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Amsterdam was one of those trips that I wasn't sure if I was going to go. Because Greece didn't work out, I decided to go. Amsterdam too, was a short trip, but nonetheless an awesome time! Getting to Amsterdam was a task in itself. We had to take a bus to Pisa, which we normally always do, then fly from Pisa into Endoven, The Netherlands. Then we took a a 2 hour bus into Amsterdam. When we got to Amsterdam, we headed to our hostel which was in the Red Light District. We all know what the Red Light District is famous for… It is one of the only places in the world where prostitution is legal and culturally accepted…Strange I know…The view from our window was so cute! The city of Amsterdam itself is very reminiscent of Holland…with tall houses, bridges, and gingerbread architecture. The very first thing we did after we settled in was head to the Bull Dog Café, which is a worldwide brand of café/restaurants…It started in Amsterdam so it was considered the place to go in Amsterdam. There were people from all walks of life there. It was so fun the people you met! We spent most of the night there, just relaxing and enjoying some drinks and music. By this point in the semester, we needed a nice relaxing trip, and that is what Amsterdam was for us. In the morning, we knew we had a busy day. First was breakfast at Stones Café. We started the morning off right with a mimosa. After that is was off to the Anne Frank house. The Holocaust was one of my favorite subjects in history, so this was an amazing opportunity for me. This is where she wrote in her diary while being in hiding for almost 6 years before being found and sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she eventually died from Typhoid. I had read the book previously, so to see the place where those thoughts come from and experiencing what she experienced during her hiding, was almost surreal. At the end of the house, was the actual diary itself. That was even more surreal. Here was the book of thoughts that made her recollections of the Holocaust one of the most celebrated books in the world. It was a very eye opening experience that I would say was the biggest highlight of the trip. After Anne Frank, we headed to the Van Gogh Museum, which was cool, but not as I thought it would be. I got to see many original works from Van Gogh, which was definitely cool to see. To finish out our last full day, we went to the old Heineken brewery for the Heineken experience. This was an awesome tour of the old factory with lots of interactive ways to participate including a taste factory and a brew your own beer. We learned how beer is made and how the brand of Heineken has evolved from its start. Half way through and at the end we received free pints, which was definitely a perk. I brewed my own Heineken beer, complete with my name engraved on the bottle! Unfortunately I had to empty the bottle to fly back to Italy L. It was a really great way to end our experience in Amsterdam. We went to the Hard Rock Café later in the evening for dinner and then headed back to the bar in our hostel for a few drinks to end the night. We ended up talking with the lady who owned the hostel, as we were the only ones there. We had to leave very early in the morning for a long day of travel back to Florence. Amsterdam was definitely on my list of favorite places. Ideally, another day would have been great, as we did not get to see everything the city had to offer. But overall, it was an amazing experience. The Netherlands was a welcoming place that I could definitely see myself returning to someday.
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