We started off by going to the Anne Frank house which was absolutely amazing. Walking through the secret annex and standing where those three families lived for two years is incredibly humbling and powerful. The annex is empty of furniture now because that is how Otto Frank wanted to keep it, but there were a few pictures on the walls of what the rooms looked like when they were living there and I could kind of flashback to what it must have been like and instantly got chills and was just floored by it all. They had the original wallpaper with marks on it that Anne and her sister Margo used to track their growth, and the cutouts of celebrities and royals that the girls taped onto their bedroom walls; after all this only happened 70 years ago! I still cannot fully grasped how they lived through such fear, racism and violence, and did it so bravely and even found a way to find happiness! Anne Frank and all of her family and people that went through this time are truly remarkable people and I am so happy to have had the chance to see that firsthand.
After that awesome experience, we walked around the city for a bit amidst the noisiness and wackiness that is Amsterdam. We got a little bit lost (later learning that had we chosen to go left on a particular street instead of right, we would've stumbled right into the red light district-close one!), but stumbled upon a perfect café in a little secluded square that locals visited. I'm sure they were thrilled to see us Americans walk in, but we enjoyed it nonetheless-see sometimes it pays to get lost! After a two hour lunch (meals are never short here in Belgium as I said earlier), we went on to probably the highlight of my trip thus far...
A bike tour!! We met up with about five other people in our group and it was so much fun! What better way to see Amsterdam than ride your bike around? You know what they say, when in Rome...(sorry I just really wanted to work that expression in and I think I nailed the usage). Since we were only there for a day it was the perfect way to learn all the history about the city and get to see it all from a local tour guide. And in our case, I mean a local tour guide. If you were to look up the word Amsterdam in the dictionary, there would be a large smiling picture of Petra, our lovely tour guide. She was something else! I will do my best to describe her, but I doubt I can fully give her justice. Petra was born and raised in Amsterdam and has lived there all her life (if that doesn't tell you enough already I don't know what will), and she looks it! She is in her late 20s I'd say, is white, has long dreads, a lip ring, a nose ring, a tattoo of her cat on her right leg (which she showed us after asking us-in the red light district mind you- "hey do you want to see my pussy?"), and the most psychodelic personality you could imagine. Basically she is the perfect person you want to take you on a tour around Amsterdam. We loved her!
Right when the tour started I knew it was going to be great; Petra lead the way in her bright orange bike with a giant orange flower on the back, and as I was going I have to bat all these bubbles out of my face. As I look up I see Petra carelessly waving a bubble wand around while she is riding along. She was great. At first I feared that I would 1) get hit by/run into a car sharing the busy street with me, 2) get hit by/run into another bike on the street, or 3)take out several pedestrians along the path. None of that ended up happening however and I survived with one bus and car honking at me as I hightailed it across a busy intersection (I was NOT about to lose the group-we were in the darn red light district! If there was a gap in between those cars, I was finding it) and only one pedestrian that jumped out of the way to avoid my bike as I tried to spit my gum into a garbage can while still pedaling (I made it by the way-I AM a basketball player).
Bikes are definitely the way to go around Amsterdam-it was great! We hit up all the main areas of town - Van Gough museum, Rijcksmuseum, red light district (I felt a little bit dirty), Anne Frank house, central station, etc. etc. - and even explored through the main park that is apparently one of the last in the world that you can legally consummate in publicly; Petra told us she was conceived here. Figures. The tour took about three hours and was only 16 euro and totally worth it! Got a great taste for the city from someone who knows it best and it was all in all a great day. We boarded our train back to Leuven around 8 and successfully traveled to two cities in two different countries in two days! Success. Enjoy the photos!
Stylin and Ridin
This is Petra's staff description from the website-pretty much sums her up in a nutshell
Cute little houses along the canal-very Amsterdamesque!
The bike crew! With Petra and all..see, I really do have friends!
Amsterdam was indeed a success! I'd say I'm having a pretty good time on this trip :)
No comments:
Post a Comment