I had the most amazing time visiting the Netherlands and going to Amsterdam. The place was gorgeous. It was absolutely freezing but I didn’t let it bother me because walking around the town completely took your mind off of it. I saw so many things I wanted to see while I was there –including the Anne frank house, The Heineken brewery experience, the Van Gogh museum, the red light district, and last... The coffee shops. The red light district hits you out of nowhere as you are walking down the street. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I was walking through it, it was so sad to see some really young beautiful girls standing in those windows, and also to see some really old women sitting in there. Some girls that looked my age were actually sitting there talking on their cell phones. I really want to walk through it again, I feel like I didn’t really allow myself to grasp what I was really seeing that night, I guess it was just so interesting to stare at, but hard to really understand the reality of it all. The line to the Anne frank house was really long, but we decided we would regret it if we didn’t just wait in it. It was a really sad museum, but I really enjoyed actually seeing the place where she had been hiding – I wondered how she managed to stay in there without going crazy, although it was a lot bigger than I pictured it would be. Looking out the window from one of the rooms up in the house was weird – I felt like the canal and streets of Amsterdam hadn’t changed a bit from when she was standing there looking out that same window. After Anne frank’s house we went to the Heineken Brewery, we got 3 free draft beers with our ticket which was actually really cool to have after watching the exact process of how their beer is made. The beer tasted really fresh and they told us the proper way to sip it too. They say that taking small sips of beer will only give you the bitter taste of the barley, but if you take large sips you get the sweetness of the hops as well. The museum was pretty cool, but I think I’ll enjoy going to the Guinness Brewery a lot more when I visit Ireland over Saint Patrick’s day. I wish my sisters could have been with me to see the Van Gogh museum, the whole time I was in there I kept on thinking “I bet Katelyn would die to be here right now..” but I really liked being there too, some of my friends were idiots and starting taking pictures inside the museum, lets just say we had visited a coffee shop a little earlier that day. I really liked this one coffee shop we went to, it was called Dampkring (I heard a scene from the movie Oceans 12 was filmed in it.. I gotta check that out). I could tell by the atmosphere of the place that it was definitely a local place rather than the first one we went to. At Dampkring I had the most delicious hot chocolate (with whipped cream) I have ever had. It was basically steamed milk, with a huge piece of Belgium chocolate on a stick that would slowly melt as you stirred it. One of my favorite parts about Amsterdam was how everyone rides bikes, walking around it was crazy how many bikes would pass you – everyone was in such good shape. I also noticed that because everyone has bicycles to get around with, the place has barely any city noise, it was almost silent. I will definitely be visiting Amsterdam again over my spring break with Abbey and Brittney. I don’t know if this will change after traveling over spring break, but as of now Amsterdam is definitely the coolest most amazing place I have been. I loved it there. 
