Vincent

So this weekend was a little spontaneous. After work on Friday... (which was a really, unbelievably horrible day resulting in me eating about a pint of butter pecan ice cream) trent mike and i headed down to the train station. We ended up booking tickets for Amsterdam, leaving Saturday morning at 6:15 am. 

Early Saturday morning we headed out. Made it to Amsterdam by 1145 or so. I ended up taking mom's gps she left me, which was useful considering i really had no idea where our hotel was. Yes, I splurged and picked out a hotel for me and the boys. There was no way I was going to stay in a hostel in Amsterdam, no thank you, too much stuff to alter people's judgements. So we got a room at the Eden Amsterdam American Hotel. I had a hard time navigating my way through the city. I found the Van Gogh Museum, Heineken brewery, and Anne Frank's Huis perfectly fine. But when it came to navigate to a pub, I hadn't any idea. 

Well when we first arrived there, we headed to the hotel to put our backpacks down, and right from there we jumped right into the touristy things. We walked to the Van Gogh museum, which I now think he may be my favorite artist, I never really knew how diverse he actually was. Much more appreciation for him now. Well we didnt go there first, the line was pretty long, so we decided to go to the Heineken brewery. Which was actually a lot of fun. It was like Disneyland for adults. We had to stand in line, got our pictures taken, got a bracelet upon entering, went on a ride (how beer is made and bottled) and ended our experience at the bar convientently located before exiting. We enjoyed our free beer and headed to the gift shop. I bough a postcard and a present for phil. 

What was interesting to me was that the WHOLE tour was in english. Everyone there spoke pretty much perfect english and all of the plaques and everything were in english too. ...But not only did I find that there, everywhere else we went was like that. Everyone speaks english there, which is nice because there was no lost in translation at any point in our journey. 

After the Brewery, we headed to the Anne Frank Huis, where her and her family actually hid. It was pretty crazy and pretty sad. It put me in a different state of mind. I can't believe that happened only 60 years ago. All of that happened just 60 years ago... I also didn't know her father survived one of the camps. He was the only one out of the eight, living in that tiny floor flat that survived. Even though I had never read the book, it was weird to be where they were and see the toilet and see her walls. She decorated her walls with cutouts from newpapers of just pictures, things that made her happy.

After that experience, we headed to the Van Gogh museum. We didnt spend too much time there, the boys aren't really into art that much. But they went for me :) and I loved it. 

We ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe, where trent bought a shirt. Our waiter was really cute.... he reminded me of my boss at the Warhol... Sorry phil... I'm also pretty sure he was from the States. We never asked though. After we ate, we went back to the hotel and I fell asleep till 10 :)

Here is some advice... 

Do NOT go to Amsterdam with 2 early 20 year old boys, when you are the only girl. They stare. Not at you, but at others, and they have secret codes with each other to tell each other to check out any cute girls they see and potentially want to talk to. But what is nice about these boys, is that they dont actually go up to the girls and leave you by yourself. That didnt happen, and im glad. BUT do not go to the red light district with them. They will want to roam the streets for hours. I dont think they understood why I felt uncomfortable. To them, it was a fantasy and funny. To me, it was demeaning and desperate, not to mention gross. They really didn't get it at all. I don't think they cared either. Which made me even more upset. 

I told them to leave me at the hotel or at a bar with a beer and I would be fine, but they didn't do that. Instead, we headed back to the hotel. I was sleepy. 

We just walked around the next morning, I ordered a pancake with strawberries for breakfast. Basically it was a crepe on a plate with strawberries thrown on it. It was satisfying though. Our train left at 1230 and we fnally got back to Wiesbaden by 630. A day and a half in Amsterdam was perfect. It was a nice little break from Germany. Something different and a great experience with two of my favorite people here. This wednesday we are off to Barcelona. Arriba. We will get there Thursday morning. Bring on the sun! I hope this week isn't as bad as the last one though :( 

I have organized all of my traveling plans, where to go and when, except I am debating between Belgium or Switzerland... So I will be pondering about that....

Time to go to sleep. Don't forget to turn your clocks forward.