Ballin' in Holland

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was my favorite city yet. I absolutely loved the narrow brick streets, flowers in every window box and the fact that all the cars have been replaced with road bikes. It was awesome to see hundreds of bikes during rush hour and only a few cars sprinkled through out.

We had two full days in Amsterdam and the first thing we did was go visit the Ann Frank Haus. The museum consisted of the apartment that she lived in with her family and a few family friends for a year and half during the Nazi invasion as well as rooms containing artifacts and interviews from those few years. Her father, the only surviving member of the family, was the one who had her diary published and when he turned their apartment into a museum he requested that all of the furniture be removed to symbolize the fact that the people who lived there are gone, never to return. The museum also included pages torn from Anne's diary so we could see what her writing looked like. The craziest part of the tour was looking out the window that Anne looked out everyday, longing for sunlight and freedom. It was also interesting to see where they had marked on the wall the progress of the children growing, Anne was taller than me by the end of her stay in the Annex. It was kind of creepy walking through their old apartment, imagining  the family pacing quietly and desperately wishing to be free. I wish I had pictures to share however we weren't allowed to bring our cameras inside.

The Iron Maiden

After visiting the Ann Frank House I walked with a few girls to the floating flower market located right on the river. There was tons of flower shops as well as touristy stands and cheese shops. I bought some "Black Beauty" tulips that will bloom black. I then went to the medieval torture museum that consisted of tons of crazy medieval torture devices. The Iron maiden was there as well as the guillotine.  The evening we visited the Red Light district, one of the few places in the world where prostitution is legal. Don't worry, I didn't partake but it was shocking to see the girls lined up in windows, wearing bikinis and trying to lure in every person that walked by. That evening we went to an exotic show in the red light district but once again...no pictures allowed!

Beautifully painted clogs

The next morning I went on a bike ride through the Dutch countryside complete with picturesque windmills, a simple lunch of sandwiches and fruit and a demonstration at a dutch clog maker. They had all sorts of clogs in the display including wedding clogs that were white and beaded as well as roller-skate clogs.

Lovin' Holland

After our bike ride I visited the Amsterdam flea market where I wanted to buy absolutely everything I saw. From recycled clothing to feather/leather gear, crazy jewelry and beautiful paintings...they had it all. I found an awesome pair of old broken in overalls which I bought happily as well as an awesome leather backpack and some hair accessories. After enjoying some delicious Blonde Belgium beers we called it a night knowing that tomorrow we were bound for Germany.