HEY EVERYONE!!!! So the semester is almost over....I've sent around 5 boxes home and I'm still trying to make room in my suitcase! oh well...I suppose I should fill you in on Kate and I's latest adventure.  We were getting close to the end of classes and we thought to our selves..."Ok, We've got 2 weeks before our finals and neither of us want to sit around Grenoble for 2 weeks...lets go someplace!" So we did and not just anyplace. 

Kate and I decided that we were going to be geeky and found some tours in Amsterdam and London that we thought we'd enjoy. So we booked them all and then realized we still had to get there. After struggling for a couple of weeks to find a cheap flight to Amsterdam, which apparently is extremely difficult in tourist season....WHY cant all the tourists just go away!  Kate finally found a flight. So off we went.  Amsterdam was beautiful. All the little canals, friendly people who spoke english, wonderful food, and the nightlife was great also.  Since Kate and I arrived in Amsterdam broke, We finally went a booked a "REAL" hostel. Bunk beds, Mixed dorm and everything.  Except apparently women dont travel to Amsterdam just to go there, because Kate and I were the only ones mixing up the dorm. It was ok though. We were asleep before any of the guys came back anyway.  We hit up a couple of museums, went vintage shopping~which is GREAT in Amsterdam, and enjoyed our 2 tours.  First for the museums.  Amsterdam is amazing, so much history in such a little space.  Saw the Anne Frank House, but the line wrapped around the block, so we just sat and admired. I went to a Tulip Museum, after all, I was in Holland.  Then we found this little museum that was a 17th century house kept exactly the same way it was to tour. It was even cooler because it was from the time of the Protestant Reformation and the family built a Catholic Church in their attic so they could continue to have services.  Next Kate and I went to the Heineken Brewery, which was pretty amazing.  We were expecting a slightly boring tour. But they've redone the entire place into a museum so that you can follow the entire history of Heineken.  Plus there was a ride where you got to pretend you were a heineken bottle. It was sooo much fun.  The 2 tours we went on were a dinner cruise through the canals of Amsterdam. Really cool and amazing food!  and a night tour of the Red Light District. It was eye opening and informative. Like the difference between Red and Blue Lights.  Red light=female...Blue Light=Transvestite  Now for the nightlife.  In one of our hostels Kate and I met these 2 Americans who were taking a break between class and finals to do what we were doing. So we invited them out with us to this bar we'd heard about. And it wasn't just any old bar. It was an IceBar. Literally. It was made out of complete ice and was 8 degrees celsius inside. COLD!!! We had a lot of fun, although unfortunately all of us had forgotten our cameras, so all we have is our photographic memories.  

Then Kate and I headed off to the Hook of Holland to board a cruise ship to Harwich England.  It was sooo much fun and the food was great again.  Kate and I felt like we were on the Titanic. We had only 3 engines running instead of the normal 4, but hey, we're still alive!

Lastly Kate and I hit up London for a Medival Dinner.  It was a lot of fun and the music was great. The food was also wonderful, but I wasn't feeling too well while we were eating. I think all the traveling caught up with me. 

Well...I guess I'll see you all when I get back into the states. May 17th in the evening I'll finally be back in Iowa! 

Bisous!

 Sara