Amsterdam

November 22nd, 2014

This weekend we went to Amsterdaaaam. It was absolutely beautiful, fairly expensive but none the less beautiful. We got go see a nice bit of the city through the airport shuttle because we were the last stop. The driver was absolutely mad, I bet my handprint is still in the handle of the door. I did manage to take some really nice pictures along the way.

Once we got to the hotel and dropped off our bags, we were off on a canal cruise. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures because they were kind of blurry, but it was so cool to see Amsterdam by boat and there was also some interesting facts told along the way.  After the canal cruise, we decided to do some shopping along the street our hotel was on (it was in the perfect location). I bought some Christmas gifts and had a Big Mac (in 8 different countries now).

While we were shopping, we discovered that Madame Tussauds Amsterdam was right next to our hotel. Even though we had went to the one in London, we decided to go see if there were any different figures there, and there were. There was a wax figure of Anne Frank, which was amazing, though I think it ought to be at the Anne Frank house. There were a lot of the same figures that we had already seen, but there was also Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, E.T., Oprah, Madonna, Beyoncé, and Adele (looks like I'm going to have to go to NY to see Swift). The coolest figure had to be Mona Lisa, you were able to take a picture that looked like you were photobombing the famous masterpiece (as you can see).

When we left Madame Tussauds, it was dark. We soon discovered that the later in the day it gets, the more likely you are to get high off of secondhand smoke. There were people smoking, everywhere. People were pushing children around in their strollers while sipping their cannabis energy drink and smoking their joints, all while walking past a police officer. It really is a strange thing to see. We did a little more shopping, then went back to the hotel and pretty much passed out because we had been awake and on the go for almost 19 hours.

November 23rd, 2014

This morning we decided to go to the Anne Frank House, the one thing that both of us had really wanted to do. We didn't have tickets pre-bought and everyone was telling us we'd have to wait in a really long queue, but honestly we were only waiting forty minutes. It was the most humbling experience that I've ever had. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but honestly I don't think I would have anyway. All of the rooms are for the most part empty (with the exception of a few displays) because Anne's father Otto wanted it that way. He said "The empty house symbolizes the void left behind by the millions of people who were deported and never returned.".  There were excerpts of Anne's diary as well as short films throughout the house. The stairs they had to climb were absolutely mad, they were so steep it felt like you were climbing a ladder. Words cannot describe how I felt while I was walking through that house. I think the hardest part of the whole experience for me was the end, when they had a picture of Otto stood in the Attic after the war. I honestly hope that every single one of you one day get the opportunity to visit this place and experience the feelings I felt today.

After the Anne Frank House, we went to the Red Light District; talk about a 180 lol. The Red Light District is actually kind of pretty, until you really get into it. Then there's literally sex and clouds of smoke everywhere. There are women in windows, in their underwear, just like you see on TV. There are little signs on the windows that say "safe sex only", which is hilarious and responsible all at the same time. It felt so weird walking past the windows, not because I think I'm better than them, just because it's definitely not what I'm used to seeing. It was just as weird walking past stores that had nothing but sex toys and drug paraphernalia in their windows. If this wasn't wild enough as were were walking by, some guy asked us if we were ready for a sex show. I still don't know if he was inviting us to watch or participate because I never gave him the opportunity to elaborate before I kicked into high speed and got out of dodge.

That pretty much sums up Amsterdam. The weather was beautiful, the people were friendly, the WiFi sucked, and I didn't get an STI or high 😎.