We landed in Amsterdam Friday afternoon, 10/28, after an amazing view of the Alps on our flight there! There was a shuttlebus to our hotel, which was great and a nice change from our usual hostels. We booked this trip pretty late so we couldn't find any hostels but the hotel wasn't much more expensive and it had the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on! The only pain was that to get into the city we had to take a shuttle back to the airport then a train into Amsterdam but the beds made it all worth it! :)

Once we got into the city we went to eat and got bagels (which I miss more than anything- Mom, you better have some ready for me when I get home!). Then we went to see the Anne Frank House- the actual place she hid during the war and wrote her diary. It's now a museum that you can walk through- my friends and I hadn't realized it was in Amsterdam so that was a nice surprise! Very sad/ weird to see the small rooms they lived in for so long but also very interesting! The rest of the afternoon we wandered around- Amsterdam is a cool city, they call it the "Venice of the North" for its canals! It's actually very pretty but there's a lot of junk there- it's almost lke a fake place with the Red Light District there. You walk past these brothels where women literally sit in windows waiting for "work" and the "coffeehouses" there have menus just for weed. It's so weird!!! It was an experience to say the least! That night we got dinner (crepe pizzas! yum!) and went home to sleep- we were exhausted from being up early for our flight!

Saturday morning we got up and headed back into the city (more bagels! we really took advantage of that in Amsterdam). We walked around again and went through a flower market- lots of tulips! And here's a fun fact- my friends and I couldn't figure out what the difference between the Netherlands and Holland is- we finally asked someone and it turns out there is none! They're the same country, just different terms! Weird! Then we headed to the old Heineken factory for a tour! It's called the "Heineken Experience" and you get to learn about the history of the company, see how the beer is made, walk around the old factory, then go on this 3D ride showing the step by step process! Pretty cool! Then, at the end, they give you free beer to taste! Lots of fun! After that we went to get dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe- nice American food for a change!

After that we went home and slept since our flight to Dublin was the next morning! Amsterdam was a cool place! Very different from the other cities I've been to but I liked it!