it was july 10, 11, 12,& 13 2008

we spend 4 days in amsterdam. the city is unlike any other place that i have been, in a good way. once we got off the train we immediately had an adventure getting to our hostel in the pouring rain. the map was soaked as were we and it was cold, we had huge backpacks and no clue where we were going. the city is laid out so that all the streets radiate outward in a semi-circle style, something we were not used to and to add to it, the names are crazy. 

once we found the hostel we realized it was located in the best part of the city, the jordaan district. this part of the city is beautiful. the city is built on a series of canals so that there are these adorable bridges that allow you to cross over the waterways and then there are thousands of house boats. the streets are all cobblestone and small, but the best part about amsterdam is that everyone rides a bike: guys in business suits, hipsters, moms with babies, people going to work, to dinner together, no matter what, they ride their bike.

we did a lot of sightseeing in amsterdam. first we went to the van gogh museum which was really great. it had a lot of good works and was designed really well. we then visited the large city park, vondelpark with lots of walkways and fountains and green space. our next destination was the anne frank house. where you enter a modernized version of the house and then follow a visual and literary guide through the house. it is a really moving experience. our last adventure in amsterdam was a canal ride around the city which got us an up close look at the quirky house boats.

amsterdam is very chill, relaxed, easy going, sometimes making us struggle to find things to do. however this led us to explore a lot of the city just by wandering the streets and oh yes~spending lots of quality time at one of our favorite places: bagels and beans. this was probably some of the best food we ate the entire trip and for michele the best coffee in the world!

after 4 days of amsterdam and  a bit of frustration( we were not fans of the pot-smoking crowd) amsterdam did leave me with a lasting impression, that of being simply charming.