Amsterdam: what a weekend...

This past weekend was ridiculous. Becca and I left for Amsterdam Thursday night at 10pm and the cheapest way to get there was by bus, which meant a 12 hour ride. It was absolutely brutal. In the bus station, there were 200 people going to Amsterdam that night with two separate buses. The place was packed with everyone trying to get through customs! We probably only got 3 hours of on and off sleep the whole ride and by the time we got there, we were completely out of it. We ended up getting off at the wrong stop in the Netherlands, so we had to figure out the train to get into Amsterdam. It was only 7 euros but it was so unnecessary. At least we were only a half hour outside the city, but it was not fun realizing you weren't where you thought you were...and this was only the beginning of the adventure.

Once we got to Amsterdam, we found the tram to take us to our hostel. The city is small so everything was close by and better yet, my sister and brother-in-law were just a 5 minute walk away! After freshening up a little, we were able to meet up with them and grab some dutch pancakes for breakfast. Mine had apples, caramel sauce, and ice cream with the pancake that was made more like a crepe. The Dutch are so smart with how they make their breakfasts. I don't think anyone would mind have dessert first thing in the morning!!

Then we walked down to the IAMSTERDAM sign which was fun. Amsterdam was so crowded for the holiday weekend though so there was tons and tons of people taking your typical touristy pictures on the sign. Of course we joined in and I even got Stephanie to jump on top of the 'S' with me! Of course I made it up there first though...I think she's getting a little too old for that kinda stuff haha.

Me and sister Stephanie on the 'Iamsterdam' sign

We then walked through the city and over to the Van Gogh museum. I was expecting to see more of his artwork, but a lot of it was paintings by people who inspired him which was interesting. But it was a great museum to walk around and cool to see the famous art that you'd only ordinarily see in textbooks.

After Van Gogh, we were hesitant to go to the Anne Frank House and we expected a really long line with all the people visiting that weekend. But it was probably the same wait as it was to get into Van Gogh. I think it was on the way to the Anne Frank House that Marc almost beat up one of the locals. If you didn't already know this, in Amsterdam, the bikers have the right of way no matter what. And this includes those on mopeds (so mom you'd have a lovely time there haha). Anywho, there's the road, the sidewalk, and in between there's a lower, red pathway for the bikes/mopeds. While we were figuring out where to go, people were flying by on their bikes and we were trying to get out of the way but the guy on the moped was going to go around us, but we backed up. Long story short, Marc threw the water bottle at him and it made for a great time. Hahaha I don't think you can get out of Amsterdam without having a hard time with the bikers at least once...

So we got to the Anne Frank House, and it was really cool to walk through. We got to see where she and her family hid and get a feel for her life story which was really interesting. The stairwells were so narrow and steep, it was absolutely amazing! I felt like I was walking up a ladder...

By this point, we were starving, and stopped at a little Italian place on the street. I loved all the seating outside that all the restaurants had. I don't know if it was the unbelievably great weather we had, or what, but it made for great people watching.

The next morning we met up with Steph and Marc again and went to the best pancake house ever. This time, I got mine with bacon and cheese. It was quite possibly the best decision I have ever made. SO delicious! We then went down the street a little bit to get tickets for a canal cruise, but with so many people around, and the lines being too long to get on the boats, we decided to get a paddle boat and paddle down the canals. I knew they had a lot of canals in Amsterdam, but I didn't know they had so many! There were bridges every which way and probably more water than road! It was so beautiful and the views were incredible with the greenery and cute houses. We had to be careful though with the heavy boat traffic. Luckily we had Marc to drive and Steph to help him paddle. Needless to say, Becca and I had a lovely time being taken around :-)

We took the boat to an area near the Heineken Brewery and then went inside there. It wasn't too expensive and each of us were able to get two drinks in the end along with a taster. With the taster, the guy told us to smell it and swoosh it around in our mouths to get the true flavor. In the tour, there was also a place where you could take your picture and send it in an email, so of course Stephanie and I sent one to rub it into the family...

Stephanie and I at the Heineken Experience

Becca and I inside the Heineken Brewery

After this, we didn't really have much time left before we had to get to our bus to head home. We did a little souvenir shopping, grabbed our stuff, and headed over to Central Station to catch our bus...

Oh but wait...we got lost...and missed our bus by 15 minutes. cool.

The next bus wasn't until Monday morning (this was Saturday night at the time) and we simply could not stay that long with exams that week and the cost of the hostels was ridiculous over the holiday. The lady told us of one train we could take for 140 euros with about 10 different stops and changes, which was just too much. She then sent us over to the other station to figure out a train, then we had to go to the international desk, get a number, talk with them...yada yada...

Then we figured the easiest way was to grab a flight back the next morning for the same price as the other train with all the stops. All of the hostels and hotels were booked that weekend though. We even had a hard time getting a room a couple weeks before! Luckily, Steph and Marc were staying another night so we crashed on their (wooden) floor. But hey, it was better than nothing...

We had a nice meal at the Hard Rock Cafe, though. Although the wait was an hour, unless you were able to spot an empty table outside. It was hilarious. Everyone was waiting like vulchers reading to pounce on the next available table!!

After dinner, we were too tired to do anything else, so we went back, figured out our plane tickets, printed them at the front desk, and left in the morning with plenty of time so we didn't miss another way home...

We only got back to London a couple hours later than when we would have had we taken the bus...but it was another unnecessary glitch in our trip.

We can laugh about it now because we're home and we're safe but it was unbelievable how much the transportation was messed up. We were doing so well this whole time with traveling...I guess we were bound to mess up at some point! It makes for the experience though, so I don't regret a minute of it!! :-)

Next stop...the good ol' U S of A
can't wait.

Stonehenge & Bath

This morning, I got up at 6:30am to get ready for our day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge is a random rock formation in the middle of nowhere and no one knows how they got there. There are many theories about fairies putting them there to get to fairy world, or the devil putting them there as a gateway to hell, but there is really no explanation! Sadly, though, it was much smaller than I expected and there wasn't much to do. We basically walked around it, took a bunch of pictures at different angles and that was that...

all of us being the stones...well kinda

Anywho, so Stonehenge is located in a little English county of Wiltshire, about a two hour drive from central London. Bath was another hour drive away, more or less. It was a cute little town where all the buildings were flat in the front and all made of the same Bath Stone. The Roman Baths are located there (hence the name) which was cool to learn about and see. It was a nice area to walk around in too and the scenery was beautiful. If I had more time, I would have loved to go back there again!