I wasn’t really sure what weed smelled like until my time in Amsterdam. The entire city smells like weed! At one point we joked about getting a second hand high because of the amount. If not for that, I would love to one day spend a lot more time in Amsterdam, possibly even live there! Also, the amount of sketchy shops with porn and other inappropriate things may make raising kids there rather difficult. I absolutely loved it despite all of that though. We only spent a day and a half in Amsterdam and I could have definitely spent a lot more time there!
The first day we got in midafternoon and decided to go explore simply because we didn’t have a lot of time there. We went and got some food, found the I AMSTERDAM sign because the flower market had closed by that point. One thing, after using public transportation is most of the cities we visited, I loved Amsterdam’s. The trains were usually right on time and were simple to figure out! Plus, Google Maps has helped me a TON on this trip. I feel like sometimes people just want me around to navigate for them. They assure me that isn’t true, but in Amsterdam it definitely felt that way sometimes. Anyway, so after realizing the flower market was closed, we found the sign near the Rijksmuseum and proceeded to go to the park featured in The Best Two Years, Vondelpark. A few people in our group reenacted the scene, which was hilarious to watch! We found this pretty blue bridge, took some pictures and then had to go back to the hotel for dinner. In this hostel we actually had dinner provided to us which was super nice and saved me money! YAY!
The rest of the night was spent laughing together in our room of 8 people and going to bed way too late. I loved every second of it though! The next day, Julia had asked me if I would go visit the Rijksmuseum with her and Kodey the next day. Though it was expensive, I said I would gladly go with, I mean, might as well immerse myself in cultural things, right? :D The famous painting there that was guarded was The Night Watch by Rembrandt. I’m not sure why, but museums absolutely exhaust me! After about 2 hours I was done! It seemed like a museum you could easily spend a few days in, but I had seen what I wanted and was done. My one big complaint about it was the layout. It made getting anywhere rather difficult. If you wanted to get to another park of the museum you’d have to take stairs down and back up and it all just seemed rather unnecessary. Overall, the museum was beautiful and a great experience, but maybe not worth the money I spent on it! Outside, there were some beautiful gardens and a fountain you could play in without getting wet. I had the great idea to go get some pictures inside and outside the fountain. I gave Kodey my phone and Julia saw that the fountains went down for a moment. Julia and I hesitated just a little too long and as soon as we jumped in the water started spraying up! Mind you, I'm wearing a skirt and I got sprayed right up the legs! Haha! And there were two different walls to go through so by the time we made it to the middle, we were soaked, laughing our heads off, and made everyone around us laugh really hard! Being wet the rest of the day wasn't fun, but the memory makes me laugh still!
After the museum, we knew we wanted to see the flower market, grab some pancakes, see Rembrandt’s house, see the flea market, and of course go see our scheduled tour for the Anne Frank house. We went for pancakes first at a place called The Pancake House. Now, these pancakes are not likes ones in the US. These are more like crepes in that they are large and flat but a little thicker than a crepe. I got one called the Caprese. It had mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes, and onions on and in it. It was incredible! It tasted so good!! Jonah leaves for Amsterdam tomorrow so I spent some time telling him what he should do and what to avoid. After pancakes, we went to the flower market, which I was excited for the entire trip! I was hoping to buy some import approved tulip bulbs to bring back but apparently they are out of season, so none of the shops were carrying them. I was super disappointed. The markets were still really fun to look at and the flowers were beautiful! I wish we hadn’t missed tulip season!
We went to the Waterloo market after that and looked at all the little stands. I finally found a cute crew neck sweatshirt and bought it! I forgot all my sweatshirts at home and knew I’d need at least one for Iceland. The market was incredibly sketchy but also charming at the same time. Obviously, everything wreaked of weed as well! Haha! There were entire booths dedicated to all things weed which was funny. J We quickly took a picture in front of Rembrandt’s house and hurried off the Anne Frank house, but we got there early so we went into a small shop and bought a stroop waffel, it was SOO good!!
The Anne Frank house was incredibly humbling. We actually had an educational visit, so we got a special tour. We were able to ask our guide questions about the way they run the business and even about the Frank family. Our group actually got to see Otto Frank’s office (something not open to the general public) as well as the kitchen where they made the product they sold (something to make jam, I can’t recall exactly what it’s called). Then we toured the house with the rest of the general public. I always knew the area was small, but I didn’t realize exactly how small it was until I was there. To have 8 people in close quarters for 2 years would drive me insane. I think the families did drive each other mad while they lived together, but they would have preferred that to what ended up happening. Otto Frank is the only one of the 8 people in hiding that lived through the concentration camp and the liberation. The group got separated shortly after being arrested and sent to different camps. When Otto finally went back home, he knew his wife had died but wasn’t sure about his daughters, he quickly learned they were never coming home. I have no idea how I would ever be able to survive something like that. Otto is amazing for turning a tragedy into something to honor his family and his daughter’s memory. There was a short video of him talking about reading the diary. He said he thought he knew his daughter very well, but the girl speaking in the diary was different than the Anne he knew. He said that parents never truly know their children, especially if the children aren’t in an environment where they can truly express themselves. Just left me feeling a little somber, but hopeful that I’ll be able to have a good relationship with my future children.
I hope to be able to visit Amsterdam soon and spend lots more time there!
