M.A.D. travels: The time I got hit by a bike

Where did I leave off, the bus? We took a bus to Amsterdam from Hamburg. It takes about 5 hours. I passed out as soon as I got on the bus and remained passed out until we got to the rest stop. They have a law where drivers can only drive for 4.5 hours consecutively. Smart I guess. The last 2 hours of the trip I enjoyed the pretty views of green fields and wind turbines (?) and cows and sheep.

We drive into Amsterdam and it's just so pretty. The canals go all through the city and there are many boats. But the bicycles. I have never seen so many bicycles in my life!!! They have parking garages... For bicycles.

And the bikers are the king of the road. It's never their fault!

After driving around in circles for a while we get to the place where the bike rentals are. The whole thing so far is a mess, the trip was not organized particularly well. We didn't get to go to the hotel beforehand as we were supposed to and blah blah but eventually we are biking around Amsterdam. It's very beautiful everywhere, the whole city is built on wooden pilings, and the building just come out of the water it seems like.

Now that I've done it, biking would not be my preferred way to see the city. We cover a lot of ground but we pass everything so quickly we don't have time to really look around. Id much prefer to walk. It was also rainy, it's safe to say I was getting a little grumpy. The bike tour lasted three hours and afterward we were taken to our hotel. The hotel is very nice, although quite far from central Amsterdam. The trams are convenient so I'm not worried about transportation. My room has a great view of the city!

I'll try and get a better picture at night.

Here are some more pictures from the bike tour.

Amsterdam is definitely funky..

They do have coffee shops and they reek of weed. They also have the red like district they are famous for which was shocking!! I couldn't believe it. They have practically naked women behind windows in stalls basically. They gesture to you and try and invite you in. I was honesty so uncomfortable. In hamburg they were standing on the street dressed, but they were literally displaying themselves to you here.

Prostitution and weed are both legal in Amsterdam. Our tour guide said that the people that smoke aren't locals. They grow up with it here so it's not a big deal. She said when you are allowed to do it no one cares. A concept I believe should be used in the US. If you make a big deal out of it it becomes a big deal.. Anyways.

Classic

We get to the hotel around730 and we had the night to do whatever we wanted. The next part of my story requires a little background. Back in Tampa a friend of a friend had a friend from Amsterdam and her name is Rose. I met her when we were all going out one night back at home. We talked and exchanged numbers; I told her about the trip I was taking and she said that if I came to Amsterdam I should tell her so we could hang out.

I did! I was able to text her and she said she could come by after work and we could go out in Amsterdam together and she would show me around.

I love this little bit of randomness in meeting someone you've only met once before to take you around a new city. I was exhausted from the night before and still sick so I didn't want to do anything crazy, she suggested we just go and walk around.

She has a car and drove us there. Her grandparents live in the city and she asked if I wanted to see if they were home to meet them. I thought that it would be so cool to be able to see what a home was like and just to talk to them so I said of course we could. They have a beautiful home tucked away in the tall and narrow buildings that are common in Amsterdam. They were very young and hip grandparents, I was surprised. They were redoing their house, it was very old, built in 1906, and they has some of the original detail on the ceiling and everything. Their bathroom was all modern though, they had a fake tanning thing in the shower!! So as you are showering you turn it on and get tan lol. I had never seen that before. They spoke a little English, so there was some translating by Rose. We talked for an hour or so and I really enjoyed talking with them. It's something that not everyone can say they have done.

Afterward rose took me to the fanciest street in Amsterdam with Chanel and Dolce and Gabbana and too many others. Also a perfumer called Douglas

I have no idea what I was doing. Lol

We walked to a fun area with bars restaurants shops clubs all mixed together and walked and walked. It was a little cold, but nice out. We talked and walked for a couple hours, I had a lot of fun catching up with her and was so glad we got together! All the other SASers were drinking, I didn't know them really and was feeling antisocial and still am. That happens to me sometimes.

We stopped for a beer somewhere and them a Burger King because I hadn't eaten yet. It was really a perfect night for me, low key, and now I know where to go shopping during the day! She dropped me off at the hotel and we are doing soemthing again tonight.

This morning we had free breakfast included at the hotel which was nice and we got on the bus for the Anne Frank house. As I was stepping of the bus a woman on a damn bike literally crashed into me.

There's a bus with people getting off it let me just ride right through it and hit the girl with the awesome scarf! Never mind that she can't see me coming, I'll just go for it!

I scratched my knee :(

But I was definitely awake after that..

It was really sad to be there. I had read the book sometime in school but didn't remember anything about the history. It was horrible to be in the house where she was trapped for 2 years. There was no natural light and they actually had too stay still and whisper during the day as to not be heard by the workers in the same building. I could barely stand it for 45 minutes. I think that being there rather than reading about it makes you appreciate it more.

We also had included in the trip the Van Gogh Museum. I take back my earlier comment about museums. I like them when I'm in the "museum mood". It is kind of rainy here and I don't feel like socializing. It was very nice to just walk and de-stress and enjoy the art.

Sunflowers

Self portrait in a straw hat

This guy

I really enjoyed the museum and I'm still here lol

The cafe has amazing food and wifi. I'm pretty sure everyone is like who the hell is this girl she's been here for two hours. Oh but I like her scarf. It's so pretty. I wonder where she got it.

I'm relaxed and happy I think now that I have hidden here long enough to ditch the rest of the SASers I can go out and shop leisurely. We have the rest of the day to do whatever we want and then tomorrow morning head back to Hamburg. I'll probably take a cat nap at the hotel before meeting rose again tonight but that's all I've got planned for today.