Weekend in Amsterdam

Salud! I'm back from my long weekend in Amsterdam, and I'm trying to stay committed to my "timely posting" promise that I made last week. So, here is a review of the last few days - Thursday (Sep. 16) through Sunday (Sep. 19). On Thursday, we had class all day, but I could barely focus because our internship director was sitting in the next office reviewing all of our interview results....and we were going to find out as soon as class was over! I drove my housemate Rita absolutely insane with my nervousness, but I was dying to know what I got before I left for Amsterdam and had no internet access. Right before I had to leave, I checked my email and found out that I had been placed with my first choice internship - the US Chamber of Commerce, Brussels Office!!!! I am ridiculously excited, because it seems like a job that I can do very well and that fairly addresses my interests in both policy and business. My first day is tomorrow (Tuesday, Sep. 21), so I will let you know how it goes. Just based on the interview, I believe that I am going to be very happy...hopefully, my gut is right. Anyway, after I figured out which internship I was placed in, we had to rush to the Gare Nord to catch our bus to Amsterdam. All in all, it was about a 3.5 hour bus ride that didn't turn out to be as awful as I had expected. I was staying in a hotel with Rita, Josey, and Hannah and we took a taxi straight from the bus station to the hotel, found some food to eat, and then crashed at about 1.00 am.

We woke up early(ish) the next morning, ate breakfast, and left for a full day of touring Amsterdam. Our hotel was located in a prime position for touring; it was approximately a two-minute walk to some of the largest museums, and a ten-minute walk to the heart of the city. We started with the Van Gogh museum, where we met up with Kelsey and Sara in the line. The museum was lovely, and I really enjoyed the way that the museum had the exhibit set up to progress through his different stages of artwork. From my art history classes, I was able to recognize a fair amount of the paintings that were on display, and I appreciated everything that I had learned in those classes a lot more as I stared at the original painting than I had when I looked at a picture on a PowerPoint slide. After the Van Gogh, we walked out into the park between it and the Rijksmuseum to the "I amsterdam" and took some pictures:

Sara and I on "I amsterdam"

After we each got a few pictures with the sign (which I loved), we walked into the cafe right next to it and relaxed with a very long and leisurely lunch. This slow pace worked in our favor, because we ended up lunching right through a rain shower, and once we finished, it was sunny again. After lunch, we headed to the Anne Frank House and we were able to see a fair amount of Amsterdam on our walk to the museum. Amsterdam is known as the city of 1,001 bridges, and I absolutely believe it. It seemed that we were walking on bridges just as much (or possibly more) as dry land. Besides bridges, the other thing that Amsterdam has in abundance are bikes. They are the preferred mode of transportation in Amsterdam, and it is both fascinating and hilarious to watch them. There are bike streets, stoplights, parking spaces, etc. They operate with the exact same rules as cars, but there are more of them! It was incredible to observe the differences between Amsterdam and the United States...and even between Amsterdam and Brussels. We finally found the Anne Frank House, and it was exactly as I remembered it from the last time I was there. The group moved fairly quickly through it, because there was a fairly large amount of people packed in and it was slightly uncomfortable. Overall, I still think that it was a good thing to see and was worth the 8 Euro. 

Sara and I on a bridge in Amsterdam

Sara and I with the Anne Frank memorial statue

Post-Anne Frank, our group continued to wander through downtown Amsterdam. We ended up walking through a small alley bordering the Red Light District. Once we figured this out (which didn't take very long at all), we changed direction and headed back towards the shopping district. Our wandering ended at one of the canals, where we rented paddle boats and set out for a water adventure. According to the guidebook, this is the best way to see Amsterdam - and I couldn't agree more! No other view of Amsterdam could beat the one I had on my little boat.

View from my boat :)

Paddle-boating is extremely exhausting, so after our hour of water adventures, we went back to the hotel for a nap and then checked out a local pub for dinner. After dinner, we found some other AU students that were visiting Amsterdam as well and caught up with them in one of the squares. In short, the first day was full of education, art, history, physical exercise, and the laid-back, off-beat vibe of Amsterdam - a complete success.

Day 2 of Amsterdam was much more exciting for me, because...we rented bikes!!! It was 13 Euro for 24 hours (with insurance against theft), and it was 100% worth it. The bikes made it easier to get around, allowing us to spend the morning biking around all of Amsterdam and past sights that we weren't going to see because we hadn't wanted to walk so far. These included the Rembrandt House, the local weekend market, Centraal Station, and St. Nicolaas Cathedral. Plus, riding on a bike made me feel like a true Amsterdammer - and by the end of the day, I think I was finally obeying the rules of the road.

With my rental bike

After the aimless sightseeing on the bikes all morning, we went to the Heineken Brewery (which is one of the things that EVERYONE told us to go do in Amsterdam). It was really cool to see the inside of the giant brewery and go through an entire museum devoted to the history of a brewing company. Here are a couple of pictures of the Heineken museum:

The enormous Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam

The old part of the Brewery - now part of the museum

For Alisah: one of the Heineken Horses!

Group picture at the Heineken Brewery

After the Heineken Brewery, our little group split up because Josey wanted to see the Alexander the Great exhibit at the Hermitage and the rest of us wanted to go to the Amsterdam Zoo. Unfortunately, after we dropped Josey off and biked to the zoo, we discovered that the entrance fee was twenty euros - more expensive than anything else in Amsterdam. Naturally, we refused to pay twenty euros in Amsterdam for something that we can get in to for free in DC. So, we sat and had hot chocolate and coffee at a local street cafe while we waited for Josey to finish in the Hermitage. We worked our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and then found a delicious Greek place called Zorba's. Part of me was excited to go there because I genuinely enjoy Greek food, but the other part of me was just super excited because the name reminded me of Dancing Zorba's in the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (which I LOVE). After Zorba's, we met up with John and Sara to lounge in the main square and people-watch. I had a delicious apple pie while I watched the night life. Eventually, we saw some more of our classmates walk by, so we got to hang out with them too. After a few hours, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel for a few hours sleep before we had to catch the bus.

The next morning, we returned the bikes (even though I really didn't want to). Then, we went out for a final lunch in Amsterdam and took the public transportation to the bus station. Unfortunately, our bus ride took about six hours to get back to Brussels - it was a comedy of errors that, while funny now, was miserable at the time. For someone who doesn't like confined spaces, road trips, or being late, it was absolutely crippling. I think that freaking out would be a gross understatement for my reaction to each new event on our bus ride. Fortunately, I managed to make it home intact. When we got home, we were greeted by every member of the Ghysens family - it was family dinner night, and we were celebrating two birthdays in the family. Since Rita and I were both exhausted, we struggled to make conversation and keep up with the fast-flowing French everywhere. However, we were both officially made a part of the family by surviving our first family dinner and we have adapted to the Belgian greeting/farewell of a kiss on the cheek. Even in my fuzzy state of mind, I remember being extremely happy after the dinner - my host family is one of the nicest families I have ever met, and I am so thankful that I ended up with them! 

I fell into bed as soon as everyone left, and didn't wake up until my alarm went off this morning. Today was very uneventful. It was just classes for the entire day - from about 10.00 am to 6.30 pm. Basically, it was a very long and mentally exhausting day. As I said earlier, I start my internship tomorrow and I go every Tuesday and Wednesday for majority of the rest of the semester. And on Friday, we have our very first exam of the semester and then leave immediately for Leuven, Antwerp, and Ghent. Hopefully, I will be updating on Wednesday night or Thursday to fill you all in on the first few days of my internship before I head out to tour Belgium for the weekend! So until then, au revoir everyone and thanks for reading!