Amsterdam

In our minds, there are two Amsterdams; the Red Light District and the rest of the city.

The Red Light District, only 1 block down from us, was much more urban (our nice way of saying dirty and loud) than we had expected. Our American themed hostel, the Bulldog, had many desired qualities for young people visiting Amsterdam. This gave us plenty of opportunities to socialize and meet new people. The lobby was connected to a dive bar and lounge, and had a separate entrance to an energy and coffee shop (Amsterdam’s way of saying we sell weed here.) The pair of us went to the bar for dinner one night, but even though the food was great, outside of this meal and one breakfast, we didn't return. Even though weed and other hallucinogens were decriminalized, we hardly ever noticed people under the influence. We could tell that the new laws regulating these drugs didn't seem to bring attention to their use. No judgement at all though for those who come to Amsterdam seeking this aspect of the city. We were happy to be able to observe this part of their culture. It wouldn’t have been a complete trip to Amsterdam without experiencing the Red Light District and the surrounding area!

During our first day in the Netherlands, we trekked down the streets (with our 40 pound packs on) through Dam Square and to the Bulldog. This was the quickest way to get to where we needed to go, but man was it worth it. Dam Square housed the Palace of Amsterdam (which we later toured), the church where Royalty are inaugurated, and the National Monument. What a view to have during your first 20 minutes in the city! We spent the rest of the night wandering around the canals, gawking at the buildings lining them. We tried cones of french fries with cheese and ate at one of the most delicious Thai restaurant. Our favorite part of the day was looking out our window and seeing the iconic canals and buildings. At this point, we liked Amsterdam, but didn't love it as much as we felt we should.

The next couple of days were spent in the other clean and quaint parts of the Amsterdam. Tuesday we went to the Anne Frank House and strolled through the surrounding streets of Jordan. It's safe to say that we fell in LOVE with this area. All we kept saying was, “we would live here”. The first floors of the buildings were filled with tea shops and boutiques and the other 4 floors were the most perfect apartments. If and when we go back to Amsterdam, we will stay in this perfect-for-us area.

The Anne Frank House was definitely a “bucketlist” thing we planned on this trip, and it was all we had hoped it would be. We spent Monday night attempting to prepare ourselves emotionally for this sight, but found that the tour was more informational than emotional. Though we found ourselves caught up in the facts for most of the audio guided tour, we each had our moments of emotion. Hearing Anne’s friends and family speak of the last time they saw her shook us, and looking at her actual diary brought a sense of realization to us both. It is surreal that such an evil series of events occurred not that long ago. Visiting the Anne Frank House humbled us, and made us realize just how blessed we are.

Like the previous night, we left the Anne Frank House and wandered down streets, window shopped and tried to imagine what our lives would be like if we up and moved to Jordan.

Our last day in Amsterdam was filled with museums. Our first stop was the Van Gogh Museum, which was incredible. It was unreal to see the famous works of such a talented artist. Our favorite works, Sunflowers and Almond Blossom, were even more beautiful in real life.

Our second stop of the day, the Rijksmuseum, was filled with beautiful artifacts from 1400-1900. It was surprising how little we were able to see in the short amount of time we had.

We hurried over to the Heineken Brewery and were able to see how the Amsterdam based beer was made. At first we weren’t sold on this experience, but this changed as soon as we passed through the educational part of the tour and drank our first sample. After the tutorial on how to drink a beer properly, we made our way to the “lively” part of the tour. We danced and learned how to pour the perfect pint. We ended up having a lot of fun in the Heineken Brewery. We walked to what our hostel receptionist called a “local” eating spot and had incredible Italian food.

Because this was our last of 3 days, we piled our clothes together and ran a load of laundry. While we waited for that to finish we explored the rooftop terrace, enjoyed another cone of cheese fries, and tried to imagine leaving this diverse and lively city.

The travel books always say that the people you meet while staying in hostels will somehow stay apart of your life. We believe this, and hope that we can stay in touch with the kind souls we have encountered.

We are now on the ICE headed to Cologne and Berlin feeling more blessed than ever. What a wonderful life to live!

Sleep with the angels friends.