OK, Amsterdam. Let's get this out early- I wasn't a huge fan of it. Some parts were beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed parts of it but it definitely had its ups and downs. I was also dealing with some personal things so that kind of marred my view of Amsterdam. Also, it was one of the most unnavigable (Is that really a word?) cities I've ever been to and while reading this, imagine me transitioning from place to place stopping every two minutes to peer up at the street name and then down at my map and then jump to the side while avoiding a cyclist and/or motorist. That wasn't fun. I attempted to ride a bike for part of the day but the multi-tasking of riding a bike, locking it with what seems like eight different locks, navigating the city, not killing anyone or myself and trying to see the sights proved too overwhelming and I stuck to my own two feet.
With that out of the way, enjoy the three days in Amsterdam.City-Centre Amsterdam was a beautiful if somewhat dirty- it was a cloudy day in the morning which make some of the statues and monument blend in with the sky.
The first place I went to, after the Spui Book Market (not too many books in English though) was an old Catholic monastary which is now a private little neighborhood. It was very quiet inside the area with a beautiful little church.
From there I went onto the Civic Gallery (free- I spent less than 100 euros the whole three days, I was impressed with myself) and saw these huge, gigantic, massive Dutch paintings of Civic Guard. It was practice to painting the Civic Guard with his whole entourage and it was definitely in the style of the Dutch Masters. And when I saw these were massive, they were incredibly massive. You had to crane your neck to look up and see all the people painted in the pictures.
From there, I went to the Red Light District. Because you can't go to Amsterdam without the Red Light District. I was not a fan. The Cannabis College nearly made me pass out before of the smell (clearly this is why I've never smoked pot before) and I accidentally stumbled down a Red Light lane and spent the quickest ten seconds staring straight ahead and attempting to avert looking at the ladies in the window. It was very uncomfortable and I was out of there pretty quickly. The only beautiful thing in the whole District was this gorgeous old church. In front of the church was a statue called "Belle", dedicated to all of the prostitutes in the area.
I quickly left and headed into the Neiuwmarkt area where I saw the Waag, now a restaurant in a huge square and then over to the Gassan Diamond factory. There was a free tour there and after leaning about the cut, clarity, carat and colour of diamonds and leaning about how they were shaped, we went into a show room and got to look at and try on jewelry. Hello future husband, please take note. They were incredible- no wonder they're a girl's best friend! You can be my best friend any day of my week.
Next free thing of the day (again, after a lot of wandering around totally lost), was a brewery tour. Our tour guide, who told us all about the organic beer made in the small brewery right on the river (underneath a huge windmill- it was pretty awesome), was hilarious. He was Dutch but had rosy red cheeks, crazy hair and an accent that sounded like an Australian/Irish hybrid. I was his assistant and he raised my self-esteem by telling everyone what a great assistant I was. I basically put three glasses of hops and malt onto a shelf. I'm good.
Next free thing (see, I told you, I'm good!) was a free ferry ride to NSDW, an arty community across the IJ River from Amsterdam. It's a very artsy community that looks kind of like a post-apocalyptic world but everything there is an art creation. There's a funky little cafe that was bursting from the seams with Dutch people hanging out and it's a very interesting place to walk around, especially with the sun reflecting off the metal.
The last thing of the day was the Anne Frank House. Because it was the end of the day, there weren't too many people around and so I was free to wander at my own pace. It was a very moving thing to see- it really brings about the book and also makes the tragedy of what happened to the Frank Family and the rest of the occupants of the Secret Annex more vivid and impactful. To see Anne's pictures still on the wall, to see the layout of rooms and where they lived and slept. The worst part were the narrow, steep stairs- I can't image day in and day out silently having to walk up and down those. The whole experience was sobering and definitely brought tears to my eyes. Good thing it was the last thing of the day.
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