Speechless

There are no words to properly describe Amsterdam. We arrived with little to no expectations simply because people kept telling us how "crazy" it was, or that it was "awesome", and quite frankly, we were just ready to get out of Brussels. We arrived by train at 6pm and found our way to The Flying Pig Hostel. It was a very nice place with lockers underneath the bed and a bar in the lobby that people hung out in. This is where we met Abbe's friend Ashley, who flew in to join us for Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague. I wish there was more that we could tell you about Amsterdam, but quite honestly, there really isn't much to do. Unlike London, all the museums cost Euros, and when you are out for 5 weeks seeing museums in every city for free, the idea of paying to see Van Gogh's missing ear seems idiotic. We did pay to see the Anne Frank House, which was a personal high point for me because I have loved her story ever since I was her age. It was very sad to stand in the small room that she hid in, and to see the pages she ripped out of magazines to decorate her barren walls. Aside from this, the only other touristy thing we did in Amsterdam was to see the Heineken Experience. We did hang out in Vondelpark for an afternoon, and found some time to enjoy the sun that we were craving since arriving in Dublin two weeks ago. It was quite a sight to see as we walked through the red light district, and one that I will be happy to never return to again! Amsterdam was fun for a short period of time, but we were definitely ready to get on the overnight bus last night and head to Berlin. It was pretty horrendous trying to sleep on a coach bus for 10 hours, so now that we are at our hostel (the Jetpak Alternative is GORGEOUS) we are going to take a nap before heading out to see Berlin at night. I can already say that there is graffiti EVERYWHERE but these people are actually talented artists as opposed to the "taggers" that think they are cool writing their initials all over Philly.

2 weeks down... 3 to go!!