My ancestors from my fathers side are Dutch. Hence, my VERY Dutch last name. It actually means "From the Mountain." A couple of months ago, I went to the local Outdoor Recreation Center with my friends to choose a few trips to do during my last several weeks here. When I saw that a day trip to Amsterdam was on their list I immediately signed up.
It was another one of those trips for which I had to leave very early in the morning. So, at 3:15am, we rolled up to our bus and took off.
We rolled into downtown Amsterdam shortly before noon. Our bus pulled right in front of the Central Transportation Station. It's where all of the city's buses, trains, ferrys, and boats stop. It also had the biggest parking lots for bicycles I have ever seen in my life.
We were pretty hungry when we arrived, so we decided to head straight to lunch. On our way, we came across a square that had a variety of street performers. We stopped to watch one that was really talented. He did everything from amazing balancing acts to juggling.
After that, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. I know, I know, you're probably saying to yourself,"Is that the only place he eats?" The answer is: if it's available...YES!
After stuffing ourselves silly, we continued walking around town. We came across a square with a lot of chess games going on. One of them was a kid taking on seven people at once! It was neat to watch.
After that, we came across a very spooky looking building. It was an interactive museum called "The Amsterdam Dungeon" that we just had to stop and see.
This was probably one of the coolest museums I have ever visited in my life! It basically went through all of the dark, spooky, and controversial history of Amsterdam. It had 11 different stories that covered about 500 years of Amsterdam's "dark" history. Every room had an actor that not only acted out their part of history, but they used the audience for interaction as well. They did the presentation in both Dutch and English, so I wasn't confused about it at all. They had authentic sights, smells, and sounds of the areas we were visiting. It was so bizarre the be in a room that smelled of horses, dead bodies, and even urine! We weren't allowed to take pictures because it would take away from the effect, so the pictures I'm posting are from their website. I highly recommend visiting it yourself.
We had so much fun there and I would go back in a heartbeat! Some of the history they covered was slave-trading, Rembrandt's little secret, torture, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Black Plague. It ended with us "dying" of the plague and being sent to hell in a rollercoaster. I'm serious! A rollercoaster!
After our fun experience there, we decided to walk around town a little bit and see some of the neat architecture.
We made it a point to visit the Anne Frank House. We weren't able to tour it due to the long line, but it was still neat to see where she wrote her famous diary.
I had no idea how small of a building they were cooped up in. What also amazed me was the beautiful view from the front of the house. It seemed a little out of place thinking that they were cooped up inside that building with such a beautiful city outside of their door.
Right in front of the house, the canal had a dock where you could pay for a ferry ride around the Amsterdam canals. We were running short on time and wanted to see as much as we could, so we thought this would be a great way to do it. In an hour and a half we saw SO MUCH.
It was a LONG day with a lot of walking, sight-seeing, and enjoying. I'm grateful that I could see such a beautiful city. I was so wiped out at the end of the day that I slept like a baby on the bus ride home. I really hope I have the opportunity to come back and visit here again. (Hopefully with Mrs. "From the Mountain" next time...)
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