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Wiesbaden, Germany- First I took a bus through Student Agency to Renee's flat in Wiesbaden, which is about a half hour away from Frankfurt. Student Agency is a great way to get places in Europe because they have comfy seats, offer free drinks, has a bathroom on the bus, and they also play movies (I watched Dirty Dancing!). It's also cheaper and faster than the train most of the time... It was about 8 hours to Frankfurt, and then I took a short train ride to Wiesbaden. Renee lives just a few blocks down from the train station is a cute neighborhood. She had to work all day, so I slept and then explored the city. It was refreshing to be there because it was a lot more 'English friendly' than I'm used to in Prague. For example, signs and other things were written in German and in English.
Roadtrip- On the way there, it was a pleasant roadtrip. We were driving mostly at night, but it was still a nice 4 hour trip into the Netherlands. Renee is such the experienced european driver now! The GPS is what got us to Amsterdam and around it once we got there. Its amazing how helpful they are. If we wanted to go to a certain place we could just type it in, and it gave us walking directions. It was also interesting to see EVERYONE having a GPS in their car as we were driving. On the way back we got caught in this huge traffic jam, and I was certain I was going to miss my bus back to Prague. I kept watching the GPS arrival time go 20 minutes past when the bus was supposed to leave. Then, when traffic started to loosen up I noticed the Student Agency bus driving next to us! I had then remembered I was catching the bus coming from Amsterdam, so it was running late too! We actually got to Frankfurt before the bus did, so I didn't miss it. During the traffic jam we were listening to a radio station that is one of the US Base stations, so it plays all American music and they speak in English. They did a top 10 country countdown! Renee and I were instantly happy to be sitting in traffic! It was pretty weird to be singing "Amerian Ride" by Toby Keith as we are coasting along the German highway. I got really excited when the DJ gave a special 'shout-out' to Wink 107.1 in Columbus Ohio, which is what I listen to all the time back home! It was very comforty to hear that... And thank god for high and/or no speed limits on German highways. We were moving over 100 mph- don't worry we had our seat belts on :)
Amsterdam- Pictures explain a lot of what we did and saw. We really enjoyed the Amsterdam Hotel Boat or bostel. It was such an unique experience and fitting for a city filled with loads of canals. The people of Amsterdam were so nice and welcoming. Dutch people were very tall, blond, blue eyes, great posture, and were very serious about their bike riding. The bike lanes are bigger than the sidewalks, and people walking definitely have to yield to bikes constantly. It was a very cool sight to see nonetheless. The food was great, and there really isn't a "Dutch food" type. They are known for great chinese, thai, waffles/pancakes, cheeses, and white beer. We did our best to sample these things, and we were impressed with all of it!
My two favorite highlights of the trip were definitely the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh museum. Anne Frank is originally from Germany, but went into hiding with her family and a few others in her father's spice warehouse/office in Amsterdam. They had 2 floors of their spice business. When they were captured, all of the furniture was taken and destroyed, but the rest of the house is still the same... So we went into the different bedrooms, the kitchen area, etc... It was amazing to see Anne Frank's bedroom, the original walls where she glued pictures from magazines. You could touch the kitchen countertop and cabinets... just a really eerry feeling. They also had great videos and history about their journey. At the end, they had Anne's original diary out on display! The Van Gogh museum was great, and had two of my faves- Sunflowers and The Bedroom by Van Gogh. The museum explained Van Gogh's life and career with orignial letters Van Gogh kept with his brother, Theo Van Gogh. The other art museum had highlights from the Dutch masters, such as Vermeer, Hals, and Rembrandt. I was disappointed with it, however, because my favorite Vermeer (The Love Letter) was out on loan to a musuem in Paris :( Still didn't take away from the other wonderful works there! Well another great trip!
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