I'll start off with the easier things to write and share about, and that was my trip to Amsterdam, Holland.
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| From the left: Jennifer, Jess, Karen, Natalie, me, Kelly & Mary Featuring: Special guest Marie Fitton |
This is all of us, and this picture is actually hilarious since our flatmate Marie (the one "right under" the top part of the 'A') was one of the only people who didn't go to Amsterdam that week. She photo shopped her head into the picture, with some skill I might add.
All of us in Amsterdam, I would later realize, would make an interesting sight. Us being six American twenty-something-year-olds served for many stares there, and I learned to understand it and eventually get used to it.
Amsterdam was super touristy, as to be expected, but it was probably the most touristy place I've been to in my travels thus far. The locals were hard to find, but easy to spot since they were the only ones without a backpack strapped to the front of themselves rather than the back, and the only ones who didn't look wide eyes and scared at oncoming bike traffic (which is insane! And really cool to see). I definitely give props to those bike riders, it's a fast pace helmet-less life, and you not only have to be aware of other bikes and traffic, but with people like me running into their bike lanes on a whim.
We had a great time...from what we remember. Highlights included the Anne Frank house, which was surreal to be in after learning and reading about it for so many years. A canal tour of the city with a driver who had a real dry sense of humor, but bless him for trying. One of his jokes featured tilted houses that were "dancing" and others involved she-male stories about the Red Light District...real knee slappers.
Side note about the Red Light District, it wasn't as explicit as I had imagined it to be. I guess I had imaged it to be easily visible for all passerbyers to see, miles long down a major canal or something, the red lights so bright you had to wear sunglasses to be able to see. Okay, maybe not that extreme but you get my exaggerations. But no, it's almost hidden off of a street by a church, which is hilarious to me, and certainly not miles long. Being there during the day and being there at night are two different stories, but when we walked past during the day the women were fairly covered up and bored looking. I'm pretty sure when we emerged on the other side I said, "That was it?"
Going to the "I am Amsterdam" sign proved to be a little difficult for us. Long story short, four ferry rides in total we made it to get our picture. I'm just grateful those ferry rides were free. And lastly, a free walking tour. Now normally I rave over these, I've been on a few in my travels when I was studying in Spain and have had nothing but positive experiences using them in places like Ireland and Mallorca. But I think it was a combination of a rainy day and partially the guide that it fell a little short for me. But hey, I can't really complain, it's nice of them to volunteer their time and you tip the guide at the end however much you want and you're on your way.
Although I had an amazing time in Amsterdam with amazing people, I had this strange feeling that I missed home, and that home being Camden. When we arrived back at our flat it was almost startling how much I missed it and was glad to be back. I took these feelings with the utmost caution because I knew then I was starting to get really comfortable where I was, settled down even, and it would make going back to America that much harder. I wouldn't realize exactly how hard it would be until the weeks that followed were over, and the next thing I knew I was at the airport hearing my final boarding call and telling myself to breath.
Didn't I just get here?
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