Leaving Berlin for Prague tomorrow!!!
REST OF BELGIUM:
After I blogged, Courtney, Adam and I went to Delirium, which was fun. The entire bar was so complex and had a cool atmosphere. Of course, a Lil Wayne song was playing when we first sat down in the main bar. It's like they knew I was there. We only stayed for me to have one beer and to see the atmosphere. Then we had the most interesting experience at a Mexican restaurant. I swear, everyone in Europe is just so relaxed. It took forever to get the check- literally about 30 minutes. Then we just headed back to relax and sleep before the rest of the journey. Courtney and I got to sleep in, but Adam left early to meet a friend in South Holland before heading to Amsterdam. Courtney and I got lost on our way to find a frittery (can't spell apparently). We just hung out before heading to our bus (which was AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE).
AMSTERDAM:
I've fallen in love with this city. I could write AT LEAST 5 pages about my time in Amsterdam and still be cutting corners. If you've kept up with my blog, you already know that I've been there once already on my study abroad journey, but once was clearly not enough (plus it just worked out this way).
Courtney and I arrived relatively late on Weds night, so when we finally got to the hostel and met up with Adam, all we really had time/ energy for was eating. Since it was an early night, we realized the next day was going to be a long day and got up relatively early (basically not completely sleeping in). We all walked together towards the Anne Frank house, but they went to the line and I got breakfast/ lunch. I had already seen it and didn't really want to spend more money on it not even three weeks later, plus it was a really long line. I had a "savory" pancake which pancakes are apparently a Dutch thing to have. After lunch, I went to see if they were done with the house, but they weren't even to the front of the line. So I decided to go and walk around Amsterdam a little bit more. I found a cheese factory, a tulip museum and really cool architecture. I loved to get lost in the city by walking around and enjoying the day. After they were done with the museum, we headed to Dam Square to "create our own Magnum bars" which basically was picking a coating (dark chocolate for me- obvs) and 3 toppings for a Magnum Ice Cream Bar. It was so yummy. We then decided to hit up Red Light District... This was a journey because we stopped at like 7 different shops on the way out of Dam Square. Experiencing the Red Light District during the daytime was much different and a lot less overwhelming than at night. It was less crowded and you could actually see the streets. I also realized that the actual district wasn't as large as it had seemed the first time I had went. After that, we walked towards the "IAMSTERDAM" sign to take pictures. It was a mission to get up on the A, but I semi made it! We ended up walking towards the Heineken Factory afterwards so I could get a gift for one of my best friends, Danae, since she's obsessed with Heineken. We then decided to grab dinner at Wagon Mama's. I don't really know if it's spelled that way, but oh well. The three of us headed back to the hostel for what seemed like it was going to be an early night... False. We hung out with one of the people staying in our hostel- Dean. The four of us went back to the Red Light District and got lost in the streets near Dam Square. We all just hung out and talked.
The next day, Courtney and Adam decided to go to the Tulip Fields, but I really wanted to try out this bike tour instead, so I stayed back in Amsterdam to do so. Best. Decision. Ever. The bike tour was BEYOND amazing. But before I get ahead of myself, I want to say how wonderful it is to truly just walk around Amsterdam and appreciate the beauty of the city and the architecture of the city. Before going on the bike tour, I had the chance to walk around a different area of Amsterdam and explore. It truly makes you realize how small the city is but how much there is to do there. I was SO nervous to go on this damn bike tour, but I did. It was frightening and terrifying, but amazing. At first, I forgot how to use a bike (for a hot minute), then I realized how easy it was. We went to this area where you can see this bridge two sisters who lived across a canal from each other had built to be able to easily reach one another. I wish I would have wrote this sooner, so I could be more specific of the buildings we saw and stuff, but I forget the names easily and that's kind of a problem. The group moved on... We saw the place where Rembrandt begun his art.. In fact, the building where he taught himself about the anatomy of the human body has been used for so many different purposes.. for example, right now it's a restaurant, but it used to be a city wall at one point. The place also had been used for "doctors" to take the bodies of executed people (from the square right in front of it) and dissect them to study the parts of the body. The thing is... anyone who wanted to see the process was able to view it. We moved on to the Red Light District, where we had a very interesting conversation afterwards. Biked to Dam Square, then to different neighborhoods in Amsterdam and finally at the Anne Frank House area before arriving to a square near the hostel. I'll write some of the things I found out on the tour in a hot minute. After the tour was over, I realized Courtney and Adam weren't back yet, but I had terrible wifi in the hostel room (plus it's rather boring alone). I went to the bar/ common area of our hostel and ended up meeting three American guests of the hostel as well. They were on their own Eurotrip and we ended up going to grab dinner together and talking about our experiences in Europe. Afterwards, I just ended up going back to my hostel room and calling it a night (7 miles of a bike ride and non stop on the go was tiring).
The final day was quite short. I really just had enough time to walk a little bit and grab a bite to eat before the three of us headed to Berlin (6 hour train ride..).
FUN FACTS I LEARNED ON THE BIKE TOUR:
1) This is one of the only cities/ countries (if not the only one) that went from being a Republic to a Monarchy.
2) Because the property tax is/was ridiculous, people purposely made their houses skinny but super tall..
3) Because of the above statement, some houses are curved forward so that when they are moving their stuff in/ out of the house (there is a hook at the top of the houses), the furniture doesn't swing into the windows.
4) Other houses are just curved to the left/ right/ backwards, because something about the city sinking.
5) Amsterdam is under the sea level (I THINK by 7 meters, but I might be wrong.. It's been a few days).. But according to the tour guide, the Dutch are smart and created plans in case there is flooding or in case the water level consequently rises in the future.
6) The three "X"'s in the Coat of Arms DOES NOT represent dirty things... In fact, it represents the three dangers Amsterdam has had to face: fire, floods and plague.
7) Prostitution is an actual job in Amsterdam. They are tax payers, have retirement plans, get healthcare benefits, etc.
8) MARIJUANA IS NOT LEGAL IN AMSTERDAM. It is TOLERATED. There is a clause in their constitution/ laws that has a "no harm" part to it, which basically says two things.. 1) If the crime isn't hurting anyone, then there should be no punishment.. 2) If the punishment for said crime would cause more harm than the crime itself, then there should be no punishment. This is a huge misconception about Amsterdam.
9) Drugs and prostitution happens everywhere.. SURPRISE. No, but really, if you didn't know that, I don't even know what to tell you. The Dutch just go about it in their own way. They have coffeeshops so that there isn't as much violence and that hard drugs don't get into the mix with marijuana. This has made Amsterdam a lot safer as far as violence and extreme crimes go. They did try to make a law (NOT IN AMSTERDAM) in a city of the Netherlands to see if allowing only locals to be able to have a "marijuana card" would be a better idea. It was not. Crime went up overnight. So it was repealed.
10) The canals are also semi shaped like a horse shoe so if you see the canal curving in a certain direction and follow it, you will probably end up in Dam Square.
Okay, I'm done for now.. I'll write about my time in Berlin soon! Leaving Berlin for Prague tomorrow!!!
Delirium Pub in Brussels
Fries in Brussels
Lunch in Amsterdam
Anne Frank's house from across the canal
Customized Magnum Ice Cream Bar
I Amsterdam (Adam is in the background)
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