Sin City

---

I can’t believe I’m already on my way to Germany, the days are just flying by! Amsterdam was great, but mother of pearl was it ever cold! If I wanted weather like that I would fly back to Halifax! It did remind me a lot of Halifax weather though, one minute it would be raining and the next it would be sunny. It must have rained 3 or 4 times within the same day. But I was in Amsterdam, so I really had no reason to complain!
I got into Amsterdam around 2 on Tuesday and checked into my hostel, the Stayokay Amsterdam Stasdoelen. It was much bigger than my last one and definetly less friendly. It kind of looked like an orphanage, but hostels are really just a place to sleep, so it was fine. I was in a 14 person dorm, and I realized how many people that really is. It seemed like everyone was there with a friend except me, so it wasn’t as easy to meet people, but it was actually nice to have some time to myself. After dropping my stuff off I set out to see as much as I could that day.
My first stop was the “Our Lord in the Attic” Museum. It was a makeshift secret Catholic church built on top of someone’s house from when Catholicism was illegal in Amsterdam. That was surprising since Catholics traditionally do the oppressing, not be oppressed. The church and house had been kept pretty much intact from over 200 years ago and it was really interesting to walk through. My next stop was the Oude Kerk museum; the oldest museum on Amsterdam. It’s a 13th Century Church where Rembrant’s wife is buried and where Rembrant is believed to be buried. After all that religious culture, I needed to see the more infamous side of Amsterdam, so I went over to the Sex Museum. I mean really, how could I not? It was definitely different from any other museum I’ve been to before. Basically just A LOT of nude pictures from the 1880s to now with a special room dedicated to bizarre sex practices. I left feeling enlightened. My last museum stop of the day was the Nieuwe Kerk, a museum in an old church that constantly changes its exhibits. I was lucky because the current exhibit is on Afghanistan’s history. I went through the museum thinking of Scott and where he’ll be soon. It was a really great experience for me because it showed me that Afghanistan wasn’t always a war-torn country and does have a rich history. The exhibits were all from thousands of years ago and I was surprised to find out that Afghanistan’s history is connected to Greek history and religion. I was really homesick when I went through the museum and I really wished that my whole family was there with me.
On a lighter note, after dinner it was time to see some hookers! I walked through the red light district because well, you just can’t come to Amsterdam and not look! First of all, the majority of these hookers are neither attractive nor young. They stand in their little cubicle/ window in lingerie and press themselves up against the window and posing for potential customers going by. It was so eerie to see, it reminded me of like, giant whore barbies in their little packaging. On a side not, the area literally is red at night from the lights over the windows.
Wednesday was another busy day, I started out at the Verzetmuseum (Dutch Resistance Museum). The museum was super interesting; it was all about the overt and covert ways that the Dutch people resisted against German occupation during the Second World War. The museum had exhibits about general strikes, forged identity cards, underground newspapers and people who went into hiding or hid people. It’s just mind-blowing to think about the things that people went through and the amazing courage that comes out in people in situations like that. After that I went over to the Van Gogh museum and saw some of his most famous paintings. I saw “Self Portrait of and Artist” and his really famous one of sunflowers in a pot. My favourite painting was the one Van Gogh drew upon the birth of his nephew as a present to his brother. It’s a painting of orchid blossoms to symbolize new beginnings. I also went to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s “state museum”. It had all kinds of really cool exhibits, from old canons and muskets to doll houses to paintings by Rembrant. This was probably my favourite museum and definitely worth a stop if you’re ever in Amsterdam. At 3 I met up with my friend Laura who I met in Bruges to go on a tour of the Heineken brewery, but to our great surprise and dismay it’s closed for renovations until the summer! Dammit!!! Oh well, at least we got to see the building! Our last stop of the day was the house where Anne Frank went into hiding. It was a very moving experience to be in the house where the famous diary was written and to see the pictures that she had pasted on the walls, and the window she would have tried to peek out of. After such a busy day Laura and I just went and got some Shawarma (which by the way, is now a staple in my diet) and chilled out at my hostel for a while. Amsterdam was great, and I still can’t believe I’ve been in 3 countries within the past week! I can’t wait to see what Germany is like!

---