Amsterdam

Two weekends ago, Jenae and I went to Amsterdam. We were only there for 24 hours (we have been grounded by a lack of money and a major increase in my workload for school), but it was a very fun time. We met our friend Jackie there, who was staying with her dad who lives just outside of Amsterdam. We however were not staying in the Crown Plaza with Jackie and her dad, but instead were spending the night in a hostel...on a boat! Our hostel was a small boat with tons of tiny rooms. It was the best hostel we have been in yet and it being on a boat with a grumpy and grungy man running it made it quite authentic and amusing. The beds were really comfy and the breakfast was awesome!

We went to the Anne Frank house, which is the actual annex that she, her family, and other Jews in hiding used during WWII. It had been a while, maybe since Berlin, that WWII was talked about. They have turned the annex into a museum of sorts detailing the time the people spent in hiding in the annex.

We spent the rest of the day just walking around Amsterdam. It is yet another city on the water, but did not hold the same type of beauty as Brugge or Venice. Perhaps because it is a much more bustling place, and it was cold and rainy. Amsterdam is every bit what you have heard about it and more, drugs and sex everywhere. We went in a few of the sex shops and coffeeshops, where they sell coffee...and drugs....

We also had a "traditional dutch meal" courtesy of Jackie's dad. And I was shocked and appalled to learn that "dutch apple pie" does not in fact have the yummy crumbly top that it does at home! :(

It was also St.Nicolas day on the weekend we went, so there was a lot of decor up for this. Also, boats along the canal were carrying people dressed like "Sinterklaas" aka Santa and his helper, who in Netherlandish tradition is "Black Pete". Pete performs almost all the duties we associate with Santa, aka going down the chimney and leaving the gifts. Pete is basically Santa's slave. He is a white man but is painted black, it was quite strange. And apparently if children have been bad, Pete kidnaps them and takes them back to Spain to be slaves for santa as well. So yeah, the Dutch have a black slave that helps Santa out...

Condoms in a shop window

This was the main shopping area in Amsterdam, it was super crowded

And there's Black Pete! This was actually a doll in an installation of a bunch of black Pete's climbing up and down these ropes inside a department store. The store was decked out for Christmas and made me think of Macy's in New York.

Jenae and I outside our boat

Our boat hostel, Friesland!