The second stop on my fall break trip was Amsterdam, where I stayed with Laura (not the same one!) from Emory. She lives in a really cute dorm in East Amsterdam with a ton of other college kids, some of whom are study abroad and some of whom are normal students at the school. I got there late at night and she had dinner waiting for me–how nice!!!!
Day 1
On the first day in Amsterdam, I took advantage of the fact that Laura was in class and went to the Rijksmuseum downtown. I loved seeing all of the Van Gogh and dutch artwork, and they also had a large collection of Dutch naval objects. The best room, in my opinion, was the art history library that you can go into (silently!) and that also houses originally globes, maps and compasses used in exploration expeditions. My inner history nerd was SO excited about that!
After the museum I set off to explore Amsterdam. It was such a pretty time of year with all of the leaves changing color, and of course with the canals! I found the cheese shop that my family had stopped in on our layover years ago and tasted all of the cheese samples. There was also a cheese museum and a tulip museum with a massive tulip shop.
After lunch, Laura met me and we went to take a canal tour. This was one of the things I was bummed we didn’t have time for when we were in Amsterdam on our layover, so I was really excited. I was surprised that it was a covered boat which was great because it was fairly windy outside. The cruise was relaxing and we learned things that even Laura didn’t know about the city-and it was over way too quickly!
Later, I learned to bike on Amsterdam streets (shout out to Katherine for lending me her bike!!!). It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and it was actually super fun and Dutch feeling! Sidenote: It was not my fault, but the bike was then stolen and that was the end of my biking career.
Later, I learned to bike on Amsterdam streets (shout out to Katherine for lending me her bike!!!). It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and it was actually super fun and Dutch feeling! Sidenote: It was not my fault, but the bike was then stolen and that was the end of my biking career.
Day 2
Originally, I had planned to wake up early on day 2 and get in line for the Anne Frank House. I say originally because that is not at all what happened!
I started off with some traditional Dutch breakfast (according to Laura) which consists of toast with butter and chocolate sprinkles. It doesn’t get much better than that!!!
I did eventually get up and dressed and headed to see how long the line of the Anne Frank house was. I got lucky because it was starting to rain and I only waiting an hour and fifteen minutes in line. The actual house was like nothing I had imagined-it’s really hard to fathom that her entire family lived in such a small space for months. It was crowded, cramped, and even the stairs were insanely steep. I also really saw how she could desire to see trees, as there was almost no way to see the outdoors in there. I think I really appreciated leaving, not only to get out of the cramped space, because unlike Anne I wasn’t stuck inside hiding from the outside world and I could go about my business as usual. It was also amazing to see the makeup of the visitors- there were people of all races and ethnicities, not only Jews or Americans. I think that seeing this space makes the Holocaust almost as real as it would to go to a concentration camp.
After the Anne Frank House, I opted for a lighter note and went to see the floating tulip market. Laura met me there after her class, and we looked at endless bulbs and tulips ( as well as some of the best souvenir shops I found!). We met up with some of Laura’s friends, and some other people from Emory, for delicious Indonesian food. The restaurant was right near Dam Square, which was hosting a random carnival. We got the most amazing churros with nutella (yum!!!) that literally filled me up for two days.
I started off with some traditional Dutch breakfast (according to Laura) which consists of toast with butter and chocolate sprinkles. It doesn’t get much better than that!!!
I did eventually get up and dressed and headed to see how long the line of the Anne Frank house was. I got lucky because it was starting to rain and I only waiting an hour and fifteen minutes in line. The actual house was like nothing I had imagined-it’s really hard to fathom that her entire family lived in such a small space for months. It was crowded, cramped, and even the stairs were insanely steep. I also really saw how she could desire to see trees, as there was almost no way to see the outdoors in there. I think I really appreciated leaving, not only to get out of the cramped space, because unlike Anne I wasn’t stuck inside hiding from the outside world and I could go about my business as usual. It was also amazing to see the makeup of the visitors- there were people of all races and ethnicities, not only Jews or Americans. I think that seeing this space makes the Holocaust almost as real as it would to go to a concentration camp.
After the Anne Frank House, I opted for a lighter note and went to see the floating tulip market. Laura met me there after her class, and we looked at endless bulbs and tulips ( as well as some of the best souvenir shops I found!). We met up with some of Laura’s friends, and some other people from Emory, for delicious Indonesian food. The restaurant was right near Dam Square, which was hosting a random carnival. We got the most amazing churros with nutella (yum!!!) that literally filled me up for two days.
Also: amazing apple pie--
Day 3
My last day in Amsterdam was also a packed day (as usual). My phone service also got disconnected, so I relied on my previous knowledge of the city/maps for the entire day. The first stop was the I Amsterdam sign to take a classic, touristy picture.
I decided to check out the Canal House Museum because it sounded most interesting and different of the choices online. I was a little bummed at first that it wasn’t included on Laura’s museum card and I had to pay for it, but I was totally not disappointed! The museum was situated in an old canal house from the 1600s, but was extremely interactive inside.
(***If you don’t enjoy history skip these next few paragraphs***)
We each got a headset in our native language and the first room was a serious of buildings that had projections on them to show the original and early history of Amsterdam. The buildings multiplied as the city got bigger!
(***If you don’t enjoy history skip these next few paragraphs***)
We each got a headset in our native language and the first room was a serious of buildings that had projections on them to show the original and early history of Amsterdam. The buildings multiplied as the city got bigger!
The second room we were led into consisted of a board room table and projected on it were the debates between the town planners about how to accommodate more space into Amsterdam. This was literally the definition of show not tell; I understand now exactly how the expansion took place. Finally, the third interactive room showed the construction methods they used to secure the canal houses (piles were drilled 15 feet down to reach a hard sandy layer). Some of the older houses tilt because of oxidation of these piles and it’s permanent! The room even had a sandy floor as they talked about the sand layer under the city.
The last room on the first floor was a room with the entire city in canal houses on the wall, and you could peek through holes to see the insides. We got to see so many buildings that are inaccessible currently, and some of them showed the restoration or modernization of the inside. After the interactive section, we went downstairs to see the area that was decorated as a traditional canal house. The decor was beautiful, and featured an exhibit on the man who designed the house. It also randomly had an exhibit on Thomas Jefferson and the Dutch bankers of the same time who basically financed the United States. I think the link here was that the man who owned the house owned a large chunk of New York state and was very involved in this financing!
***End of history section***
Finally, after the museum I walked through the Red Light District on my way to check out Centraal Station (and buy a train ticket) before heading back to Laura’s for the next leg of fall break! Thanks Laura!!!
Bye Amsterdam!!!!
Ciao,
Alyssa
Ciao,
Alyssa