AMSTERDAM/ Beginning of Week 4!

It's hard to believe that in just the past week we have been in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. We got back from London, were in Paris for 2 days, then hopped on a 2:30 train to Holland on wednesday! We were up for some relaxation and zero worries, and guess what! That's exactly what we got. We saw some very interesting things and met even more interesting people, but i'll save some of that info for a later date ;)

Wednesday we arrived around 5:30pm. Luckily, our place was easy to find, just in the heart of everything a few blocks away. Our hostel, St. Christophers, was much easier to be in than the one in London. It was an 8-girl room, but we had our very own seperate bathroom! A bar/restaurant was connected, and also a hip punk rock bar/club. That night we walked browsed and observed the sights, then randomly met some really amazing people from northern England (Sheffield), and another from Australia. It was fun getting to know them and the differences between England and America (especially with humor).



The next morning we slept in, then toured the apartment where Anne Frank hid. It was really amazing to be able to walk through her bedroom, and just everywhere she and her family were for all of those months. After the tour, we walked and met up with other friends from the trip. We relaxed at a nearby place for about an hour then decided to do an hour canal cruise. It brought us all around the beautiful churches and hot spots (not the red light district!) Although Amsterdam is not one of my top choices of where to live or see again necessarily, it really is a beautiful city to visit, and because it is such a tourist town, the people are very friendly, and the majority speak english. That night about 8 of us we went out and about,... and that's all i have to say about that... :)

Friday we slept in order to be energized for a day full of tourism!
In the early afternoon we went to the Van gogh museum. It is not very big which made it really fun and interesting to navigate through. Since we went to the town where he passed, Auvers sur Oise, it was nice to be there and already know a little about his life. While we were there, we bumped into Gene Simmons' wife and kids! So so very random!

After Van Gogh, we went to the Heineken Brewery tour. I had heard wonderful things about it so we were very excited to go. They walk you through the entire process and show you the horses and stables they are famous for. You are able to go on a 3d visual tour and actually see the liquid and bottles being processed. (Even able to have a few taste tests!) It was just a really fun experience.



Our train left at 4:15 Saturday so we woke up early and did a little souvenier and vintage shopping! The people of Amsterdam also have a very unique sense of fashion. Most have lots of layers for the frequent showers or drops in temperature. They like to ride bikes or scooters and rock hats, harem pants or shorts and oxford shoes or laced up booties with tights. (Be very aware of your surroundings because the bikers WILL run you over. The clothing are all very bohemian, thrown together with different patterns. Alot of dark colors, very baggy casual and comfortable to be able to move around with ease. These are good examples of something you would currently see in Amsterdam--



After a long weekend we spent Saturday night in Paris. The next morning I woke up and went to 10oclock mass at Notre Dame. Later that night the "study abroad family" went to "Indiana" to have mexican food and margaritassss. They also had a nice gelato place next door that shapes your ice cream into flowers! delicious/ dangerous!

Monday night we went to Fete de la musique. (a huge music festival) There are venues all around paris and the metros are open all night. We had a huge rock venue a few blocks away so we stayed around that area. It was nice to hear Parisian music and they were really good!


Our professor is currently away for a few days so we have outside assignments to visit boutiques and department stores. We went to all of the high-end designer boutiques yesterday. Ohhh so depressing. We observed and did alottt of daydreaming!

One day i will have a big girl job and go into those stores and actually be able to enjoy them to the utmost! It will happen I know it! Today we went to Galeries Lafayette, a huge department store.
It has every brand/design you need and more... Next week is le solds, which is when all of the high end designers, well every brand from last season, becomes 50 percent off ormore. This is going to be a very, very scary week for us fashion majors.
Tonight I shall try Parisian sushi. eeee excited!