Amsterdam

I have to say that I am really liking Amsterdam. It feels even more foreign than London. When we got to the Amsterdam train station we waited in a super long line to validate our rail passes. The funny thing is that they would have expired if we didn't validate them by 8/6, which happens to be the day we leave for Munich. Apparently you must validate rail passes within six months of their purchase. It is a complete coincidence that we bought them 6 months to the day prior to when we would first use them. Even I am not that organized. Ok, maybe I am. Just not on purpose this time.

We validated them when arriving in Amsterdam instead of when we leave for Munich on 8/6 to get it out of the way. The passes are good for only 15 days after validation, but we will be home by then. Side note: we haven't had to validate our rail passes until now because they aren't valid in the UK. Am I getting too detailed? Too bad. You know me...

We found our way to the hostel pretty easily. Amsterdam streets are crazy. Narrow, and lined with never ending pubs, shops, restaurants, Dutch bakeries, etc. Ohhhhh I forgot to mention "coffee shops" every twenty feet. You can smell the "coffee" in the street. There are also plenty of "smartshops" which sell "magic mushrooms." They must be realllllly nutritious or something... Maybe I'll try some. How different from American mushrooms can they be??

The hostel itself is far better than the one in London. Much nicer, cleaner, and friendlier. It also has free breakfast and Internet. We are staying in a fourteen bunk room. We will see how that goes. After checking in and dropping our stuff in the room we headed out to explore.

Amsterdam is an incredible city. The narrow streets have even narrower alleys that have just as many bars and coffee shops. We wondered around for a while and eventually found the house where Anne Frank and her family hid during WWII. Google Anne Frank if you don't know who she is. Also, please let me know so that I can ridicule you. Even I know who she is and I got through college without one history course. The line was super long so we decided to get lunch before waiting in it.

We found this place that claimed to have the best sandwiches in Amsterdam. I had one with roast beef, pork, rolled veal? lettuce, and pepper sauce. It was really good. To drink I had a Coke Light. Yeah, their version of Diet Coke is Coke Light. The taste is pretty similar, but I'm convinced it isn't as carbonated.

After eating we made our way back to the line for Anne Frank's house. We waited over two hours, but it was well worth it. Seeing the house and the secret annex where Anne Frank and her family hid was a memorable experience. Being half Jewish, I think I appreciated it 50% more than people who are 0% Jewish. Walking through the house, reading the diary entries, and watching video clips telling the story ALMOST got me misty eyed. I know you can't tell how serious I am right now and I apologize. It sincerely was a great experience that I will never forget.

After we left Anne Frank's house, we walked back to the hostel to take a quick nap before dinner. We got up and started walking around the streets again to find a place to eat. We found this Argentinean restaurant that was advertising all you can eat spareribs. That's what we got and definitely had all we can eat. It was very tasty, but they charged extra for everything! No free refills on Coke Light which I can understand (kind of), but to charge for ketchup? I mean come on, you're serving chips, at least give me some ketchup. And the way they ask if you want it like it's included. In reality they are making a sales pitch. More to drink? Ketchup? Sneaky sneaky. Ok, done ranting.

After dinner we came back to the hostel to change into jeans since it is getting colder. We also wanted to drop off our day backpacks (omg that sounds SO lame out loud) before going out tonight. At least I'm not wearing the money belt yet. Good call Ivy.

We had a few beers at the hostel bar and then headed out to find a cool place to drink outside and write a blog. We found a place with outside seating and got some Amstels, which I am drinking right now as I write this blog. The owner is awesome. He saw me with my iPhone and was like "are you writing your friends back home saying 'ahhhh I'm in Amsterdam!!'" I was like, yeah pretty much. haha. It was at this point the iPhone application I was using to write my blog crashed and erased half of the entry. (it is actually 6:00pm the next day right now and I'm recreating the half of the blog that got erased. SO much has happened since then, but I'll create another entry later to discuss. Until then, please bear with me as I try to finish this blog in the present tense even though it happened yesterday)

After we leave this bar we are heading to the Red Light District. Duh. I'm sure this will be a very interesting night...