One Dam Good City

This weekend was quite a change from my small, humble city of Metz. A bunch of us decided towards the beginning of the semester that we had to go to Amsterdam, no matter what it took to get there. We somehow coordinated getting 18 of us to the city with everyone staying in the same hostel room. Unfortunately the weather was not the best, but that didn't stop me from enjoying all the sights and sounds of Amsterdam. Well, not all of the sights and sounds, but that's probably a good thing. It is a really incredible city, with tons of canals and awesome architecture.



Lauren, Andy, Mason, and Marshall outside of the hotel


On Friday afternoon we went to the Anne Frank house, which is the same house that she stayed in while hiding from the Nazis, who occupied the Netherlands in the early 40s. The house, which is a museum now, is very well preserved, and we went on a self guided tour starting in her father's storefront on the first floor and ending in the attic and "secret annex" where Anne and some other people went into hiding. Each room and piece of memorabilia in the museum had quotes from Anne's diary that described the situation in great detail. It was really moving to be where she was, looking out at the beautiful canals from the same blinds that she did, and knowing that she couldn't go outside and enjoy the things that ordinary kids could. I didn't get any pictures of the house, but I do have one from the exit.

I couldn't get a picture of the entire thing, but this wall was about 3 stories tall and had that quote in at least 20 different languages.

We spent most of the day Saturday walking around the city, and went on a beer bike tour. It was an amazing way to get 20 people to see the city and we all had a great time. The beer bike is basically a giant wagon with a bar wrapping around it. Everyone sat on bicycle seats facing the bar, and there was a driver that took us all around Amsterdam for two hours. There were a lot of tourists walking around the city, and just about everyone pulled out their cameras and took pictures of us as we passed by. Although the other tourists loved it, I saw plenty of disdainful looks from the locals, as well as drivers that got stuck behind the giant bike moving at a walking pace.

The beer bike.

Some Amsterdam traffic behind the beer bike.

One of my main goals for every trip is to try out some of the local food, and I got to do that this weekend. One of the big Dutch food traditions is raw herring, and they have little stalls around Amsterdam where you can get it for pretty cheap. I decided to get a sandwich with some raw herring, pickles, and onions. I wasn't sure if i would like it or not, but it was really really delicious.


I approve.

Just like every other European city i've been to, the public transportation was amazing, and they had another extensive tram system. I have a feeling that i'll be disappointed when I go back to the US and realize that I can't get everywhere I need to go just by hopping on a train or tram. Europe is spoiling me. One thing that really stands out about Amsterdam and Holland in general is the use of bicycles. I have never seen so many bicycles and so much bike infrastructure at one time. It seems like just about every road in Holland has a bike path next to it, and even in the freezing cold, it was filled with locals and tourists biking to wherever they needed to go. There were lots of women biking too, and a lot of them looked like they had just done a photoshoot for a fashion magazine. I guess the complete lack of hills helps the whole biking thing, but it was still very impressive.



Bike lanes were everywhere


This is a bicycle parking deck near the train station, completely packed with bikes.



The red light district at dusk



Rembrandt square, with a statue of Rembrandt in the middle.