Amsterdam.

After we had rented our bikes...and had our first near-death experience trying to cross one of the main streets. We headed to the Anne Frank house. This is the actual place where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazi´s during WWII. I was actually surprised at how big the space was, and that 7 people could live there with no one realizing what was going on. Megan said it best when she said that even though I know I am going to a WWII memorial and I know it is going to be overwhelmingly sad...nothing can really prepare you for the shock of how incredibly horrible that time was or the amazing lengths people went both to harm and to protect other people.

Went to the cafe next door to decompress and eat some bagels. :) Our next plan was to hit the Dungeon Museum. (Which sounded like a museum/ride/haunted house combo). But we needed something light...so...we went. But by the time we got there it was closed. So we decided to head over the to old Heineken brewery for the ´Heineken Experience´but by the time we got there, they were closed too! So we did some shopping, AE and Meg bought sweatshirts, because it was crazy cold. Allison got hit on by the sleazy souvenir shop owner. Meg and I laughed. Had falaffel for dinner (we sort of had a falaffel thing happening in Amsterdam). And then...the highlight of my night...we saw the 5th Harry Potter movie!!! YAY!! I had been hopping it would still be in the theaters when we got to Amsterdam because the Dutch don´t dub their movies, so I got to watch it in English! And, I have to say....it was pretty awesome, one of the better movies in my opinion. (Considering how much they had to cover I thought they did a good job).

So, completely filled up with Harry Potter we headed back to the Christian Hostel and went to bed. During the movie Meg had noticed a crack in one of her teeth so we spent the next morning looking for, finding and going to a dentist. He was able to fix her up pretty quickly...so that was good. Then we were off on the bikes again! Headed to the Van Gogh museum. On the way Megan had a little run in with the tram tracks , her tire got caught, she fell off her bike seat and onto the little rack over the back tire, could´t reach the pedal brakes, no handbrakes...ran into a construction barrier. Long story short: She was fine...but had some awesome bruises the next day!

Van Gogh museum was really great. But again...I´m just not much of a museum person... I was surprised by how much of his work is ´normal.´ It really wasn´t until rather late in his life that he started painting in the style I associate with Van Gogh...but it was neat to see his progression.

Then it was off to the Heineken Experience. They´ve turned the old brewery into a museum/ ride/ bar. It was actually quite fun. We got to feel what it was like to be a Heineken bottle going through the conveyor belt. We got to drink 3 beers. We saw the old brewing equipment. We had a good time. We got a free gift! (A bottle opener). After leaving `The Experience´we found an Irish pub for dinner. That night we wanted to go out, maybe hear some live music, just sort of hang out. The only thing we could find to go out was SERIOUS clubbing...and none of us were in the mood for that. So, we people watched for awhile (saw one really intoxicated girl get kicked out of a bar and arrested. Hint: don´t mess with the police in Amsterdam) and then headed back to sleep.

The next day (the 1st of September...I could hardly believe it was really September...and really Back To School Time...and also shows you how far behind I am on this blog, sorry!) We tried to go to the Dungeon museum again...but found out it was like 20 euro to get in...so we bailed. Trying to decide what to do next (we seriously considered the sex museum...) But instead headed for FOAM, the photography museum. And I am very glad we did!

That's it for now. Next time I´ll tell you about the photo museum (preview: it was awesome), the Red Light District, ´The Ridiculous Travel Day`, and hopefully get started on our exciting time in Barcelona.

Miss everyone...would love to get an email telling me what is going on in your life. lumpkin_k@yahoo.com

Blessings,
KNL