Amsterdam and Bruges

               Sadly, Katie and I had to leave Berlin for a different city.  We were headed off to Amsterdam and instead of paying the same amount of money to stay in a questionable Amsterdam hostel...we got ourselves a hotel room.  Honestly it was time for us to use a real shower, and Katie really liked the hairdryer.  The reception desk was shocked to find two girls looking disheveled with legitimate reservations.

So many bikes in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

                Here's the thing about Amsterdam...it's a weekend trip with your friends from school when you're clearly looking for a fun time.  Out of context, Amsterdam is beautiful.  There are so many bikes, bridges and colors.  It truly is a different type of Western Europe.  In context, I wouldn't really go back unless I was with a few of my friends and wanted a weekend get-a-way.  It's the Vegas of Europe.  But lord knows I couldn't live there.                 

               


         
          We took the obligatory picture with the "I AMsterdam" sign, ate annoyingly expensive food, went to church again and walked around the red light district playing "prostitute or just another trashy girl?" (prostitution is legal in Amsterdam).  The history nerds that we are, we went and saw the Anne Frank house.  Fun fact, none of the furniture is there, Otto Frank wanted the rooms to be empty.  And then came the Modern Art Museum.

         

         I don't really know what I was thinking when I told Katie I wanted to go there.  Clearly, people in Amsterdam use this as a place to go right after they get high (i'm above trying to pretend that's not a thing here).  Now seeing as though Katie and I were not high, I think it made our experience even more entertaining.  We tried, we tried to be appreciative, but when you see people staring at a white wall with black line in the middle trying to find meaning...that's when we broke down.  We pushed our limits by laying on the ground to take pictures, trying to get as close to the art (metal circle on the ground) as possible, and obviously taking stalker pics of people.  Katie and I clearly missed the dress code memo of hipster obnoxiousness.  This whole experience can be found in the picture I took of the girl with the sweater that says "The entire cat population is my best friend" while she stares intently at pictures of people in swimsuits.  Go Amsterdam!

                    

                    I was going to go to England and meet a friend studying there, but trains and ferries were booked months in advance.  Katie and I don't do planning, so instead we opted for Bruges, Belgium for good chocolate.  Katie was going to meet friends in Da Hague (Chicago styled) and I was going to leave later and meet her there.  As Katie went to use public transportation alone for the first time ever, I slept in and decided to catch a later train.  Thank you Jesus for global Eurail passes with unlimited use. 

                    Because lots of snow is strange in the Netherlands, my planned train was cancelled.  I then had to quickly go to the counter and have them make an itinerary for me since Katie had the train time booklet with her.  I was to make 3 easy train changes and eventually make it to Bruges.  LIES.  I made the second train stop, and what do you have it, I'm stuck in Bumble Belgium where people claim they don't speak English or French...LIES AGAIN.  With no wifi and just a sheet of paper, I survivor skilled my way out of there.  The itinerary was completely wrong and I had to make up my own route from bumble to Bruges. 

                    I finally made it and Katie met me an hour later...I should have just gone with her...and we got much needed chocolate.  The guy at the chocolate store gave us the wifi password without making us buy anything because "we looked like we needed it".  Without lodging and a long day behind us, we scrambled to find a bed eventually made our way, but not before the store guy asked us to get a drink later.  We thought why not and met up with him later, where he told us he was a Belgian millionaire and was on the cover of Belgium's Time Magazine...LIES AGAIN. Belgium, the land of chocolate, fries and lies.  

                     The next day Katie and I went on a brewery tour and she explored a church ground while I stayed inside the heated church reading my book.  But it's all ok because we were headed to Paris next.