Amsterdammmm

This past weekend me hayley christina and sarah went to amsterdam! it was amazingggg. I left thursday night on a train to rome with sarah and than we had to chill in Roma termini (rome train station) for awhile than take a short train to the airport than flew from rome to amsterdam. Our hostel was not far from the airport when we got there which was convenient. Our hostel was super nice, and located right in the hub of things. It was actually a christian hostel so there was religious stuff everywhere so that was different. we got bfast in the mornings which was good too, first day was ham and eggs second day was pancakes, so it was a good choice of hostel. When we first arrived we unpacked our stuff and headed out. We decided to do the van gogh museum first. We got there and totally lucked out because there was no line at all, so we got right into the museum and got to see tons of famous works of art. It was really interesting. they also had another exhibit going on called "Illusions of Reality". It was all works of art that were made to look like photographs which was pretty cool. It took us about 2-3 hours to go through all the rooms of the museum. When we came out it was pouringggg rain and we were very unprepared haha it was about dinnertime so we ran into the warmest nearest pub to dry off. It ended up being a good choice, we had an amazing dinner of burgers and fries and salads and of course Heineken. After we finished dinner the rain had cleared up a bit and it was a lil safer to walk around. We walked through the red light district which was a lil creepy and depressing, but definitely different than anything ive ever seen. We stopped at a few "coffeeshops" which is where they have menus off all the diffferent kinds of marijuana, which was the weirdest thing ever to me. So used to it being such an illegal thing and to see ppl legally buying it and smoking in public was almost an awkward feeling haha It was a good night though we just relaxed and got some super good hot chocolate because it was freezing out and than went to bed fairly early bc we were so exhausted from traveling and packing in more stuff into the day. The next morning we woke up bright and early got our bfast and headed to the RijksMuseum, which is the museum that contains a large quantity of works by Rembrandt and other famous artists. It also had a cool exhibit going on which showed the history of the netherlands through artwork. They also had this display of giant doll house like structures that rich people used to have made of their hosues. It was considered a show of wealth to have a replica of your home created. The doll houses cost about the price of a riverside home in amsterdam, so these were no ordinary doll houses hahah It took a few hours to get through everything in this  museum and than after we were done we were starving, so we headed to a kebab place. I had an amazing kebab with french fries, totally hit the spot. After we filled our bellies, we headed to the Heineken factory! This was so much fun. First you go through a history of the Heineken factory and than you go on a 3D ride where you are brewed into a beer! This was so funny. After the ride we got to try some Heineken and than we got to make movies and send them to our families which was hilarious. After this we learned more about brewing the beer and saw all the huge beer vats. At the end they have a cool bar where you get two large free Heinekens. We had such a good time in this museum hahah After the henekien museum we headed back to our hostel to get changed and freshen up to go out later. We got ready than went and got some chinese food for dinner which was also delicious, havent had good Chinese food in Italy yet so this was nice. The best chinese food i found so far was in Germany when me and Hayley went to Hong Kong City hahahah but this was a close second. Afterwards we explored the area a bit and finally settled down in an irish pub that was serving large heneikins, nachos, and had some american college football games on. We found our home for the night hahah we were there for hours rooting for teams and enjoying ourselves. the bartender was also really nice and everyone we met there was so welcoming (and thank god most spoke english bc i dont know a bit of dutch hahah) We had such a fun night, and stayed out pretty late but finnally called it a night bc we had to check out at 10am the next day. Here are some pictures from the trip:

 weird benches:

 our hostel:

 square outside our hostel:

 Jolly Joker coffee shop:

 weird leaning building:

 so pretty!

 Me just brewing some beer:

 first taster beer!

 making our video haha

 cute group shot!

 Heineken Brewery:

I AMsterdam sign

 Red light district at night:

 me with the "t"

 yummy kebabs!

All in all it was an amazing trip, and amsterdam is such a cool place I would love to go back at some point and spend more time there. This week I have some school work to do and than this weekend I am going to France to visit Chantal and the family!!! i am sooooo excited i just bought my train ticket today and sent her an email and its all official :) so excited!