Amsterdam!

Bonjour! Just returned from Amsterdam this weekend and absolutely loved it! Now, when you think about Amsterdam the immediate thoughts that come to your mind are all the things that are legal there...but Amsterdam, putting all that it is known for aside, is probably one of my favorite cities I have been to.

A group of us left very early Friday morning (4:20 AM to be exact) to catch our flight to Amsterdam. I had no idea what to expect. Would I love it regardless of all the things that it is known for or would I hate it because of the things Amsterdam is known for. I was surprised to say the least. We arrived and immediately started by going to the Rijksmuseum where the works of Vermeer and Rembrandt are housed. It was really interesting to see all of the flemish artists that I have studied in school. Right after, we searched for a place to each lunch. We found a restaurant where I had a traditional dutch meal: a chicken burrito. Needless to say, it wasn't quite like Southern California Mexican food, but it did the job. After lunch, we went to the Van Gogh museum, probably my favorite thing we did all weekend. Van Gogh is my favorite artist so getting to see all of his works in person was incredible. I could've spent days in the museum looking at all of his work. We got to stay at a nice hotel just outside of town which was great. we were so tired from getting up so early that we called it a day after seeing those two museums and rested the rest of the night.

The next day we started out pretty early again to make sure we got a ticket to go inside of Anne Frank's house. As we went through, I started to remember her diary and all the things she wrote about at just the age of 13. The house has been beautifully preserved and the way the museum set it up with quotes on the walls just made it so much more touching. Walking behind the bookshelf into the Secret Annex was so surreal. The one room that tore my heart to pieces was her bedroom. She had put up pictures on her walls of celebrities, people she looked up to, animals, etc. To see all of her personal belongings there just filled me with sadness. Anne frank was an incredible person and writer for being such a young girl. After going through Anne Frank's house, we explore the rest of Amsterdam. The canals and buildings are gorgeous. People ride bikes everywhere! There is a bike lane and light on every street. It was crazy. I have never seen so many bike in my life. We also had an opportunity to see the beautiful flower markets. The Dutch are very welcoming and friendly, probably the most friendly in Europe. I had great experiences interacting with them.

If you ever have a chance, you should definitely visit Amsterdam for the things its not well known for. The canals, museums, and the people are great!