Hey Everyone!
Can you guess where I went this weekend??
YES! AMSTERDAM!!!
I am so excited to tell you about my amazing weekend!
We arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday late afternoon. We checked into our hostel and enjoyed two long flights of stairs that were as steep as a ladder. Imagine carrying luggage up it... SO EASY ;)
At this point there were 4 of us and in total for the weekend there were going to be 6 of us. The four of us decided to explore the area we were staying in. We found a really nice Italian Restaurant... because when you see Italian you don't pass it up!! The food was amazing as expected! When we were done we walked around the "Square" and my friend Emily got herself a famous Waffle and Nutella... If I hadn't been so full I would have joined her. We decided that it was pretty late and we were all exhausted so to bed we went. The beds were so comfortable compared to the beds in Barcelona. We woke up pretty early the following morning so we could enjoy the free "breakfast" lol. The front desk guy had told us when we checked in that we would have pastries and little breakfast things. We got there and all that we had to choose from was; White or Wheat Toast, Crackers or Sweet Cookie Crackers, Sliced Ham or Sliced Cheese, Tomato or Cucumber, Orange Juice or Milk (nasty) and Cereal.. Sounds like a lot when I type it out but we were all very unimpressed. I dug in and grabbed what I could so I ended up with toast, the cookie cracker things, 2 slices of cucumber and a nasty piece of cheese ( I love cheese so that is very unusual for me to say) and some Orange Juice. The best part about the breakfast was there Hazelnut spread... I am in love with it ( I almost took some back to Barcleona with me lol). So we finished breakfast and we met our friend Jess outside the hostel (she was staying in a different hostel then us). She decided she wanted coffee, but didn't tell any of us.. All she said was "I'll be right back." I watched her as she walked to the "COFFEESHOP" next to our hostel and I thought, "She's not going to try to go in there??" Little did she know Coffee Shops in Amsterdam are weed dispensaries. We luckily stopped her as she walked up the first step. But don't worry she found a Starbucks close by! We headed off to our first stop which was a Canal Cruise/Tour. It was so nice to be able to see everything from the gorgeous view of the water (even though the canals were extremely dirty). Canal Cruise (CHECK).. Off the Bucket List. Next we walked a few blocks to explore the infamously known I AMsterdam sculpture. It's exactly like pictures show.. It is so crowded there and hard to get pictures of the entire thing. My friend Jess had an awesome idea of taking pictures with each letter then making a collage.. SO here is what she made.. ALL PHOTO and COLLAGE credits to her!!
Can you guess where I went this weekend??
YES! AMSTERDAM!!!
I am so excited to tell you about my amazing weekend!
We arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday late afternoon. We checked into our hostel and enjoyed two long flights of stairs that were as steep as a ladder. Imagine carrying luggage up it... SO EASY ;)
At this point there were 4 of us and in total for the weekend there were going to be 6 of us. The four of us decided to explore the area we were staying in. We found a really nice Italian Restaurant... because when you see Italian you don't pass it up!! The food was amazing as expected! When we were done we walked around the "Square" and my friend Emily got herself a famous Waffle and Nutella... If I hadn't been so full I would have joined her. We decided that it was pretty late and we were all exhausted so to bed we went. The beds were so comfortable compared to the beds in Barcelona. We woke up pretty early the following morning so we could enjoy the free "breakfast" lol. The front desk guy had told us when we checked in that we would have pastries and little breakfast things. We got there and all that we had to choose from was; White or Wheat Toast, Crackers or Sweet Cookie Crackers, Sliced Ham or Sliced Cheese, Tomato or Cucumber, Orange Juice or Milk (nasty) and Cereal.. Sounds like a lot when I type it out but we were all very unimpressed. I dug in and grabbed what I could so I ended up with toast, the cookie cracker things, 2 slices of cucumber and a nasty piece of cheese ( I love cheese so that is very unusual for me to say) and some Orange Juice. The best part about the breakfast was there Hazelnut spread... I am in love with it ( I almost took some back to Barcleona with me lol). So we finished breakfast and we met our friend Jess outside the hostel (she was staying in a different hostel then us). She decided she wanted coffee, but didn't tell any of us.. All she said was "I'll be right back." I watched her as she walked to the "COFFEESHOP" next to our hostel and I thought, "She's not going to try to go in there??" Little did she know Coffee Shops in Amsterdam are weed dispensaries. We luckily stopped her as she walked up the first step. But don't worry she found a Starbucks close by! We headed off to our first stop which was a Canal Cruise/Tour. It was so nice to be able to see everything from the gorgeous view of the water (even though the canals were extremely dirty). Canal Cruise (CHECK).. Off the Bucket List. Next we walked a few blocks to explore the infamously known I AMsterdam sculpture. It's exactly like pictures show.. It is so crowded there and hard to get pictures of the entire thing. My friend Jess had an awesome idea of taking pictures with each letter then making a collage.. SO here is what she made.. ALL PHOTO and COLLAGE credits to her!!
If your wondering.. I am in the middle of the first a, t, and on top of the second a.
I love this picture!!
After fighting the crowds to get all the pictures we wanted we grabbed some lunch right in the park area.. I got a veggie burger, it was pretty good.
We had to head back to the hostel to meet our last friend joining us. Shortly after we got there she arrived. We were ready to continue our adventures.. so off to the Heineken Experience we went. They call it an experience and not a museum because it is so much better than that. I felt like a little kid in the SEE Science Center museum (for those of you who know what that is). Everything was so interesting there and at the end of it I was even able to tap my own beer! I hate beer lol but it is was worth drinking!
With all the beer flowing through us ;) we decided to try a Mexican restaurant that someone had found. The food was good but they forgot my nachos.. (it was the easiest dish ordered). We went home and refreshed ourselves before we headed out on the town! We decided to try one of the squares the front desk guy told us was good for going out... All I can say is what a bust.... He clearly did not go out much. We walked around there went into the so-called "clubs" that we were given free tickets too and wow, yeah, no. we were not having it. We quickly got out of that square and headed back to our square which happens to be the most night-life Amsterdam has. We went into a few clubs there but still nothing like we are used to here in Barcelona. The time struck 2:30ish and we were ready to go back home. The next morning we were up as early as we could be (everyone was very sluggish) and off to the first adventure of the day.. Van Gough Museum. It was an incredible museum and he was such an incredible artist. Our friend Jess is in love with Van Gough and she has such great random facts that she was our self proclaimed tour guide! Our next stop was to what a lot of us had been looking forward to... CHEESE & PORT WINE TASTING. (I loved the cheese, hated the wine). There was not enough room in the actual touring for the six of us so the super nice owner gave us a great deal.. 5 Euros and one of the employees gave us a taste and background information on all their cheeses and a glass of wine... ( I tried the wine but couldn't handle it so I stuck with water.. I know I am a baby..no just not a wine girl). The cheese was amazing but we all felt that we needed more to eat so eventually we found a place that had enough seating for the six of us and we took it. The food was decent.. we didn't have much time because we had tickets for the Anne Frank House at 3:10. Going through the Anne Frank house was extremely touching especially after going to the Dachau Concentration Camp the week before. One suggestion... If you are planning to go to the Anne Frank House book your tickets ahead of time.. luckily we knew to do that so we got to skip the line that wrapped around streets. After all our emotions had surpassed we decided to continue and venture into more museums. So the Tulip Museum was chosen.. Amsterdam is known for their tulips but definitely not for their museum. The gift shop was at least nice.. After that we had given up on museums and decided to be very touristy and go gift shopping. Some of the stores had quite interesting gifts... As we walked closer to our hostel we decided to check out the tulip markets. There I was also able to pick up a few gifts for members of my family! And we also stopped on the way home at an amazing bakery type restaurant were I was able to finally have my first European Crepe.
I love this picture!!
After fighting the crowds to get all the pictures we wanted we grabbed some lunch right in the park area.. I got a veggie burger, it was pretty good.
We had to head back to the hostel to meet our last friend joining us. Shortly after we got there she arrived. We were ready to continue our adventures.. so off to the Heineken Experience we went. They call it an experience and not a museum because it is so much better than that. I felt like a little kid in the SEE Science Center museum (for those of you who know what that is). Everything was so interesting there and at the end of it I was even able to tap my own beer! I hate beer lol but it is was worth drinking!
With all the beer flowing through us ;) we decided to try a Mexican restaurant that someone had found. The food was good but they forgot my nachos.. (it was the easiest dish ordered). We went home and refreshed ourselves before we headed out on the town! We decided to try one of the squares the front desk guy told us was good for going out... All I can say is what a bust.... He clearly did not go out much. We walked around there went into the so-called "clubs" that we were given free tickets too and wow, yeah, no. we were not having it. We quickly got out of that square and headed back to our square which happens to be the most night-life Amsterdam has. We went into a few clubs there but still nothing like we are used to here in Barcelona. The time struck 2:30ish and we were ready to go back home. The next morning we were up as early as we could be (everyone was very sluggish) and off to the first adventure of the day.. Van Gough Museum. It was an incredible museum and he was such an incredible artist. Our friend Jess is in love with Van Gough and she has such great random facts that she was our self proclaimed tour guide! Our next stop was to what a lot of us had been looking forward to... CHEESE & PORT WINE TASTING. (I loved the cheese, hated the wine). There was not enough room in the actual touring for the six of us so the super nice owner gave us a great deal.. 5 Euros and one of the employees gave us a taste and background information on all their cheeses and a glass of wine... ( I tried the wine but couldn't handle it so I stuck with water.. I know I am a baby..no just not a wine girl). The cheese was amazing but we all felt that we needed more to eat so eventually we found a place that had enough seating for the six of us and we took it. The food was decent.. we didn't have much time because we had tickets for the Anne Frank House at 3:10. Going through the Anne Frank house was extremely touching especially after going to the Dachau Concentration Camp the week before. One suggestion... If you are planning to go to the Anne Frank House book your tickets ahead of time.. luckily we knew to do that so we got to skip the line that wrapped around streets. After all our emotions had surpassed we decided to continue and venture into more museums. So the Tulip Museum was chosen.. Amsterdam is known for their tulips but definitely not for their museum. The gift shop was at least nice.. After that we had given up on museums and decided to be very touristy and go gift shopping. Some of the stores had quite interesting gifts... As we walked closer to our hostel we decided to check out the tulip markets. There I was also able to pick up a few gifts for members of my family! And we also stopped on the way home at an amazing bakery type restaurant were I was able to finally have my first European Crepe.
As dinner time came along I was too full to have much so I just got cheesy fries.. (I thought they were going to be the typical American style cheesy dip but nope. It was shredded cheese melted on the fries.. At least they were still good). The Pub we ate at was amazing; the atmosphere was crazy and the other customers were so into the Rugby game that was going on (Rugby is a very popular sport in Europe.. Like American Football). After dinner we bought tickets for the Ice Bar but we still had like an hour or so until our time.. So we decided to really step out of our comfort zones and walk the streets of the Red Light District to see what it was all about.. I am not going to explain what is it like... All I have to say is its an experience that I believe must be seen when your in Amsterdam. After a short time we were back in our square and grabbed a free drink at the Ice Bar and waited for our time slot to freeze our butts off. We were let in at 12:30 am into the freezing cold... for all of us that were tired that was nonexistent at this point. We had our two free drinks inside and we were all ready to be out. Here is a picture inside of it...
We weren't ready to be done.. It was our last night there so everyone wanted to see what the inside of a Coffee Shop looked like... It is very strange because where I am from this would never be allowed... Everyone was so relaxed and just enjoying themselves. It closed shortly after we arrived so back on the streets we went. We decided to just walk around. My friend Emily is very obsessed with these things they call FEBO's.. They are basically vending machines with Burgers.. I will add a picture so you can understand what I am talking about.. We had a very funny time watching Emily get the Burger she is obsessed with..(Because to her it has a "special sauce"LOL)
We tried out a Club/Bar that a local had told us to try.. yet again nothing like Barcelona's nightlife.. We decided to call it quits around 2:30am knowing that me and my two roommates had to be up at like 5:30am that following morning. After getting no sleep that night all I wanted to do was get back to Barcelona and sleep. Of course it couldn't be that easy.. Our flight was delayed by 2 and a half hours.. By the time I got on the plane I immediately fell asleep.. I have been trying to catch up on my sleep since, so that is why this blog is a few days later than usual.
I am really excited because in two days my amazing boyfriend Joshy will be in Barcelona! I can't wait to have someone from home here to enjoy Spain with me!! We are going to have a great time and I will update everyone in my days of sadness when we fly's back to America.
I am so happy to be studying abroad and pushing myself to continuously go out of my comfort zone and try new things! As much as I do miss home this experience is definitely a once in a life time chance and in just 10 short weeks I will be back in America and back to my everyday normal life. I am taking every minute I can in and enjoying the opportunity I have been given.
Well that is all my friends!
I will leave you with an awesome picture from this weekend!
I am really excited because in two days my amazing boyfriend Joshy will be in Barcelona! I can't wait to have someone from home here to enjoy Spain with me!! We are going to have a great time and I will update everyone in my days of sadness when we fly's back to America.
I am so happy to be studying abroad and pushing myself to continuously go out of my comfort zone and try new things! As much as I do miss home this experience is definitely a once in a life time chance and in just 10 short weeks I will be back in America and back to my everyday normal life. I am taking every minute I can in and enjoying the opportunity I have been given.
Well that is all my friends!
I will leave you with an awesome picture from this weekend!
With much love, Bryanne Barna :))