My flight was delayed by an hour and a half but I honestly didn't even care because I was so excited. At 1:30 AM, I landed at Amsterdam Schiphol! When Daniel and I finally saw each other in person, I think we hugged for like three minutes straight (if you think that's not a long time, try hugging someone for three minutes...). I wouldn't remember because I was too busy burying my face in his jacket and crying haha.
This was my second time leaving the country to go elsewhere in Europe, and I really felt it this time. I didn't feel as much of a culture shock in Paris because the language is similar to Spanish and Catalan and the atmosphere is also not as different. But in Amsterdam, I felt like I was on a different planet, let alone a different country. Everything is the opposite of Spain. The food, the atmosphere, the weather (especially), the fashion, the people, the language, literally everything you can imagine. If I hadn't been with Daniel the whole time, I would have felt the shock a little more and I probably would have been a little uncomfortable, if not a tad anxious. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed my time there and Amsterdam is definitely a place that I could live, given that I could make the logistics and finances work out. I love Barcelona, don't get me wrong, but to me, it's a vacation city and doesn't have what I need for it to be a permanent home (in many ways).
This is quite cliché of me to say, but studying abroad really has changed me as a person. I'm way more patient than I was before. I don't let the little things get to me, because if I did, I would have lost my mind by now. There are so many things that go wrong and are cancelled or delayed or change the course of your day and most of the time, there's nothing you can do. If I have a field trip in my history class and I'm late to my next class because I was on the other side of Barcelona, I don't stand on the metro looking at my phone every ten seconds and tapping my foot (I would totally have done that two months ago). There's just no point in stressing about so many things. If there's honestly nothing you can do about it, you just gotta let it go. If you've always been that kind of person, I admire you.
It was FREEZING. Okay, not literally freezing, but compared to Barcelona, it was like the North Pole. I really didn't pack enough layers for this weekend. I had to wear Daniel's scarf, gloves, and buy a beanie. But he said that it was the coldest weekend in Amsterdam since he got there, so neither of us knew what was coming. To our dismay, it's actually quite difficult to get into Amsterdam from the airport at 2 in the morning because there isn't a lot of late night transportation. So I landed at 1:30, but we didn't get to his apartment until about 4 in the morning. But that's okay, because when you're reunited with your boyfriend after two months, your bus could break down in the middle of nowhere and you would still be happy. I say that because our bus actually did break down, and another one had to come get us half an hour later.
D A Y O N E
We slept in a little because we had gone to bed so late, and biked to Albert Cuyp Markt. Let me tell you: BIKING IS HARD IN AMSTERDAM! Or at least I'm really bad at it. First of all, the bikes are really tall and even the shortest one was really hard for me to get on. My biggest problem was getting on and off the bikes at intersections. I kept falling over and pissing everyone off. I got yelled at in Dutch a handful of times. It's fine at night when it's less crowded or outside the city center, but we took public transport when we were going into the city near Centraal because it's just too crowded in that area.
Yes, I tried pickled herring! I don't think Daniel would have let me leave Amsterdam without trying it. I was really hesitant, but I liked it a lot. It tastes like sashimi, because that's basically what it is, but saltier.
The most cheerful waffle guy I've ever met. I guess I haven't met a lot of waffle guys, so he doesn't have much competition...
Holy crap, this was so good. It was 4 euros which is more expensive than I'm used to, but so worth it.
Awwwwwww
We spent a lot of money on street food that day haha... these are poffertjes, which are basically tiny pancakes with a ton of sugar on them. I liked them! You can't go wrong with pancakes.
We stepped into this cool flower/plant shop on the street and looked around for a while.
I asked a guy to take this picture and when I poked him on the shoulder he turned around and was in the middle of rolling a joint (Not sure if that's allowed on the streets? Apparently it's not just a free for all when it comes to weed, there are lots of rules about it, which makes sense). I was immediately like "Oh, you don't have to take a picture of us! Sorry for bothering you" but he smiled and was like "No, no, it's okay, of course I will take them for you". Haha.
Kroketten! Dutch croquettes. In Spain they're called croquetas, and they taste pretty much the same, but they're shaped more like nuggets. I swear I tasted curry in the ones I had in Amsterdam, but Daniel thought I was crazy. They're basically a gravy/bechamel type of batter mixed with meat and breaded and deep fried. I always get them when I get tapas.
We bought a selfie stick at one of the stalls... no regrets. We never had to ask anyone to take a picture of us ever again.
After Albert Cuyp Markt, we biked to the Rijksmuseum. You know, where the famous IAmsterdam sign is? We were going to go in, but it was a little late. When Daniel and I go to museums, we like to take our time. Or more like he likes to take his time and I like to whine that I want to leave because I'm hungry and bored. I ended up going by myself while he was in class on Monday, which worked out perfectly because I was able to see everything at my own pace. We checked out the gardens and dozed off there for a little bit, though.
We took very few pictures at Vondelpark, which is where we went after the Rijksmuseum. Why didn't I take any pictures? Because I was too busy trying not to fall off my bike...
After Vondelpark, we went to a traditional Dutch restaurant that Daniel found for us. It's called Hap-Hmm and it was SO GOOD. We ordered meatballs and stewed beef, along with mushroom soup. It was so simple and delicious, and best of all, our bill only came out to 27 euros. That's including an appetizer, two entrees, a dessert, and two drinks.
We loved everything except for the white vegetable stuff, which turned out to be endive. I didn't even try it but I smelled it and I knew I didn't want to eat it lol. As a rule of thumb when it comes to food, if Daniel doesn't like it, then I'm really not going to like it. I can't think of a single food that I like and he doesn't like.
Daniel got hit with the food coma. I had to swing him over my shoulder and carry him to our bikes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that biking home at night is much easier than I thought, because there's significantly less people around.
D A Y T W O
The next day, we went into the city center. The day before that wasn't really inside Amsterdam, it was more on the outskirts, so this was my first time really seeing the city. Cute outfits, heh. I was still cold, even though I wore like 4 layers (two under my sweater).
Amsterdam Centraal is such a beautiful building. It's a really nice orange-brown color, and I really like the stripes in the interior. A lot of buildings actually have striped bricks on their exterior, as well.
In half the pictures we took, the sun was in our face, so we look like this.
Febo! It's delicious, cheap, deep fried, and the best part is you don't have to interact with anyone to get your food (Just kidding. Kind of). You just put your coins into the slot, press the button on the window, and your food pops out. You can also order the same food at the counter if you want, but why wait in line?
Popped into a cheese store while walking around. There's too many cheese shops to count in Amsterdam.
You really can't tell from the photos, but it was SUPER crowded. It was more crowded than it has ever been while I've been out and about in Barcelona. And yet, I didn't have to worry about getting pickpocketed. It just doesn't happen here, apparently. Daniel was just walking around with his backpack on his back without a lock on it and he just wasn't worried about it, which is crazy to me. I've lived in Spain long enough (one and a half months is all it takes) that I keep one hand on my bag at all times. I let down my guard a little bit this weekend, so it was unpleasant to get off the plane and have to lock up my backpack.
I love the canals. I took so many pictures every time we came across one and Daniel was like "You know there's like tons of canals in Amsterdam..." and my defense was that no two were the same haha
Another awesome building
Every time we're in a city, we go into Urban Outfitters and just look around. We hardly ever buy anything, either. The only Urban that we go into to really shop is Georgetown, DC, and that's because they have a decent sale section.
Apparently Amsterdam has LUSH...
I saw a Marks and Spencer's and got really excited so we went in. I've heard about it so many times but I've never actually seen one in real life. Let me tell you, they. Are. Awesome. It's so British it's not even funny. We got cheese scones, mince pies, and some kind of cider that we had to throw out because it was bad, but oh well. We just get really excited about grocery shopping! If we had the money and time to go to a new grocery store every week and just buy whatever we wanted and make awesome meals, that's what we would do.
Fries with ketchup and samurai (no idea what it is, probably a spicy mayo) sauce.
D A Y T H R E E
We took the tram into the city this time because we had to go to a different area. Our original plan was to wake up super early and get in line for Anne Frank house, but you know how these things go...AKA we are literally incapable of waking up before nine. We did see the house from the outside, though. I would have really liked to see the inside. Maybe next time! We had a cheese and wine tasting at 1:30 and then a canal cruise scheduled after that, so it wasn't like the day was wasted or anything.
It was Sunday, so the city wasn't as crowded. It's so weird, everything is dead and closed on Sundays in Europe, but that's when everything is poppin' in the US because that's the day that everyone shops and goes out to dinner. Have you been to Georgetown on a Sunday afternoon?
I'm an idiot but I didn't realize tulips were out of season, so I thought I would be seeing them around...
Can you tell I really like my fisheye lens...
The church next to Anne Frank House.
Look at that line... it goes around the building and down the block.
A houseboat! My dream is to one day own a houseboat in Amsterdam. The city stopped giving out permits for them recently, so they're worth a hell of a lot more now. Although I don't even know where one buys a houseboat or how they get them in the water once they're purchased...
I'm learning about the architecture of churches in one of my classes right now, so it's really cool to look at them in different cities and be able to identify the structures and style. Most of the time.
We walked by this awesome porcelain shop in the Jordaan. I didn't know porcelain was so big here! There were entire cabinets of it in the Rijksmuseum. Those tower looking things with the holes are tulip vases.
We bought matching beanies because our heads were starting to get really cold. And of course I left it in Amsterdam... but it's okay because I don't need it and Daniel will bring it to me in two weeks.
We got a "snack burrito" to share before our cheese and wine tasting.
This is where the tasting was. It's called Reypenaer, which is some fancy Dutch word for "ripening".
Daniel cutting the cheese. Hehe
He looks like he's having a little too much fun with the wine, but his eyes really were just closed for the picture.
Yay! I'm an expert in cheese tasting!
We were both drooling over this pie in the shop window and then we were like "What the hell, let's get some" hahaha
We paid 1 euro extra for whipped cream. WORTH IT. It would have been great with ice cream, though.
Next, we went to the Begijnhof, which is like a nun community in a courtyard in the middle of Amsterdam. There were no photos allowed, unfortunately. But it was really beautiful and peaceful!
This is Cafe Hoppe, which is apparently a "brown cafe", meaning that the walls were once white but now they are brown from all the cigarette smoke that accumulated over the years. We weren't convinced, though...
Pingu! I watched Pingu all the time when I was little.
Canal cruise time!
Thank god it was indoors, because it was getting pretty freaking cold...
I wish I had taken a video during the cruise, because it was one of my favorite memories from Amsterdam.
After the canal cruise, we got dropped off right near the Rijksmuseum so we went there to take some more pictures because the last time we were there, it was insanely crowded and we couldn't get a decent one.
The next day was Monday, and Daniel had to go to class so I decided to go to the Rijksmuseum by myself. As in, actually going inside and looking at the collection. It was pretty amazing. If you want to see the pictures, they're on Facebook! There was this dollhouse that was my favorite part of the whole museum. Later that day, we met up with some of Daniel's relatives because they happened to be in town on vacation, so we had dinner together. We basically didn't sleep that night because we got home at around ten and then had to start getting ready to go to the airport.
We look incredibly tired because this was taken at around 3:30 in the morning, because we had to leave Daniel's place at 2:30, walk to the bus station, take the bus to Centraal, and take a train from Centraal to the airport. It was pretty rough, and therefore I am never booking such an early flight again (6:00 AM). Besides a few things that I left out, that pretty much concludes my weekend in Amsterdam! It was easily one of the best weekends of my life. Two months away from each other was hard, but we'll be seeing each other about every two to three weeks from now on because of trips and visits we've planned, so it's all downhill from here!
