The Netherlands

Ok. I don’t have much time to write this all out- unfortunately I took so long on getting Spring Break covered (and shabbily at that) that here I am several hours before taking off to London and I’m trying to squeeze in writing about those Netherlands so that when I come back from London I won’t be behind! So... if you want to get a better idea of how Amsterdam and Brussels were- you can check out the photo album which is linked in one of the entries earlier this month! Some of them aren’t labeled yet, but if you keep checkin’ back they’ll get done! :)
SO! We arrived in Amsterdam last Friday, dropped our bags at the hotel, then headed BACK to the airport, and caught a train to Belgium! Staci was meeting me and Alexis the next day, so rather than go see stuff that she would inevitable also want to see, we decided to check out the neighboring country!
The scenery was SO nice! It was really lovely! Everything was so neat and contained, and there were little farms everywhere! SO CUTE! We arrived in Brussels and just walked around- we really had no idea what we should do or see because we hadn’t planned ahead for it, so we just followed the touristy signs and saw the main sites- Grand Place, Mannaken Pis (a little boy “pissing” fountain... SO CUTE! Check out the pictures in a few days for more info, and of course a visual!). It was a BEAUTIFUL place! I would go back there in a heart beat! We also had Belgian chocolate (they give you a free taste every store you go in!) and then Belgian waffles. and let me just say- wow! I mean, waffles are ok, but I am going to DREAM about those things! Oooh baby! We were only there a few hours, but it was AWESOME!~
So the next day we got a slow start, but Staci arrived safely, and we finally got in to Amsterdam itself (our Courtyard Marriott fun house was located outside the city- about a half hour bus and train... not bad as it sounds). We took a boat tour around the canals (in case you’re like me and didn’t know Amsterdam HAD canals- its does! It’s “the Northern Venice” they say!), and then walked around. We checked out the “Red Light” district which was VERY depressing (think middle aged women in provocative positions waving every man to her through the window... and really that doesn’t begin to describe it). The smell of pot was invasive, or more so in that area (fancy that).. so we bugged out and moved to the Anne Frank house, which was truly a GREAT museum and experience. It was the place where the Frank family hid, and where she wrote her Diary during WW2- absolutely impressive organization and a very effective exhibit.
We saw the Rijksmuseum (Dutch painters and artifacts), the Van Gogh Museum (which also featured an interesting exhibit on Egon Shiele), Rembrandt’s house, and MUCH more! There are trams there that run like trains (oh, but they’re trams) through the city on above ground tracks- they are very silent and sinister looking, but if you’re ON one they are a great way of getting around.
With our “I AMsterdam” cards, the cards we got that included transportation and museums and discounts on stuff, we got free stuff- including a taste of NASTY Dutch liqueur, these scary but delicious concoctions of potato, meat, and fried stuff, postcards, and coffee! It was really great- if you’re headed towards Amsterdam I’d highly recommend it!
I’m cutting the play by play of this guy short, cause I’ve gotten behind and this is a long one anyway- next stop- LONDON! In the end here’s the conclusion: Dutch people are nice and know more languages than we do, the red-light district is saddening, pot is disgusting and no one should smoke it, and Amsterdam has a lot to offer! I’d go back! Oh, and Schipol airport is the coolest airport on earth!