The strangest place on earth....

March  15th through 18th

Although Amsterdam was by far the strangest place I have ever been, it was also one of the prettiest cities I have ever been to! The canal streets are beautiful and all the building are so old and interesting. This was an all girls trip and it was 8 girls from my study abroad group. We had our own hostel room which was such a luxury. I would say some of the girls enjoyed and took advantage the "culture" more than I did. What I enjoyed most was the Anne Frank house, the friendly people, and walking along the canals.

Got in on Thursday evening. Went for a walk around our hostel and then got dinner and drinks after. Great timing to see the sun setting behind that canals.  Fun fact: Amsterdam has more canals that Venice! 

Canal streets at night. So beautiful when they are all lit up. We wanted to do a boat cruise but we never got the time. 

Friday we woke up early and went to the Anne Frank house. It was so interesting and there were so many original artifacts! It was mind blowing to be in the same place that she and her family once hid. Especially hit home since we went to the concentration camp a few weeks earlier. Could not take pictures inside but there was even original tics on the wall that Otto Frank marked to measure his children's growth! 

More canals. I was obsessed :)

Showing how beautiful the buildings are. I could walk around in the city all day long! 

Not sure if you can tell but Amsterdam really loves bikes. There is easily 1,000 bikes on the bridge. There are by far more bikers that people in cars. It is kind of dangerous as a pedestrian! 

Jamie and I finally found a beer that was a pint not a half pint! The dutch hate warm beer so they usually only drink half pints at at time. This is not something we were used to after living in England for 2 months ;) 

Friday night we took a tour of the red light district. It was actually very interesting and even got to talk to an ex-prostitute. It gave me a whole new insight into the profession and the women in the window. It was definitely still very strange to walk around and see window after window of prostitutes. It is surprisingly a fun place to go out at night though, there a lot of nice bars. Most would be surprised to know that it is the safest neighborhood in Amsterdam because of the police to protect the girls. It is also the most expensive neighborhood to live in because it is the historic district of Amsterdam. 

This was the only legal picture you could take in the Red Light district. Can you spot all the red lights?  

Gorgeous church and canal lit up at night. Clearly obsessed :)

Amsterdam also loves St. Patrick's day! It was surprising and made me very happy. We also had to get pancakes because it is a dutch tradition. 

Yum.... a 5 year olds' dream breakfast. 

Found a market with food and flowers. So many flower venders, they are beautiful. 

Saturday we took a tour of the Heineken brewery. It was a blast and a great activity for St. Pattys! 

Yum

Made it to the end!

The famous I AMsterdam sign was right by the brewery so we got to snap a few pictures. Kind of hard with all the people. 

Too hard to all stick together with 8 girls so Jamie, her friend from home and I went out for St. Patrick's day. We even found some Irish pubs!

Even got my guinness :)

Overall, Amsterdam was a great trip and an incredibly beautiful city! It has a very different culture than ours but it was interesting to see. 

I can't wait for my next trip to France with my mom! I am soo excited to see her! 

Hard to believe I have less than a month left and only 2 and a half weeks left of school! Coming up so fast.

Happy to be spending these last few weekends in Winchester. Gives me a chance to finish all of my final assignments and really appreciate this amazing city I have been living in for the past two and a half months.

Weather is starting to get really nice as well which leads to walks through the city. (Not as nice as Wisconsin's 80's but still pretty warm)

Can't believe it is almost over. Leaving will be bittersweet but so excited to see everyone from home :)