Amsterdam

This past weekend, we made the (relatively) short trip to Amsterdam, Holland for our first trip out of the country! I don't think I was expecting much because of the city's reputation for having a liking for not so family friendly activity, but it was a rather pretty place. I hadn't known beforehand that Amsterdam is built around a system of canals, a result of it's status as a trading hub from the 17th century on. Amsterdam also houses the oldest stock exchange in the world, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

The first day was not particularly pleasant for me. Possibly because of the subpar weather, possibly because of leaving the flat for the airport at 3 am, I was not in a very good mood, and the strangeness of the city struck me immediately upon arriving (after a 2.5 hour journey from the airport in Eindhoven). It is a very 'european' city, in that the majority of people seem to travel by bike, and the streets are not nearly as crowded as I would expect from a major city. However, on Saturday, we visited the Anne Frank House, which I thought was very interesting because, rather than focus on the horrors of the Holocaust, they focused on the tragedy of the individual family, and one girl who represented the thousands of innocent children who were not allowed to lead normal lives. Climbing up the stairs behind the infamous bookcase, and through the rooms which housed Anne and 7 others for two years was an incredible experience because it gave new realism to such a major historical event.

Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside the actual house

 

After this amazing cultural experience, we moved on to an amazing culinary experience. The Netherlands is known for it's pancakes and apple pie, so I got them both out of the way in one shot with some amazing pancakes, and the best apple pie I've ever eaten.

Banana and Nutella Pancakes

Insanely good Apple Pie, accompanied by Cinnamon Ice Cream!

On Sunday, we visited the Van Gogh Museum, dedicated to chronicling his progression from novice painter to classical artist, and housing his own works accompanied by those of the artist who inspired him. While I've never been a huge art fan, some of his paintings, especially the landscapes, blew me away with their realism. I found one of his phases especially attractive, in which he intentionally used an excessive amount of paint, and then molded it to convey characteristics and emotions through the texture, as well as the colors. Although pictures can in no way do these works justice, here are a few of the ones that caught my eye.

He intentionally used incorrect colors, allowing the
characteristics of the painting to convey the emotions

When we had our fill of art, we ventured just outside to the famous "I Amsterdam" statue, although I have no idea how anyone manages to get pictures of it without other people in the way.

For lunch, we stopped at a very nice little cafe next to a market square, which was unfortunately closed on Sundays, where I had the best tea of my life. It was only hot water, fresh mint leaves, and some honey but it was incredibly tasty, and I will definitely be attempting to replicate it.

Finally, we finished off the day with visits to some very cool little shops inside the Tulip Museum and Cheese Museum (which included a tasting of the voted world's best cheese), and one last piece of pie to finish off the trip.

Overall, I would say that it was a successful weekend, though I do think it was all that was needed to get the key points of Amsterdam. While I'm glad I went, it wouldn't be somewhere I would want to spend a whole vacation, and I'm glad we were only there for a few days. But either way, it was a valuable experience!