Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM 5/22-5/23 (morning 8:30 am to next day at 6 pm)

HELLO FROM THE BOTH OF US! Our adventure began with trying to find each other at baggage claim, with Emily arriving (from JFK) just an hour before Grace (from Prague). After a lovely reunion, we rushed out of the airport to make it to the Anne Frank House at our scheduled ticket time. We had to drop off our packs (update: Emily fit everything in the 40L pack without upgrading) at the hostel before we could make our way to Anne Frank. After rushing out of the airport, we were greeted by a ginormous line of people waiting for taxis. As we slowly watched our ticket time approach, with little hope of making it...A TESLA TO THE RESCUE! Yes, a tesla taxi. And let us tell you, this guy made it happen for us without even knowing what a hurry we were in. Not only was he driving really fast, he decided that he could use the bus only lane, shaving 10 minutes off google's estimated trip time. So thank you, Sir!

For those of you who are still reading, thank you, we hope you're enjoying it! We made it to the hostel, which is actually known as Van Gogh Hotel. We were greeted by a snarky, sassy, short front desk man. We first asked if we were at the right hostel; he responded by yelling at us and telling us to check in at 2 pm. We then asked again stating we weren't sure if we were at the right place. He again did not answer and told us to come back at 2. He then told us we could put our stuff in the luggage room as long as we didn't spend 30 minutes in there and did any undressing in the lobby. We thought maybe he woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, but check the reviews on hostelworld.com and you'll see he's always this friendly. 

Okay, let's now talk about Amsterdam, Grace's new favorite city. We sped over to the Anne Frank House, miraculously making it to our reservation time on the dot (thank you to whoever's watching over us). We were given an audio guide as you walk through the building, which includes the house. , as you hear facts about Anne and her family, as well as the other 4 who hid, excerpts from Anne's diary, and interviews from survivors. We learned many interesting things. For example, below the Secret Annex where they hid, people were working in a warehouse, so they had to be completely silent upstairs. It was a very moving experience, as we couldn't imagine not being able to talk, move around, go outside, or even use the bathroom during the day. If you find yourself in Amsterdam, this is a must-do. And definitely get tickets ahead of time (2 months in advance).

After leaving the Anne Frank House, it began raining. We walked to Foodhallen market (thanks for the rec @Maddie!!). It has a bunch of food places all in one space like the one in Downtown LA or Krogstreet Market in Atlanta (shoutout to Emily's future home). We got yummy sushi burritos, a prime example of Dutch cuisine. Afterward, we headed to the Van Gogh museum. We stopped in a cafe due to the rain. Once we got to the museum, we found out tickets could only be sold online and you had to go at a scheduled time. Luckily, there was wifi access in a covered area, but c'mon ppl! Our hostel is right next to the museums, so we headed there to check in because it was 2 pm. Unfortunately we had to deal with the same man. We got to our room, and were the only beds that didn't have a bunk bed setup. Score! It was also convenient that it had a private bathroom, very clean. We met 2 of our roomies from Koln, Germany. They thought we graduated college at such a young age (even though we did 5th years and are super old). 

We then went to the Van Gogh museum. For 2 peeps who aren't that into museum, this was superb! We learned more specific details about Van Gogh's life, like that he was really close to his brother, committed himself to a mental asylum, and didn't die immediately after shooting himself. We loved the sunflower painting. Fun fact: it only uses 3 shades of yellow! Fun fact #2: it's one of five in the world. Before leaving, Emily was hit on by the security guard who, after telling us we couldn't take pictures, asked if she was from the UK. After saying she's from America, he said he wants to "switch." WHAT. Very strange. Jet lag started hitting Emily, so we got wine and cheese for a little snack before napping. Later, we walked to dinner. It really hit us just how many bikers there are in Amsterdam. In fact, it's ten times more likely to get hit by a biker than by a car in Amsterdam (citation needed). Real-talk though, bikes always have the right of way and there are bike lanes instead of sidewalks at times. We made it to dinner at The Pantry (thank you @Samantha Toomey for the rec!). This is where we had actual Danish cuisine, like sausage and potatoes. We also tried some Dutch beer! Afterward we sat out at at the Irish Bar, hoping to meet up with Emily's friend, but the jet lag hit them really hard and they fell asleep (sorry we couldn't meet up, Tim!). Sitting out was very nice. The weather was great, and the vibe of the city is relaxing. We really enjoyed it!

Check us out- we are completely matching. Oops!

The next day, we woke up early because we had a lot planned. We first went to the Happy Pig (thanks again for the rec, Maddie)! We showed up 5 minutes before it opened and there was no one in the restaurant, or the entire shopping area for that matter. Europe wakes up late! The Happy Pig is mostly a crepe and waffle shop, where we enjoyed strawberry and Nutella crepes. A little dessert for breakfast because it's vacation! We decided to get bikes to get around the city more easily after seeing how common they are. Shoutout to Discount Bike Rentals for the 7.5 euro a day bikes; they were back-pedal bikes so we had to remember our childhood. After stopping in a cafe again because of the rain, we got bikes once the rain finally stopped and set out to roam the city. We took taking insta-worthy shots as we rode through the streets and Vondelpark, which is a a beautiful, green park with a long bike path and huge trees arching over to block the sun. We stopped to get some delicious cookies at Van Stepele, where they make only one type of cookie, but it is always fresh (shoutout to Anthony for the rec!)! Then we went to the Albert Cuyp Market which is about 5 blocks long and has knick knacks. We got chicken sandwiches from one of the stands.

Outside Van Stepele Cookie Shop

After refueling with food, we went to the Rijksmuseum (known as the Louvre of Amsterdam). We wanted to be efficient because who doesn't get tired after looking at art for so long, so we followed a guide titled, "How to See the Rijksmuseum in 2 Hours." Definitely recommend this plan! We saw the beautiful painting of The Night's Watch, the Milk Maiden, The Battle of Waterloo, and The Singel Bridge. This museum was great because all of the major paintings had pamphlets explaining many of the details of the artwork (it was a throwback to AP Art History senior year @Dr. Piercy!). After discovering that there's a palace in Amsterdam, we biked to it. Very underwhelming. We then headed to the infamous red light district, which was ...

By this point, it's almost time for our train. This was a great first stop on the Europe trip!

You thought that was the end of our time in The Netherlands, but make sure to read on. We arrive at the train station at 5:45 for our 6:22 train. Knowing we have to validate our Eurail passes, we head to the information desk, where we're told to head to the ticket office. At the ticket office, we had to take a number like at the DMV. We are nervously looking at our watches. At 6:15, they call our number. We get our tickets stamped, ask the person what track to go, and RUN. We make it to the train at 6:19 with 3 minutes to spare. Thank you again to the person looking over us. We have 1 transfer to make. We think, "we got this." Unfortunately, the conductor doesn't say anything in English but we see where we have to get off. After waiting in a mob to get downstairs, there are no monitors so we have to go to the entrance of the station to see what track to go on for our connection. We see it says the train leaves at 7:10... It currently is 7:10. We sprint back to the tracks (*is this the amazing race?*) We get to the platform at 7:11. No train. Tears. Just kidding no tears but now we are in Rotterdam, Netherlands. We tried to make the best of another city that was not on our list by getting some hamburgers across from the station. Since we were now paranoid about missing trains, we took our food to go and scarfed it down in the station. Finally, we made the 8:10 train to Brussels. On the way, the train started moving in the same direction we came in. Once again paranoia gets the best of us and we scramble to ask another passenger if he is going the same place as us. Luckily he is and was also confused by the direction, but he looks up where are going and we all sigh in relief. The man, Michael, ends up coming over to chat with us and we had a great conversation with him about traveling and his job as a fire officer and counter terrorism expert headed to a NATO conference. We are now finally in Brussels and are excited to be staying with Grace's friend Ben (and a shower from all of our running).

What an eventful 36 hours it has been! We're really looking forward to the rest of the trip and hope you're looking forward to more blog posts.

To be continued,
Grace & Emily