Northern Loop: 2 of 2

So this bus ride. From Berlin to Amsterdam = terrible. In Berlin, I was supposed to go to the doctor's but I accidentally fell asleep and woke up too late to go to the doctor's office so I had to miss it. That means that I was just as sick on the bus all the way to Amsterdam, and this was an 8 hour drive! So after tossing and turning for about, oh, I don't know, around 7 hours and 59 minutes, we arrived in Amsterdam at the Flying Pig Inn Uptown. Apparently, this is the hostel where everyone stays when coming to Amsterdam. The staircases?? Soooo small!!! My luggage almost didn't fit going up the staircase and of course I was about 3 flights up so that made it a whole lot worse....I shared a room with 9 other people and the room wasnt' bad. Carpeting, a sink in the room, comfy beds, so not bad. Everyone from our group was getting ready to go out because you know, it's Amsterdam. And you know what people do in Amsterdam. I, on the other hand was having trouble breathing so lucky me had to make the decision to go to a doctor or go out. Unfortunately, I made the right decision, and missed going out and went to the hospital. After sitting in the hospital waiting room and waiting for the doctor for 5-6 hours, I found out nothing. They told me they had no idea what I had but that my throat was swollen. (Thank you doctors!! I see that education of yours is coming in handy) They gave me some sort of pill and luckily later on, my throat became better and I could actually have a decent day. So after getting back around 1:30, my room smelled of weed (wonder why) and I was so tired so I just went to bed.
The next morning we got up to take another NewAmsterdam tour. I loved our tour guide; he was so funny and really nice. He took us all over Amsterdam. We went to see Anne Franks house from the outside, all of the canals, the Red Light District (I'll go back to that one), churches, clocktowers, the I AMSTERDAM sign (the fake one, yes, there's 2), the flower market, and so much more.





So, the Red Light District. What to say about the Red Light District. It was interesting. We walked down this street and I look to my right and what's there? A woman. In very little lingere. Trying to get people to come inside her window. So this is how it works apparently: You walk up to the windows and look at the girls (like window shopping) and if you want to do something with that sed person you go up to the door and if the girl or boy likes you enough, they will let you inside the door. Then, once you get inside, you tell them what you want and they give you a price. Anything extra that you want such as: Them to scream, to pretend they're enjoying themselves, to take off clothes...costs extra money. I guess if you're a pretty girl that you make a lot of money. After the tourguide explained that, he showed us a boob. Yes, I said boob. No, not a real one (don't worry guys) It was in the ground to signify that this was the Red Light District and what it represented. And if you're wondering, all of this is legal and done in not a horrific way at all. The Red Light district is actually really beautiful and has a lot of nice stores and restaurants and is located almost on a canal. When the tour finished, we stopped in front of the Anne Frank house which I was dying to go into before I left Amsterdam. But that day I was meeting my friend Sjors (George), who I met in Rome in my hostel and he lives in Holland so perfect time to meet him right? So when I was on line for the Anne Frank house he told me he arrived so I got out of line and decided to meet him at this famous pancake house. It was so good to see him because I knew that after Rome, I probably would never see him again because we're across the world from each other. We sat down in the restaurant and I ordered a chocolate chip pancake thinking it would come out like the ones in the states. But we're in Amsterdam, so of course that doesn't happen. A couple of minutes later, this woman comes out with this massive pancake, like a crepe with chocolate filled all in it and it was delicious. The whole time we just continued to talk and talk and talk and it was so much fun to catch up with him.
After I finished my pancake, we left and he asked me where I wanted to go and I told him to take me everywhere, and that's what he did. We walked all over Amsterdam and he showed me all of these cool spots, including a free ferry ride, a great dessert, the REAL I AMSTERDAM sign and so much more:

After walking around for about 7 hours, we decided to get dinner and he said that the Chinese was really good in Amsterdam, and as weird as I found that, I agreed for Chinese food ( but i was secretly craving it, so i didn't mind at all) And let me say, it was really good! Kind of expensive, but definitely worth it since my appetite was through the roof! When we finished dinner he decided to take me to a bar called The Three Sisters, where there is a bunch of outdoor seating and it's a beautiful area with a bunch of people and restaurants surrounding. We sat down and he bought me a beer and we continued to talk. But as the time grew faster, we had to finish up and head back to my hostel so that he could make his last train. We got really lost going back to my hostel and he was so close to missing his train but thankfully he did not.

The next day: Goodbye Amsterdam! Can you guess what comes next? Nooo, not Paris (well yes...but that's not what I mean) but 6-8 hour bus ride! Yay!!! NOT! Once again, barely sleep and tossing and turning but I was soo happy that day because we were going ot Paris. My dream since I've been a girl has been to go to Paris because I took eight years of french and it's a beautiful place full of sites and amazing people. By the time we got to Paris, it was around 1:30pm which is new for us because we usually get to a city really late so that meant that we had time to do something that day on our own. I didn't care what anyone did, I knew exactly what I wanted to do so I figured out the metro on my own and made my way to the Eiffle Tower and Champs De Lysees. It was amazing. I knew that I was going to like Paris from the first steps I took outside. On my way back to the hostel after wandering the city I decided to stop by the pub crawl meet spot to see if anything was going on. There were some people there but I decided not to pay to go on it, follow them and see if paying was even worth it, and trust me, it was not at all. I was so happy that I didn't waste my money. I wasn't to fascinated by Paris' nightlife. Maybe it was just a bad night....but the day was definitely a good one with all the sites. :)

The next day we had another tour with NewParis this time. That was a really fun tour because we got to see everything: The Champs De Lysees, Notre Dame, Arc du Triomphe, Eiffle Tower, the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, the park, churches, the Love Bridge, and the list continues. But the weather was beautiful and he told us places that we should go afterwards. So me and two girls decided to walk down the Champs De Lysees and go see the Eiffle Tower again because they hadn't seen it yet. Then we picked up crepes!!! If you are in France, you need to get crepes, especially with Nutella in them. I hate Nutella with a passion but I had to do it for the experience and it was good. The crepe itself was amazing! Afterwards we headed towards the Arc du Triomphe and it was beautiful but we couldn't go in it because some celebration was going on. After we headed back to the hostel just for a couple of minutes and then went back out to go to the Louvre because on fridays it's open until 10pm. So we went there, got in for free!! (Thanks to our student visas!!) The Louvre is HUGE! we didn't even see 1/50 of it. But we did see the Mona Lisa. If you go, it's a typical tourist move to go and see the Mona Lisa, so that's what we did.

Afterwards, we decided that we needed to go and get french onion soup. We went to three restaurants that either didn't sell it at the time or they were sold out. Finally I found a place because I went in and asked specifically if they were selling soup and if it was still being served. We waited for 10 minutes and then it came out in a big bowl and I was sooo happy to see it because I was starving! The soup was incredible! The cheese on top and just the flavor was out of this world. The two girls wanted to see the Eiffle tower at night but I already saw that so I went back to the hostel while they left. It was a long day anyhow....I needed my sleep...

So our final day of Spring Break arrived. Everybody went to Versailles because they heard it was beautiful and amazing adn I'm sure that's completely true, but like I said earlier, there were still things I wanted to see and I wasn't sure if I'd have time if I went to Versailles. So I took the metro back to the Louvre and went wandering for a lot longer seeing how much I could get done, and trust me, I got sooo lost, I probably didn't go anywhere in that museum. After being in there for about three hours, I left and headed over to the Musee D'Orsay which is the museum with the Reniors, Monets, Manets, and more. It was the museum that was full of impressionism. By far my favorite museum I've been into. I could've stared at Monets and Reniors paintings for hours. If you have a chance to ever go there, don't miss out! It's completely worth it! And thanks to my visa? FREE!!! A students favorite word. Then before I headed back to the hostel to leave, I grabbed a crepe, bought souveniers, and headed to a Starbucks because there are none in Florence and I missed them.

Around 8pm, our bus arrived and we all boarded for a very very long 15 hour bus ride back to Florence. I think we made only three stops the whole entire time, one being in Switzerland. So I guess I can say I went there too. :) Finally on sunday around 1pm, we make it back to Florence. Long trip but it felt good to be home. (temporary home I guess you could say).

So. Spring Break 2010 a success? I think i'm going to say YES!

What's to come? CORFU, GREECE TOMORROW!!!