So I know I haven’t posted anything very recently and that’s because I’ve been too busy traveling around Amsterdam and Berlin for the last week. It was a trip that I planned back in April with my two roommates, and let me say, that it was one of the best trips I’ve taken this semester I think. Most of all, because I was gone for longer than a weekend! But I would definitely recommend putting these two cities on your bucket list of life.
Amsterdam:
Amsterdam, for me, was like being in Disney World or some kind of movie set. Everything just seemed so quaint and trapped in time. I realize that I say that places remind me of Disney quite frequently, but it’s true. We all relate our new experiences to old ones, and as a Florida girl at heart, I was basically raised at Disney. Therefore, any place that is beautiful and idyllic automatically makes me think I’m in a theme park version of the city instead of actually finally being there for real.
We stayed at a lovely little place called Hotel Victorie. We were originally supposed to stay with a local via Airbnb, but upon our arrival we saw neither hide nor hare of our host. Since it was starting to get a bit late and we’re three young ladies, we decided it would be best to find somewhere to stay and have it out with Airbnb later. However, despite our “hiccup”, Airbnb pulled through and gave us a full refund- not what we were expecting, but their customer service rocks, so I would still recommend them to anyone. From our hotel, we rented bikes as our mode of transportation around the city, while also trying to fit in some very “Dutch” experiences! The hotel was also located extremely close to a local grocery store, so we feasted on typical Dutch foods. For examples, mini saucijzenbroodjes, which were basically yummy sausage wrapped in flakey croissant pastry. Or their “cousin”, which was ground beef wrapped in a pretzel! They also had many delicious treats such as mini pancakes and stroopwafels. Another northern European delicacy that I was introduced to was Quark yogurt. If you have never tried this before, you are really missing out in life and need to travel to Europe just to eat this yogurt. After a semester eating Spanish yogurt (which really is not the kind I like but it suffices), this yogurt was heaven. Alexis and I ate it every single day on our journey!
You’re probably more interested in the city anyhow. One thing that we did notice is our tranquil and smoothly life is in the Netherlands. For example, when we were on the train to our hotel, it was silent. Which I guess isn’t that weird, but since Spaniards are notorious for being loud and lively, we were surprised by the calm, quiet people of Holland. Also, it is more likely that you’ll get run over by a bike than a car in Amsterdam- so watch out! Now I’ve not made it to Venice yet, but if it’s canals are anything like Amsterdam’s, I can easily imagine why people fall in love with the city. Most of the time we were there, we just biked or walked around, taking in the scenery with our eyes and our camera lenses. And yet, the view was breathtaking everywhere. There is so much shrubbery in front of people’s houses, and the flowers are so colorful and vibrant, their sweet smell fills the street (At least in the morning, by the evening the city has quite a different kind of plant smell).
On a more touristy note, the Anne Frank house is definitely worth the 9 euro entrance fee. I’ve learned about the Holocaust so many times I can’t count, been to different museums, read her diary, etc., but there is something special about being inside the canal house where she and 7 other people were hiding. It’s another interesting perspective to what so many people went through during that time. We didn’t tour the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh museum because they were both like 17 euros and we wanted to spend more of our time outdoors and exploring the city. So instead, we walked in Vondelpark, biked to a windmill/brewery, and watched the sunset from our rooftop window ledge.
Saborearlo 