9-day, whirlwind spring break--Part III in Amsterdam

We landed in Amsterdam around 5:30 p.m. The flight was only one hour, but we crossed back into Germany's time zone and lost an hour by skipping ahead. The flight and landing were uneventful and we got through the airport pretty quickly.... minus that huge, heavy suitcase of Jenna's.

We took the train from Schipol Airport into Central Station in Amsterdam. It was only about a 20 minute ride, so that was nice. Once we got to Central Station, we had to figure out how to get to our hostel. We had walking directions, but the roads aren't exactly squares like they are in the US... they just kind of went off at odd angles, so that was a little annoying and stressful. It was pretty funny, though, with five suitcases (Al didn't have a suitcase) rumbling on the sidewalks, cobblestones, and streets. We finally made it to the Bulldog Hostel, which happened to be located right beside a canal. It was kind of pretty.

Amsterdam is a pretty city. There are canals everywhere and the people are nice. It's just a little slower paced and nicer than a lot of cities.

Damrak Square:

We checked in fine. Jenna, Emma, and I had a triple room to ourselves with its own bathroom too, so that was awesome. It was a really nice room too. It seemed like a hotel. Kristen, Brittany, and Al waited until much later to book the hostel, so they were in a 12-person room. They kept their stuff in our room and showered in our bathroom.

That first evening, Jenna, Al, and I went to the Anne Frank house. It was so cool. I used to be really into Anne Frank when I was in 8th/9th grade, so it was so neat to see what I'd read about in her diary. It was just so neat, I still can't get over it. By the end, I was a little choked up even. The Holocaust is such a horrible, horrible event that can't really even be put into words.

After touring through the huis (check out my Dutch spelling!), we went to a late dinner at a place called Oviudo. It was kind of a big, fancy, open building; I think it used to be the post office. So we ate there and had cheeseburgers and fries, which was an advertised special on the sidewalk sign. I think it was corned beef because it was very red, but not bloody, and kind of tasted different. Anyhow, it was okay and I didn't get sick. On the walk back to the hostel we did a little souvenir shopping in Damrak Square, which is a main square and was close to our hostel.

The next morning we went on a five hour tour to Zaanse Schans to see the Windmills and taste cheese, and to the fishing villages of Volendam and Marken. In Volendam I had some fish and chips for lunch. From there we took a 20-minute boat ride to Marken. Marken is known for it's wooden clogs. We saw a demonstration of wooden clog making. I didn't get to see much, though, because it was so croweded. Our tour group was huge.. it was a double-decker coach bus. Oy. But I got some cool souvenirs on that little trip. I bought four wooden tulips and the little traditional Holland figurine of a little boy and girl kissing. Cute.

Zaanse Schans:

Volendam:

Marken:

We got back into Amsterdam around 2:30. We took our purchases back to the hostel, then Kristen, Al, and I set out for Keukenhof Gardens. To get there we had to take a train from Central Station to the airport (this train was direct and only took about 10 minutes), then from the airport we had to take a 35 minute bus ride out to Keukenhof. Once we got to the airport, though, we could not figure out where to buy bus tickets. People kept sending us back and forth back and forth until we finally found the place. We could buy a ticket that included the bus ride there and back and admission to the garden.

Keukenhof Gardens are these huge gardens of all different kinds of flowers, especially tulips. It is so beautiful. Some of the flowerbeds are in patterns with the different flowers and their colors. We were there for a few hours. It was just nice to be in nature where it was more quiet and away from the city. There were lots of trees and grass, too.

There is a big windmill at the Gardens. Al decided to climb up the windmill, whereas Kristen and I walked in front of the windmill to look out over the river/canal at the massive tulip fields. We came back around to the other side and got a chocolate waffel from a vendor right there. We sat down to eat and wait for Al to come down. He never came out of the windmill.... he'd gone off and disappeared from us in these HUGE, winding gardens. He did this ALL of spring break... would just wander off by himself and no one could find him. Kristen and I hoped he remembered what time the last bus left so he could get back to the airport. We coincidentally did run into him later.

In a little pond are cement stepping stones... we ventured out on them and were able to get close to swans. It was pretty cool. After walking around some more, we headed back to Schipol to get the train back to Amsterdam Central Station.

We had a heck of a time figuring out the train back.. we got on two different trains when I asked if they were going to Central Station, the person would respond, "no," and we'd hop off before the doors closed. Awful. But we finally got the right train. This one, though, did make a couple stops, so it took 20 minutes to get back to the city.

We finally got back to the city and ate dinner at our hostel because the food is relatively inexpensive there... Got a toasty ham and cheese. Kristen did too, so we split an order of fries. Later that night, all six of us went to get crepes at a place three of the girls found the day before. To get there, we had to walk through the Red Light District. Prostitutes in skimpy underwear stand in doorways lit up with red lights. If the curtain is drawn, it means they have business. It was just so strange. Haha.. definitely an experience for sure.

The crepe place was delightful. I got the cookie monster crepe with bits of cookie and melted chocolate. It was so good, but I definitely couldn't eat the whole thing. We went back to the room and went to bed, and I slept in the next morning until 10:30.

We had to check out by 11; I managed to shower, pack my suitcase, and put a little make-up on all by 10:55. Got checked out on time and ate a spot of lunch downstairs. This time, I got a cheeseburger... it was really good. Around 12:30 we headed to Central Station to find the Metro near there.

After some searching we found the Metro place and purchased tickets after a huge ordeal of not being able to figure the machines out. You need a special card to purchase tickets with those machines, it wouldn't accept our cards. We were starting to panic. A really nice man working there helped us. He took us to a machine that accepts cash, which was in the other direction from the machines by the gate. He helped us get six tickets, bless his soul. He was a lifesaver!

We had to get to Amstel station.. Next to Amstel station is the Eurolines bus station. Our bus left at 2:15. We needed to be there by 1:45 to check in and we arrived with plenty of time to spare. Whew! Back in February we booked a 13 euro bus ride back to Germany... so that's what we did. Eight hours on a bus. It ended up not being too bad because the bus wasn't full. We were all able to have two seats to ourselves. I ended up sleeping a lot of the bus ride back or just listened to my iPod.

We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany around 9:45 at night. We made good time getting to Germany. We were dropped off at the Central train station. Emma's teacher and her husband picked us up from Frankfurt around 10:15. That was SO nice of them. They drove us the hour and 40 minute drive back to Baumholder. We got back home around midnight... I have never been so glad to be back to those barracks.

I ended up not going to bed until about 2 a.m. from piddling around and taking a shower. I slept in Sunday morning until 11:30. After that I just lounged around until 4 p.m. when Terry came to pick us up to take us to the Commissary to get groceries. Sunday was filled with piddling, writing in my journal, taping mementos into my journal, and uploading pictures to Facebook. I was dreading school the next morning... And definitely couldn't fall asleep early on Sunday night!