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Published: July 18th 2014
Where have the days gone! I can't believe it's nearly a month since we left. It's a miracle jay and I haven't killed each other yet! In fact, we haven't even had a serious disagreement! It's awesome. July 12 - July 18th was spent in the Netherlands and Berlin. The first night was in a town called Rotterdam. There really is nothing to do in Rotterdam, except a few buildings with interesting architecture. I have to say it was really nice to have a lazy day off. My feet were very grateful for it.
July 13th we took the train to Amsterdam - probably one of my favourite European cities. I love it so much. All the people and the bikes and the canals and skinny houses; I can't get enough of it. I could see myself living there. Jay and I stayed separately here. I stayed just west of the city (about 7 minutes by train) in a hostel/hotel called MEININGER. It was a very clean hostel, where I stayed in a four bedroom dorm with an ensuite bathroom and even towels! What luxury. The only complaint I have is that the kitchen is absolutely tiny. This is an extra large size hostel with only one pretty smaLl kitchen. It was half the size of my kitchen at home. This definitely made for frustrating evenings, but it all worked out in the end. That night I made myself dinner in the tiny kitchen. Then one of my dorm mates and I went back to the city to watch the World Cup final. As the Netherlands was not in the final, it wasn't as busy as I would expect, but it was still a great atmosphere to be in.
The next day I took myself to visit the Anne dank house. This was my second time visiting, but it still made an incredible impression on me, I got there 40 minutes before opening and boy was that a good idea. By opening time the line was two hours long at least. I was out of the memorial by 10:15 so I took myself for a walk and found a few things I would like to do the next time I visit the city (with more money hopefully). I took myself to the sex museum which was hilarious and weird. It's an ok way to spend an hour and it's not too expensive. It definitely opens up your eyes about things that go on... Not sure that I would do it again. In the afternoon jay and I went on a countryside tour. We went to Zaande Schans, which is a small village outside of Amsterdam with the only remaining windmills in the region. The windmills are even still producing wood. It was beautiful. Then it was off the Volendam to see a cheese factory. I wanted all the cheese. Unfortunately I couldn't buy any as it's only good for four weeks 😞 Dutch cheese is so incredibly delicious. And they eat it with mustard! The last stop on the tour was the former island of Marken, where we went to a wooden shoe factory. It was a great way to see the outside of Amsterdam, and get a first hand look at the Dutch culture as it used to be.
On the15th Jay and I went to the Van Gogh museum in the morning, then took a canal cruise, and then I visited a few coffee shops with new friends that I made (sorry family). It was absolutely brilliant afternoon of walking the city, experiencing the culture and making new friends. Coffee shops are definitely worth a visit, just to experience that side of the world.
On the 16th we travelled to the German city of Berlin. Man what a long train ride, 6 whole hours! But it was way better than flying. We had so much leg room, and you can walk around a lot easier if your legs cramp up. In Berlin we are staying at the ramada hotel just outside the center in alexanderplatz. It's a good location, the hotel is very very nice. It's clean, breakfast is amazing, and there's even a gym! I have definitely made use of that. We had a chill evening eating pork sausages and great great beer. I can't believe how cheap beer is! I love it.
the next day was spent making a visit to Sachsenhausen - the concentration camp about 40 minutes outside the city. It was incredibly moving and sad, but I'm very glad we went as I think it's a part of our history that we should all experience and never ever forget. The tour guide we had was very informative and kept the tour interesting. There were so many things I didn't know about the war Or the camps. For dinner we had cheap but good Italian pizza, and did some laundry at a laundromat. I can't imagine doing my laundry like that every week. But it had to be done.
Our last day in Germany was spent on a bike tour. It was really really good - probably my favourite thing we have done so far. It was hot hot hot so I was happy happy happy. We had a wonderful tour guide who took us all around the major sites of the city. We saw the Berlin Wall, checkpoint Charlie, alexanderplatz, the holocaust memorial, the downtown park, museum island, the parliament, the chancellory and much much more that I can't remember. It was a really amazing way to see Berlin in one day. For lunch, they even take you to a beer garden in the middle of the park! So adorable. I would highly recommend it, it's called Fat Bike tours, and they even have sister companies in London, Paris and Barcelona. I wish we had known!
Well tomorrow is Prague! Talk to you all Soon. xoxo.
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wasarabo
Orest Wasarab
Enjoyed the post
Very glad you got to see Anne Frank House again, a concentration camp, etc.. You're getting a look at ALL of Europe and its history, not just the pretty buildings - though I like the nice side, of course. Good on you. Enjoy Prague - have never been, but everyone says it's beautiful. xo Opecm