Amsterdam Thursday July 20th

Sad to call this my final trip! 1 week left in Europe...how did that happen?

Class this morning was a snoozefest as all I was thinking about was my flight! Liz and I flew easyjet from Prague to Amsterdam and it was pretty cheap! Though they try to make you pay any way they can, they were huge sticklers on if your bag fits in the littol metal bag holder (who actually uses that..?) and that all purses had to be put inside your carry-on or they'll charge you €50! Ridic

We arrived around 7 and luckily Liz printed out directions to our hostel so we could get there easily...or so we thought. We jumped on a train and got off, not knowing where to get on a bus. A nice old Dutch man noticed we were confused and asked where we were headed. He knew exactly where to go and said he'd go an extra stop to show us, too precious! So far I love Dutch people.

Our hostel is pretty standard, first place I've stayed where there's wifi everywhere! Our beds are tinnnny though, definitely not a twin. It'll be interesting to sleep tonight...

We took a tram to the city center which was about 10 minutes away. Our hostel is in a more residential area, supa cute and quiet. The architecture is so quaint! Really diggin it. It was so beautiful to look along the canals as we went along in the tram. There really is nothing like a city by the water (part of the reason I loved Stockholm so much!)
We grabbed dinner, just Italian because we have no clue what the Dutch cuisine is...lots of french fries? Afterwards we walked around, it was around 10 but still so light out. It's amazing how these northern cities stay lit up so late! Can't imagine what winter is like though.

We saw the central train station which was really beautiful, some churches, Mint Tower, World War II memorial, and the Royal Palace. Crazy how compact the city is! It was just so relaxing to walk along canals and see all the quaint tall and slim apartments. Definitely found the "coffee shop" area by using our noses! I saw a couple windows lit up red with girls in them but it wasn't the Red-Light District (I'll visit that during the day...)

Really tired from not sleeping last night so we're off to bed. Van Gogh museum and Anne Frank house tomorrow. Hopefully it won't rain...European summer weather is straight up bipolar.
It's very pleasant to be with just Liz, I've never traveled with her before. It'll be nice to not have to figure out huge plans because we both want to see the same stuff. Never traveling in groups ever again!

So far Amsterdam has been beautiful, can't wait to see what else it has to offer!

Love and miss you guys!

Doei,
Whit