Amsterdam!

I was SO busy alll week doing work on men's travel bags & luggage aka man purses, but all I could think about was getting to see Jessica on Friday!! I did all my laundry, put clean sheets on the bed & straightened my room up so everything would be good to go when I got back home. I actually got to leave work early, so around 5:30 pm I headed home to grab my suitcase then off to Gare de Nord! I had to tell Ken bye before I left because he was leaving in the morning & he was so sweet! I was about to leave then it occured to me that I needed a picture with the tiny "crasian." He got very excited & got his camera as well. It had started to rain as I was leaving :( I must be so used to heading towards Place d'Italie on the #5 because that is how I get to work each morning so I was on the metro & noticed that the next stop was Oberkampf. Panic struck...IM HEADING THE WRONG WAY! I couldnt help but think that I was going to miss my train! I remember reading that there were no formalities with this train, but I always second guess myself when it comes to travel. I got to the train station about 35-40 minutes before the Thalys train left & went hunting for the big sign to tell us the platform #. I waited & waited & waited and looked at my ticket no less than 9 times to make sure I was at the correct station & that the destination, time, train #, etc were matching what I saw on the big sign. FINALLY 15 minutes before the train took off, the board displayed platfor 8 & I saw it immediately out of the corner of my eye. I hadn't eaten dinner & bought BBQ chips & a coke to take on the train with me. Just like the Eurostar, my carriage was at the completely other end of the train & I had to run past 17 other carriages before I got to carriage #18 & nestled into seat #36. I felt the biggest sigh of relief when I sat down!! This was by far the most spacious train I had EVER been on! There was so much leg room that I could stretch my legs out entirely! ...and the seats were hot pink, so that was cool too! I sat next to a girl who was in Paris studying fashion & I thought she was 18 & it turns out she was 25! She was from Brazil. I read nearly the entire way there, then I got soo excited to be reunited with Jess that I could barely sit still! We stopped in Brussels, Antwerp & some other places before stopping at Amsterdam Centraal. Thats when things began to get fun...

Ofcourse I forgot that my little ghetto French phone only works in France & I promised Jessica I would call her when I left & got to the train station so we could find eachother. I had tried dialing her earlier in the day & never reached her, so I just assumed that she was working. When I got to the train station, I wasnt sure where she was then thought "self, youll see her right away!" I got down the platform & started walking towards one of the many exits & had my eyes peeled for brown curly hair. No such luck. The train got in a little early, so I started walking down the length of the station looking at everyone as they passed by. I saw on weather.com that it was supposed to be chilly this weekend, but it was straight up FREEZING! I kept walking & walking & got to a dead end & still no jess. Great. My phone doesnt work, I dont know her address & have no way of getting back in touch with her. I thought it would be smartest to back track & wait where my train stopped just incase she was there waiting. I walked back down the terminal & even past my train stop & still didnt see her. I had bad thoughts pop into my head, like "what if I never find her? What if she didnt come pick me up because she didnt hear from me & doesnt think Im coming anymore?" I decided the best thing to do was get my jacket out of my suitcase before I froze. Right as I leaned over to unzip my suitcase to get my jacket I hear someone yell "AAAAAMMMMANDAA!!!!" I whirled around & there was Crazy Hair Don't Care!!!! AHHH!!! I ran to her & we gave eachother THE BIGGEST hug ever. People were staring! I couldnt believe that we were reunited in Europe! After all those night of sitting on her couch dreaming of how much fun it would be to reunite & it was finally happening!!! Its always so good to see a familiar face!! A friend of a friend had just arrived in Amsterdam from Charleston & her & Jess had been hanging out so somewhere inbetween updating Jess on everything at 500 miles an hour, I introduced myself & we were all giggling about how worried we all were that I wouldnt find them & they wouldnt find me!!!!

We hopped in a cab who's driver was extremely rude & headed to Jessica's new home in the Old South section of Amsterdam. There was construction going on in the streets & sidewalks & everything was blocked off/sandy. The first thing I remember seeing everywhere were bikes....LOTS of bikes & most with strange baskets on the front. When Jess opened the door to her apt I nearly gasped. I am no longer allowed to complain about French steps because the Dutch take the cake on having THE WORLDS WORST STEPS! I dont even know if I would call them steps because slanted ladder is more appropriate. It was one straight flight up 3 stories. I felt like I was climbing a ladder & the steps were so small that only your toes could fit on them! How did people move in? How did old people get up these things? If you fell, you would free fall & break every bone in your body. SCARY! Her apartment was lovely & just the perfect size! I wobbled my suitcase up the stairs & plopped it down by her kitchen table. Her little teeny room was so cute & ofcourse organized to a tee because that's Jess for ya!! I think her room & the room I slept in used to be one & were split into two. They looked like little nook's & I was just happy to sleep in a comfortable bed!

The next morning, we got up & showered & headed off to do a canal tour because the weather was nice! We walked through Vondel Park & everyone was out & about either riding a bike or running. It was amazing to see all the tall (SUPER SUPER tall is more like it!!) blonde people! Now I understand why everyone thinks I am Dutch! All the little children are beautiful & have Barbie blonde hair & ice blue eyes. We passed fountains & parks & picasso pieces & it was all so picturesque! I had NO idea Amsterdam was this beautiful! It took my breath away! We stopped at a little outdoor patio restaurant & I got tomatoe/mozzarella/pesto sandwiches on ciabatta bread with a Pepsi! Next up: CANAL TOUR! We hopped on the boat, which was conveniently right next to the restaurant & took our seats in the very back which was outside so we could see everything. The city of amsterdam is located on the water & is shaped like a rainbow with canals othroughout the entire city! it was incredible! Amsterdam is known for being "the Venise of the North" & now I know why. Each bridge over the water is so quaint & boats & houseboats line both sides of the canal. Amsterdam was actually built on a dam near Amstel, which is where it got its name...Amstel+dam=Amsteldal, which turned into Amsterdam (and according to our book is actually pronounced Umsterdam.) We saw all the cute cookie-cutter buildings & the Anne Frank house & the rest of the beauty the city has to offer. The best part of the tour was when we were weaving through the canals, then we went out into the open water (not quite sure why, there wasnt anything to see) & our crazy boat driver almost ran us into a cruise ship! We looked up & the deck of the Queen Victoria was looming overhead. Slightly frightening!

After that, Amelia headed back to her village & Jess & I went to rent bikes! I got a cute little red bike & we walked over to Rembrantplein (yes, like Rembrant the painter) to pick up Jessica's bike. Jess is a pro biker & was off to the races. I had to pedal with all my might to keep up! We went to Dom Square, saw the shopping district, the art district where Van Gogh lived (apparently the painters used to do alot of drugs & would get cracked out & one night decided to paint everything so its VERY colorful & there are drawings & paintings all over the walls & apt buildings) & then we were thirsty so we biked over to a café called Café de Luxembourg & got cokes! It was getting chilly outside, but I wanted to see more of the city so we rode over to Jordaan, which is comparable to SOHO in NY, & walked through the beautiful streets. We went home to warm up & wanted to grab dinner in the uuber trendy De Pijp (pronounced like "da pipe"), but all the chef's stopped cooking at 10! We went over near Leiszeplein & found a cute little pizzaria called Peppino's & decided we HAD to go there in honor of Pepino's in Clemmy! IT WAS DELISH! I ordered margharita pizza & after a while, we got cold while we were sitting outside so we had to move inside! There was a table of about 10 cougars & apparently it was one of their birthdays, so the waiters started playing the "Happy Birthday to You" song by Stevie Wonder & also the 50 cent Go Shawtyy song...one of the ladies started dancing on the tables! The staff put some decorations up & even brought out sparklers! Jess & I were laughing the entire time! After that, we went to meet up with her 2 au pair friends Laura & Ashley at Luxe...SO COOL!

Sunday was cold & rainy & we had already decided we were going to see the Anne Frank house. There was a big line yesterday & we were crossing our fingers that no one besides us wanted to see her house. We couldnt have been more wrong...the line didnt look long at first, until we walked around the corner & kept walking & walking & walking until we got to the end of the line. The signs said the wait was 2 hours. I went & got us hot chocolates & we made friends with a guy from Philadelphia who was passing out promotional books. 45 minutes flew by & before you knew it, we were in the museum! There were so many original pieces from when the Franks & the other family of 4 lived there...which blew my mind. The space was so small & the windows were blacked out & they could hardly move during the day & then did that for 4 years! It blew my mind. It makes me want to read her diary again so I can visualize what she is talking about. Sadly, Anne died 1 month before they all got released & her dad was the only one to survive. It was hands down one of the neatest experiences I have ever had in Europe! We spent the rest of the afternoon in a museum because the weather was bad & when we got done & looked outside, the weather had gotten WORSE! It was getting time to return my bike & although we waited for the rain to die dow, the guy at the meseum said it was supposed to monsoon like that for 4 more hours! AH! we bit the bullet & ran outside! whats a little rain, right? we tied out scarves over our heads like muslims & that didnt help one little bit. We looked like we had juped in a pool once we got to the bike place. Rather than taking the bus home, we hopped in a cab & I didnt think we were going to make it home alive. The driver must have thought it was the Daytona 500 because he was FLYING through the tiny streets & almost hit 3 people!!! I just closed my eyes! We changes & packed up my things & we headed to Centraal. I hated to go ;( We had THE weekend of all weekends. This time, my carriage was the very first one so I didnt have to run!! I said bye & slept nearly the entire way back home. Jess is going to come visit very soon & I cannot waitttt to be reunited again!!!

Everyone rides bikes there or walks everywhere. AND EVERYBODY IS TALL! I have never been to a place where I feel short. And ALL THE GUYS ARE GIANTS...like, 6'8". I felt like I was in heaven! I could TOTALLY live there! The reputation preceeds the actual vibe of the town & whatever preconceived notions/impressions/stereotypes you have about Amsterdam are mostlikely WRONG! I fell in love with the city & would definitely go back!