Life after graduation...

March 10, 2010- Slept in to be well rested for our long day of travel. Before heading out I stopped by the education building to print out some of the travel documents to reassure some of our online reservations. Paul took an extended lunch break to take Lenea and I to the train station so we didn't have to walk a mile to the train station with our oversized backpacks stuffed to the brim. Thank God for Paul! We arrived at the train station at 3:20 pm and our train didn't leave until 5:35 pm. Can you tell we were a smidgen excited? For the next two hours we hopped from one train station cafe to the next. We hopped up on coffee and fruit from the outside markets. Delicious combo. At about 5:15 we walked to the train station platform to wait for the I.C.E train. I have no idea what those letters stand for, but I do know it means that our train is super fast. Only four hours to Amsterdam, and we packed plenty of snacks to make it on a full belly. While we were snacking a funny announcement came on. "Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but we are 1 minute behind schedule; we took off in the wrong direction." Really? A train can only go in two directions, forwards or backwards. Go figure we get on a train where the conductor can't find the right way to Amsterdam. Another two hours into the train ride and another announcement is made. Our train is experiencing technical difficulties, so we will be changing trains. First emotion: Panic. Second emotion: Calm. I must roll with the flow- it's an adventure. Upon exiting the train we must have had lost American plastered to our foreheads because several people stopped and helped us make it to the correct platform for the new I.C.E train to Amsterdam. OH! One big difference is that when they made the announcement, the Germans chuckled. They didn't throw a fit. They laughed. Their calm attitude definitely helped us maintain composure instead of freak out. Once we successfully found the new platform for our new train, we only waited 10 minutes and then we were back on our way to Amsterdam. It was the most controlled chaos I have ever witnessed. We somehow managed to find our hotel after arriving at Amsterdam Central Station in the dark, only to find that our reservations were lost. Through a series of events the hotel found the reservations only after they charged us twice for our room. Whomp!

March 11- We woke to find this ginormous head waiting to be collected by the trash. Yes. This was the view from our window. Once we showered and got ready for the day we walked to the train station to meet for Sandeman's FREE New Amsterdam tour. That's right...FREE! Our tour guide walked us all over Amsterdam for 3 hrs. It was wonderful! Our group was about 20 people from all over- Brazil, Canada, Phillipines, and the states. After the tour we walked to Boom Chicago, an improv comedy club that serves traditional Dutch food. Potatoes and sausage. It was yummy, but it looked very funny on the plate. Hmm..

The Ginormous Head. It felt like something someone made in art class with paper, glue, and a little paint.

Our tour guide, Amy. She was from Australia, so she had a delightful accent. She is standing in front of the Old Church in Amsterdam. Yes. The Dutch really refer to this as the Old Church. They are really original in their naming. This is the oldest church in Amsterdam, so naturally it would be called the Old Church. It is geographically located right next to the port, so that when sailors came in they would go to the red light district (which is about 10 ft from the right side of the church) and then come to the church to repent.

Down a random alleyway in Amsterdam. This is pretty much Amsterdam in a nutshell. Bikes, graffiti, and cafes.

Our walking group. I am sure that we looked totally ridiculous to the Dutch, but it was one of the best tours so it doesn't even matter how stupid we looked.

Fun tulips and a poster for tourists. The answer is no. We did not go to either one of the tours. Wax people freak me out, and the Amsterdam Dungeon is a ploy to conn tourists out of money.

This was one of my favorite little gems in Amsterdam because it screams Dutch humor. One night a random artist dug up some cobblestones to put this piece of artwork on display. It is refered to as "The Hand on Boob." It was taken out after only being on display for 24 hours, but the Dutch did not like this so they protested. After much protesting the art was put back in it's original location... around the corner from the church.

Canal. Amsterdam has canals running all through it. I love it!

Amsterdam is like New Orleans in that they are both tragically under sea level. This is the lowest point in altitude in Amsterdam.

More canals and bikes. Apparently it is a popular game to throw unchained bikes into the canals. It is a popular joke that the canals have three layers. The first layer is mud. The second layer is bike. The third layers is water. Every now and then they will scoop the hundreds of thousands of bikes out of the canals, send them to shops located on the outskirts of town to be fixed up, and then they sell them back to the poor folks who probably had their bike thrown into the canal.

This was a hidden Catholic church. Catholicism was shunned for a long time in Amsterdam, so 400 people would come to worship in this tiny building until they were allowed to worship freely in their own church.

This fun little cafe at one time was a place of discovery for young doctors. They would examine corpses and learn the ways of the human body. Now people come here to eat. Yummy!

Here is where things get tricky... the pictures of the Heineken tour were actually taken on March 13 when my girls arrived, but here they are on March 11. Go figure. The Heineken tour was very informative. It takes 28 days to make a bottle of beer. I had no idea the process was so intense. I mean it is just water, barley, hops, and yeast. Four ingredients and they take a month to process. Yeesh. Anywho...these four ingredients are turned into the magic known as beer. Mmmm! Heineken is so much better in Amsterdam than in the states. With your ticket purchase you recieve a wristband with two tokens attached to it. Each token is good for a free drink at the end of the tour. This is a picture of the brewery with little tourists sprinkled in the mix.

I don't know what these do, but I thought they looked cool.

This yummy mixtures is made up of water and barley. It is surprisingly sweet with a bitter aftertaste.

Back to March 11...

The yellow cylinder with a cone on the top at one time was a free public restroom for women. The key word in that sentence is free. Free toilets do not exist in Europe. Lucky for men, they can drop their trousers anywhere. Not women. It is a highly skilled process that must be done with accuracy or you will pee on yourself. The Dutch women thought this was outrageous that they had to pay every time they wanted to pee so they protested. This was no ordinary protest. They met on a bridge, lifted up their dresses and peed. The women threated to do this on every bridge in Amsterdam if they were not given free public toilets. Since Amsterdam is filled with canals, the government met the peeing protesters demands by building these stalls. Unfortunately in the '70s people started using these public toilets for drug use and make-shift housing. Of course this terrified women, so they refused to use them and the government locked them all up. Now they are used as billboards. Fantastic. Now me must pay to urinate again.

The Dutch love to ride their bikes. Man I miss my bike. Tear.

The women's prison. The woman on the left is spinning wool while the woman on the right is getting the daylights beat out of her for refusing to spin. What did they need a women's prison for? To house the prostitutes during the weekends. Politicians haven't always outwardly supported the red light district in Amsterdam, so they built a women's prison to change things up. I don't think the elder politicians did much, because the red light district is still thriving. Disgusting, but thriving.

I know what you are thinking. Odd shape for a monument in the middle of Dam Center. It is indeed. Yes this is Dam Center. At one time there were two rivers that ran through the heart of Amsterdam, but the Dutch dammed them to create this city center known as Dam Center. Original, right?

Pigeons, anyone?

What is that straight ahead? Palace? Nope. Ginormous shopping arena. The palace is on the left, but is being renovated so you can't really see anything but sheets and scaffolding.

This building is lined with plaques that at one time marked the homes in Amsterdam describing the industry that the homeowners were involved with.

More fun plaques.

You can buy stamps here. I just thought the humongous arm coming out of the wall was peculiar, so I took a picture of it.

While still on the walking tour we walked through a part of a museum. Here you can see David and Goliath. Look how masculine Goliath looks, and then look at David. Hmmm.

No, your eyes are not decieving you. That building is totally leaning. Must love Dutch craftsmanship. Did I make that word up?

This was a garden. Someone special lived here, and if I remember who then I will tell you. So sorry.

This little tunnel ran from the garden above and back to the street. Pretty awesome.

The men's prison at one point in time was located here. Now it is a shopping district. Oh the irony.

Lenea and I on the walking tour. It was windy and cold. That is my story for my bad hair and I am sticking to it.

After our free tour Amy, our tour guide, took us to eat a traditional Duthc meal at Boom Chicago. This is what we got. Lump of potatoes with a sausage log on top. It was actually really delicious, and you could get a second plate for free. I couldn't do it. I could barely finish this beast.

Hey look! Boom Chicago :)

All of the buildings around the area were really interesting, so I took pictures like the tourist that I am.

A row of bars/pubs.

Awesome bedazzled gladiator sandles in the walking district of Amsterdam. Lenea wanted me to try them on, but I opted not to because they were entombed in glass. I figure that meant they were really expensive, and I didn't want to play with them.

While walking home we passed the flower district. Gorgeous! This shop was my favorite by far. After I took all of my pictures I noticed a sign that said, "No pictures please." Yes. It was written in English for ignorant American tourists like me. Gotta love it. Who can resist taking a picture of a cow in a flower shop? Obviously not me.

Then after I see the cow I spy this little man sitting in the midst of the floral jungle. How can I resist?

Look at the awesome ceiling with fanastical flowers hanging from it. Amazing, right? Oh yes. Love it!

The bikes were all over!

That night we headed to a pub to just chill out and chat about all of the amazing things we had seen thus far in Amsterdam.

March 12- We set out for the Van Gogh Museum. I was so excited! This was my second trip to Amsterdam and I had never seen the museum before. We stopped at a cafe before going to the museum becuase we had walked a bit and were a little hungry. We arrived mid afternoon to the museum, and it was perfect. No crazy long lines like we were expecting. The only line we waited in was to check our coats and umbrellas because we were not allowed to take them with us on our journey. Why? I don't know. After we toured the awesomeness know as Van Gogh, we picked up our coats and umbrellas from the coat check. I thought they had lost my scarf, but it was just shoved in the arm of my jacket. Of course I found this out after I went behind the counter in a frantic search. On our way back from the museum we spotted this awesoem sign.
There are two of these signs in Amsterdam. I wonder how long they thought about that catch phrase before making this beauty.

After Van Gogh we went back to the hotel to freshen up for a nice Argentinian steak for dinner. Mmmmm! It was yummy! We hit the hay pretty early, because the next morning Lenea had to hop on a train at 8 am and I had to pick my girls up from the Amsterdam Airport.

March 13- Successfully found the platform for Lenea's train and I was off to the airport. Somehow I missed the girls at baggage claim and hear, "Ms. Kailey Dautrich from Dallas, TX, your party is waiting for you at the information booth." Super! A little humiliating, but super. We were very giddy and loud! We played the American card in full force. Lots of screaming/jumping and hugging.

We then walked to our hostel which was on the other side of Amsterdam, only to discover that we couldn't check in quite yet. Fortunately they let us store our bags there, so that we didn't have to lug them around while we were sightseeing. I don't think our hostel was quite what we thought it was going to be based on the fantastic reviews online, but it worked. It reminded me of the scene from Pinnochio when he turns into a real boy and runs wild in the land with all of the other rambunctious little boys. Do you know what I am talking about? We are pretty sure the online reviews were all written by 17 year olds, because there were teenagers everywhere. After storing our bags, we decided to set off for Van Gogh. We did not make it to Van Gogh because we got sidetracked by the Heineken Museum (previously mention on March 11 due to crazy picture uploading).

Along the way we found some house boats! I would not want to live on one of these simply for the fact that their water is stinky. It doesn't stink like in Venice, but it stinks coming out of the pipes. I know this only because I stayed on a house boat last spring break and one of the girls I was with took the first and only shower on the boat. She smelled worse coming out of the shower compared to what she went in smelling like.

From here we found the yummiest panini shop and filled our bellies with sandwiches and coffee. Delightful combination. From there we stumbled upon the red light district. It is madening. You would be shocked by what you see in the windows. Who knew there was a market for oversized women scantilly dressed? Not me. We didn't take pictures. We were told that if you do, then the women will come out and throw pee on you. Yuck. Not that you would want to take pictures of that anyway. Just seeing it made me want to rip out my eyeballs. Yeesh. After this tragic event we tried to find a fun pub to sit down for a while. Through a series of awkward events, we found a small pub that was comfy enough for us to just sit down and have a drink. The only problem was that our table was located right in front of the restrooms. Not ideal, but it worked. Our waiter came back and asked us what we wanted to drink. He brought our drinks to the table and then went into the men's restroom to grab us some straws to go with. Why he entered the men's restroom we do not know. We told ourselves that the men's restroom must be a door that leads to the men's restroom and the storage closet. Needless to say we did not use the straws. Then we walked back to the hostel because the girls were pooped. We had made sandwiches with some yummies that we bought at the supermarket and had a picnic on the floor in our private room (meaning we had our room and bathroom. Praise Jesus!). We then climbed into our rickety bunkbeds for a good night of sleept. Not! The hoodlums in our hostel were running down the halls all hours of the night shouting ridiculous things that are not suited for a family blog. Grrr!

March 14- We woke semi well rested and headed down for our free breakfast which consisted of bread, salami, cheese, and boiled eggs. Breakfast of champions. The good part was the endless supply of yummy coffee! From here we walked to Dam Square to meet up with the free tour. This time our tour guides name was Joe, and ironically he too was from Australia. He was fantastic. The Australians have a great sense of humor. I was a little worried that the tour would be boring the second time around, but it was even better than the first. Some of the same stories, but with a different spin and several new stories to boot.

See the tiny red building in the center? That is the tiniest building in Amsterdam. I bet those stairs are steep.

Motorcylce and a sidecar. Love it! This is reserved for Nicki and Evan :)

Who doesn't love a little graffiti?

Canals everywhere! After the tour we opted for a falafel instead of the traditional Dutch meal. It was so yummy! That night we went on a Pub Crawl. Probably not the smartest thing we could have done, but it was fun. We met people from all over the world. The crawl started at 8:30 pm and ran until 2 am, stopping at 6 pubs. There was no way we were going to last, so we hopped out early at the fourth pub and walked home.

March 15- Our tour guide told us about a flea market that he said was pretty cool and located near the old Jewish quarter of town. The first thing we see is this creepy tree with stuffed animals tied to it. Eeek!

The flea market was just like any other flea market-filled with lots of crap. One can only have so much fun at a flea market, so we opted for some warm coffee.

We mapped out a game plan to the Anne Frank House, but of course we got extremely lost. Thank God Amsterdam is a small city that only takes about 45 minutes to walk from one end to the next, or we would have died. Our legs would have fallen off and our hearts would have stopped pumping. If there was a straight shot to get somewhere, we took a circle. It was fantastic.

This is the old Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam. During WWII the Germans ripped all of the Jewish people out of their homes and forced them into concentration camps. Amsterdam is one of the few cities where the people actually fought against the Nazi Party to keep the Jewish families in their homes. They did not see the Jewish people as anything other than Amsterdamians. Unfortunately they weren't strong enough for the Nazis because the Jews were all torn from their homes or forced to flee. After the war Amsterdam had a huge economic crisis, leaving the people searching for food to eat and wood to warm their homes. The Dutch started looking for wood inside the old Jewish Quarter to warm their homes. Eventually all of the wood was stripped from these homes, forcing the old Jewish Quarter to be torn down and rebuilt. In their infinite wisdom, Amsterdam opted to let the architecture students of the '60s come up with new housing for the old Jewish Quarter. As you can see. the results are terrible. It is one of the ugliest parts of Amsterdam.

They tried to make up for the ugliness by having beautiful flowers strewn down the alleys. Just kidding, but they should really conisder that as an option. Aren't they beautiful? This kind of makes you want to forgive the poor architectural students a little bit.

Fliers/posters/beer bottle labels...art?

After we made it to the Anne Frank House (Sorry no pictures. It just felt weird taking pictures there, so I opted not to.), we went to a wine and cheese tasting. One hour of unlimited wine and cheese for 10 euro. Great deal, right? Well we couldn't do it because the man working was working a solo shift and two people must be working for tour. Bummer. Instead he allowed us to taste all of the cheese they had displayed and sample the wine for free. Yay! Meanwhile we recieved an education in cheese. The proper time it requires to make good cheese, what varies in European cheese and Wisconsin cheese, yadda, yadda, yadda. I know more about cheese than I ever cared to know. With our proper cheese education we decided to buy some good cheese, salami, bread, and other random snacks for the long overnight train Berlin. 9 hours of fun! Yahoo!!

I am going to take a break for today, and update you tomorrow on Berlin. Friday I should have Paris up and running. I hope you have enjoyed everything thus far. There are plenty of stories to come!

Berlin, Germany