I AMsterdam.

Our hotel includes breakfast – and it is wonderful!! I had fresh strawberry orange juice, French style scrambled eggs, lots of fresh fruit, and some coffee! To get an overview of the city, we took a canal cruise of Amsterdam. We saw the Mayors house, Anne Frank’s annex, lots of bridges and building from the water. A nice teenage boy from Germany sat with us and talked with us for a while too. We then headed towards the Van Gogh museum. We walked past (literally past, as in without noticing) the Palace and through the “dam” which is just a small plaza with street performers. Then we came upon THE CUTEST café (the Luxemburg Café), where we stopped for lunch. We sat outside and watched Dutch people ride bikes past us, tourist stop for pictures, and all sorts of different activities. We then found the I AMsterdam sign and, of course, took pictures with it. Once we got to the Van Gogh museum, we took our time reading about each piece and his life in general. It was so interesting to see his talent progress in such a short amount of time. I found my new favorite painting by him that is of a beautiful coastline with sailboats…..Ali and I also found a very cute guy haha. We ventured to the Vondel Park (where we saw the cute guy again) and enjoyed the beautiful lakes and sidewalks. The park was FULL of life. People riding bikes, running, walking, having picnics, laying by the lake, ect everywhere! There were cutest kids on their parents’ bikes, enjoying the ride. We went back to our hotel before dinner to rest. After dinner we went to the red light district. Although it was a bit of a culture shock, it was so interesting to witness. It’s hard to imagine prostitution from a legal standpoint, and hard to explain my thoughts and feelings seeing it happen in front of me. I’m so glad I was able to see it though. After that we just headed back to our room. On the canal cruise they said that Amsterdam is not known from its monuments, but for its people, and i can definitly attest to that. The people here and the lifestyle are wonderful. So many people ride bikes, which makes the city seem so quaint and personal. The flowers, canals, and ally ways are gorgeous. It may be known for pot and prostition, but it is definitely much more than that. I will write more later, for now I'm off to bed!