Amsterdam and Rotterdam memories

This past weekend my current room-mate Lillian and I went to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. We had such a blast! We had some complications with our flights, but it all turned out for the better I think. We left around 3:30 on Thursday and then took a taxi to our local Florence airport. It was my first time in the aiport- my impressions of it were that it was very crowded and super small. We had to wait a loonngg time for us to get checked in, so we were glad that we got there close to 2 hours ahead of it. (This is instilled in my brain by my mom!). Anyways, so once we got checked in we got a little snack and looked around the cheesy stores, and then shortly boarded our flight. One thing that was a little strange was we actually had to board a tight bus and then from there we were transported to our airplane. I thought the bus was a bit stupid, because it would've been just a couple minute walk; oh well... I'm sure they just want to make sure we all board the aircraft together (in case someone gets lost, right?)

Once Lillian and I got to Amsterdam, we had the adventure of attempting to find our hostel that our friend Jen booked a couple months ago. Like I said in the last entry, Jen and all my other friends who we were going to stay in the hostel with had their flight canceled so we were on our own to find the location. Before we researched on a map, we got some dinner at Burger King (very disappointed in the chicken nuggets- they tasted like frozen ones at the store!) and then we went to Starbucks. I can't tell you how happy we were to find a starbucks! There are not starbucks here in Italy! I love the caffe latte's here, but they only come in one size (8 oz) and there is no flavorings that you can add, and that is like my favorite part haha. Anyways, I had a mocha and Lillian had a chai tea. We found our port for our train and once it picked us up we were on it for about 45 mins. After that, we asked around on where to find tickets for the tram and after getting lost for a little while, we finally found our little hostel. I was very happy that they still let us stay there for the night, even though Jen canceled her reservation. Once we were all settled in, we went to a local bar and had a few beers (for only 1.50 student special!). This random guy across from us ended up buying us a couple rounds but the weird thing was he didn't even talk to us! He just stared... haha oh well.

The next day, Lillian and I got up around 9:15 and then had a quick Breakfast at the hostel which consisted of toast and an assortment of cheeses, jams, and nutella-type stuff. It was simple, but much appreciated. We checked our email at the hostel and then we went to H & M while we waited for Tara, Martha, and their friend Matthijas to arrive from Rotterdam where they are studying abroad. I definitely got some cute things at H & M. Its one of my favorite stores! They opened up the first one in Florence last week- I will have to check it out for sure when I get a chance. I also heard that there are now two H & Ms in the Seattle area. I got a letter from my friend Kristina today, and she said we will have to go there when I get back. Can't wait! Anyways, once we were done shopping, we met up with the gang and walked around a quaint little park. Unfortunately there was a lot of construction going on, so many parts of the park were blocked out but we still had fun. Also, I noticed that my camera was having troubles with saving the pictures on the memory card. It often said, "read card error" and I come to find out that after I downloaded them to my computer, most of them were distored and had little lines all over them. Luckily I swtiched over to my other memory card half way through the trip so not all my pictures are destroyed.

After we walked around the park and had a Olliebollen (so good!) we split up because they wanted to go to a Historical type museum, and Lillian and I wanted to go to the Van Gogh museum. Lillian was originally going to go to her class today in the Hagh, but since almost everyone missed their flight the day before, she figured that no one would probably show up to class anyways. The Van Gogh mueseum was great! Apparently it holds the largest collection of his works. I really liked his flower pictures that he painted while he was in Paris.

After the museum, Lillian and took a tram towards Central Station and then stopped for another quick snack. I had a bagel and cream cheese (one of my fav foods back home!) and Lil had some sort of Margerita pizza thing. After our snack, we went to the Anne Frank House where they were in hiding during World War II. I read the book many years ago, so this had a great impact on me. It was really sad- but also very interesting. Once we looked around the house, we met up with our friends in the Central area again, and we walked over to the Red Light District. Very weird- let me tell you! I thought it was going to be much bigger though; it ended up only being a couple streets. After we walked around a little more, we caught a train back to Rotterdam where Lillian and I stayed for the next three nights. Martha lives in an apartment in a student housing area, so we were lucky enough to be able to stay there free of charge for the remainder of the weekend.

Friday night for dinner, Lillian, Martha, and I cooked a mean curry type dish with tofu. It was so good! We put in fresh bell peppers, seasonings, oil, and garlic. We ended up having the leftovers on Sunday night as well because we made so much! That night, we went to bed fairly early and we were able to sleep in the next day. It was much needed!


The next few days consisted of us eating, walking around, and shopping in Rotterdam(tons and tons of shopping!). I particularly liked the Open Air Market. It is very different than the one in Florence. Lillian and I ended up buying some cute mocassin type slippers with fur. They are so comfy! Also, we couldn't resist buying some delicious Gouda. That night, Martha, Lillian, and I ate the entire thing! Here is a picture to prove it outside Martha's upper deck in her building.
On Saturday, Lillian and I took a short tour through the "cube houses".

I couldn't believe people actually live in these! We went inside one of the typical homes- and boy was it trippy!

On Saturday night, a group of seven of us ate at this restaurant called Bazars, which specializes in Turkish food. It was pretty good! I split a couscous chicken kebab dish with Tara, as well as a Chicken Salad with Tabooli (sp?). After dinner, a few of us went to a bar which ended up turning into a club later. On Sunday, we walked all around Rotterdam and in the morning we ate at this fabulous pancake house.
I had a cheese and ham omelette; it was very different than the pancakes in America! They are very thin and they fill up an entire plate. It was definitely an experience! After Breakfast, we walked around some more and toured the beautiful sites of Rotterdam such as one of the windmills, the bridge,
the walk of fame, the Euro-star (a monument that is much like Seattle's Space Needle), and a park. Here is a picture of the windmill that we found:
It was a fun filled day for sure!

Well that concludes my remarks for this past weekend. I am going to London tomorrow so I will post all about that when I get back!

Also, more pictures from my trip are posted on facebook! :)