And I figured everything out on this trip. For the first time in my life I traveled alone with no plans to meet anyone I knew, and with no knowledge of the city (or country) I was going to. Aside from a couple of museums and sights I wanted to visit, I had no expectations and was on my own time and schedule. I absolutely loved it!
It was night time when I arrived in Amsterdam, and I had no idea how to get to my hostel, so I went to the information stand in the airport and asked them a cheap way to get where I was going. Everyone in Amsterdam speaks English, that was really helpful. I think it's the second language next to Dutch (or Flemmish if you wanna be old school).
For those who don't know me too well, I get lost rather easily, and when I have a map I check it every couple of minutes because I know my instincts usually take me in the opposite direction that I desire. Well, not this time! I made it to my hostel alive and by 10pm or so. I checked into a room with 19 other beds numbered and lettered bunkbeds. Luckily 15 of the beds were empty, and so it was not too loud the first night.
After I settled I went out and walked around to see this Amsterdam culture that so many people are always raving about. You hear "Amsterdam" and people immediately think cannabis, prostitution, shrooms, and all of those other interesting things that are legal in Amsterdam. Everyone always fails to mention how amazingly beautiful the city is, especially in the winter with its Christmas lights and winter carnivals out everywhere. There was one at Leidse Plein, near where I stayed, and it had stands for food and an ice skating rink. Such a fun atmosphere! So I walked around the bridges and the canals in the cold weather before I decided to get to bed.
While I was in Amsterdam I toured the house that Anne Frank and her family hid in during World War II. It's called Anne Frank Het (Anne Frank's House), but it was an office building, not really a house if you think about it. I saw the bookcase that hid the door to the attic they lived in. Some things that surprised me were how well kept some of the original things are. Amsterdam was originally built within a walled city so the stairs are extremely steep and winding. A very dangerous atmosphere for old people, or people in a hurry. I saw stairs like this in the old houses like Anne Frank's house, and I also visited Rembrandt's Het, where I saw the studio he used to work in and some of his original works are there as well. When I was there the mayor was there celebrating with a bunch of people because they finally got an original Rembrandt to return to the house. Unfortunately the museum guard would not let me join the festivities.
When I walked to the Rembrandt house it was like fate because there was a flea market all along the canal that I was following (canals are a great way to know where you are in Amsterdam). And there was also a bagel shop that made homemade cream cheese, man oh man do I miss bagels with homemade cream cheese. Can't wait for my NY bagel when I get to JFK airport. HEAVEN! Anyway, so shopping and bagels to start that day, what a great start.
During my visit I went to the van Gogh Museum of course! I snuck as many pictures as possible. None of the museums in Amsterdam allowed pictures, so that was a little disappointing. I got yelled at in the National Museum for taking pictures, RIGHT before I go to the Night Watch by Rembrandt. I got a good amount of pictures though.
I met a lot of cool people while I was in Amsterdam. It's such a laid back atmosphere that being alone made it easier to meet new people. I went to the same coffeeshop a couple of times and the bartender started calling me his little sister and insisted that we take a picture together. There is where I met a group of Germans, a group of Italians, and a group of Northern Irish chaps. The Irish guys I hung out with a lot that weekend and they were great company. It's easy to lose track of time in Amsterdam.
Overall, that was definitely one of my favorite trips that I've been on in my life, and I hope I can go back some time, maybe with friends next time.
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| Winter Wonderland |
Also, banana juice is awesome, and its basically all I drank when I was in Amsterdam.
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Seeing as it was a very long weekend and I had been willing to miss a couple of classes for the traveling cause, I went from Amsterdam to Brussels for a couple of days to see what that city had to offer.
Brussels was beautiful! It was almost impossible for me to find my hostel, so for the first day I didn't go to the hostel. I just roamed around following really big crowds of people through narrow blocked off streets that were covered in Christmas markets. There was Belgium classics everywhere like beer, chocolate, and waffles. I tried all except the beer. I didn't see the big deal. I came a cross a winter festival that was Greek themed where I made friends with the guy working the Metaxa stand. I passed St. Hubert shopping center, and did not buy a single thing (proud of me!). St. Hubert is all old and expensive shops anyway. Right next to it though is like the college student version of a St. Hubert. A little shopping center that covers ONE block but manages to hold over 200 shops inside. HEAVEN!
All i really bought in Brussels was a Christmas hat though. With Christmas music everywhere, and ice skating and such a wintery atmosphere, how could I resist!
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| Holiday Market next to my hostel |
Brussels got lonely really quickly though because literally all there was to do was go shopping and walking around. I saw the whole city really quickly.
I went to a flea market, and came across an Orthodox church in the middle of Sunday service, which was an amazing coincidence. So of course I went to church.
I also went to see the museums they had, the National Gallery is I think around 5 museums. The Modern Art Museum was under construction, so only a small sample of the museum was on display in the Ancient Art Museum. It was easier though because those were the two museums I wanted to see anyway. I saw lots and lots of art by Flemmish artists that I had studied. It was very cool.
But mostly I walked around, ate, drank, and kept to myself on this trip. Definitely a downplay from Amsterdam, but it was good to relax and lay around doing nothing or watching Dutch television before finishing my work for the semester. Good to be stress free... or dangerous to not have a goal. Depends on how you look at it I suppose.
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| Belgium Waffle! |
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