Anna and I took the morning train from Florence to Rome in time to meet her family. We walked for a while through the China Town of Rome until finding their hotel. We said our hello's and such before heading to lunch. they all ordered pizza's which looked delicious but I just got some bruschetta since I was meeting my family later in the day. After lunch, the Gleason's headed to the Vatican for a tour and I made my way toward my parent's hotel. As luck would have it, I was walking into the entrance of the hotel just as they were getting out of their taxi from the airport!
They were staying at the Hotel Bristol Barnini which was massive and luxurious! We settled in for a few minutes but were all starving so we headed out to find some lunch. Mom ordered pizza, I got a caprese salad, and Joe also ordered a salad. Everything was delicious and filling so we walked around to explore for a while. We went to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain before heading to get gelato and then to the hotel for a nap before dinner. For dinner I wanted to take them to a restaurant with a set menu that I had been at back in January. Unfortunately the restaurant didn't have any available tables so we moved onto the next restaurant which also had a set menu and was just as good!
Saturday we started the morning a little later than expected by taking the Hop on, Hop off bus tour. The bus showed us all the major points around Rome without us having to walk too much and the sunshine was perfect for sitting on the top deck! We hopped off near the Vatican and walked to a fort. Inside the fort there was paintings and facts about Rome. The top of the fort gave the perfect view of Rome! After the fort, we walked to Piazza Nuova and got lunch. After lunch we went to the Pantheon and then the National Monument.
After the National Monument we planned to walk around the Collossum since Mom was feeling tired. Outside the Colosseum there were crowds of people and we debated going inside until a guide came up to us and asked if we wanted to join his tour group. The group was leaving in about 10 minutes and included a tour of the Colosseum, a tour of the Roman Ruins, and a tour of the gardens beside the Ruins. The tour guide was funny and the group was small but it was a little difficult to understand him since he was Italian. Once we finished at the Colosseum and walked to the garden next to the Roman Ruins where we met up with another tour guide. The second tour guide was really informative and easy to understand since he was from Ohio! It was getting late and we were all tired of walking so we headed back to the National Monument to get back onto the bus. We waited for almost half an hour for the bus and then the bus stopped at evey single stopped before bringing us to our stop which was the last stop. The bus also decided that for that day, they weren't going to be stopping at our hotel and were going to be stopping at the Trevi Fountain instead. So instead of walking the 15 minutes to the Trevi Fountain and then 10 minutes home, we waited 30 minutes, rode the bus for another 30 minutes, then had to walk 10 minutes back to the hotel. Talk about a waste of time!
We all got ready and headed out toward a place Joe picked out from his guide book. It was supposed to take 10 minutes walking but 40 minutes later and hungrier, we were no where near finding a place to eat. The restaurant Joe picked didn't exist at the address provided so we ended up improvising and had a mediocre dinner. Back at the hotel, I slept like a baby in the luxurious hotel bed.
Monday, April 25, 2011
The week the weather changed!
The week we got home from spring break, the weather changed and it was suddenly spring time! It was sunny and 70-75 degrees everyday! We all had school work to dive back into after the break but we couldn't help ourselves from wanting to be outside and soak up the sun that we had missed for the past few months!
Wednesday, I barely made it through class before heading to the open air market, getting lunch to go from Ganzo, and then meeting Anna at the train station! Wednesday was the final day to use our Eurorail pass so we decided to head to a beach town in Italy, Viareggio. Viareggio is known for its outlandish floats and parades during Carnivale each year but we headed to the town simply to enjoy the sun and the smell of the ocean. Once we got onto the train, we were both hungry so we opened out lunches and of course I had the wrong one. There were several poeple waiting for salads while I was at Ganzo and I was given the wrong one. I was hungry so I tried eating it even thought I had no idea what was on it and I found out that I like feta cheese!
The train was a double decker and was basically empty leaving Florence but at the next stop, a school field trip of boys filled the entire cabin. In fact, there wasn't even enough room for all of them so Anna and I moved our stuff in order to make room. The boys were young and Italian. Anna and I kept eating and chatting while they played "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt from their phone. After a while one finally worked up the courage to try and talk to us asking how old we were. At first they guessed 17, do we really look that young?! They ended up being only 16 and couldn't speak much English at all.
After getting off the train, we didn't have a map or any sort of directions we just headed in the general direction that we thought the beach was in. We wandered down suburb like streets for about half an hour before reaching the beach. We got gelato, took off our shoes, and headed toward the water. The sand was more like dirt and the water was freezing but it was a beautiful day so we enjoyed ourselves. After the beach we walked down the pier where there were tons of people fishing and cleaning off their boats in preparation for the summer. We were wandering through the shops and streets when we saw a giant cartoon churro. We followed the cartoon to a little churro hut where the worker made us a cup of fresh churro's covered in sugar. They were amazing and so filling! We made our way back to the train station and I was actually a little sun burnt!
Thursday during my wine class we took a field trip to a wine bar. I had never been to one so it was quite the experience and totally different than I was imagining. The entrance led into a food store and the hall brought us into a liquor store. Our teacher explained that where were were was the largest liquor store with the widest variety of wine and liquor in all of Florence. I was a little confused since, yeah they had a lot of bottles but nothing compared to even tiny liquor stores in the United States. They had bottles of wine in every price range starting from 5 Euro all the way up to 2,000 Euro. Who could afford 2,00 Euro on a bottle of champagne? I have no idea. After our brief introduction we headed downstairs and that's when I understood; there were wine bottles covering every square inch of wall in four rooms and there were stands all over each room with even more wine!
We looked around and then sat down at a giant table and were brought a sample of prosecco, a sample of white wine, and a Chianti. In addition to the three amazing samples, we were also served bruschetta, chicken liver(YUCK), and pecorino cheese with honey and pears (YUM). We talked about wine, Florence, and travelling for the remainder of class getting to know one another. It was an amazing experience, and just think; I'm getting college credit for it! Even thought it was a short week, I watched the minutes tick by until I was released from my Italian class that afternoon. After class I met the girls in Piazza San Marco where we shared a bottle of prosecco as a the sun set, it was so relaxing and I was completely happy. For dinner we headed to our favorite pizza place near Piazza Santa Croce.
The next morning, we all slept in and then Anna, April, and myself headed to Boboli Gardens to enjoy the day. We chatted, listened to music, and read for hours before being kicked out at closing time around 6pm. Anna and I headed to Ganzo for dinner when we both realized that we were definitely sun burnt! We went home to pack and get ready for our trip to Rome on Saturday!
Wednesday, I barely made it through class before heading to the open air market, getting lunch to go from Ganzo, and then meeting Anna at the train station! Wednesday was the final day to use our Eurorail pass so we decided to head to a beach town in Italy, Viareggio. Viareggio is known for its outlandish floats and parades during Carnivale each year but we headed to the town simply to enjoy the sun and the smell of the ocean. Once we got onto the train, we were both hungry so we opened out lunches and of course I had the wrong one. There were several poeple waiting for salads while I was at Ganzo and I was given the wrong one. I was hungry so I tried eating it even thought I had no idea what was on it and I found out that I like feta cheese!
The train was a double decker and was basically empty leaving Florence but at the next stop, a school field trip of boys filled the entire cabin. In fact, there wasn't even enough room for all of them so Anna and I moved our stuff in order to make room. The boys were young and Italian. Anna and I kept eating and chatting while they played "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt from their phone. After a while one finally worked up the courage to try and talk to us asking how old we were. At first they guessed 17, do we really look that young?! They ended up being only 16 and couldn't speak much English at all.
After getting off the train, we didn't have a map or any sort of directions we just headed in the general direction that we thought the beach was in. We wandered down suburb like streets for about half an hour before reaching the beach. We got gelato, took off our shoes, and headed toward the water. The sand was more like dirt and the water was freezing but it was a beautiful day so we enjoyed ourselves. After the beach we walked down the pier where there were tons of people fishing and cleaning off their boats in preparation for the summer. We were wandering through the shops and streets when we saw a giant cartoon churro. We followed the cartoon to a little churro hut where the worker made us a cup of fresh churro's covered in sugar. They were amazing and so filling! We made our way back to the train station and I was actually a little sun burnt!
Thursday during my wine class we took a field trip to a wine bar. I had never been to one so it was quite the experience and totally different than I was imagining. The entrance led into a food store and the hall brought us into a liquor store. Our teacher explained that where were were was the largest liquor store with the widest variety of wine and liquor in all of Florence. I was a little confused since, yeah they had a lot of bottles but nothing compared to even tiny liquor stores in the United States. They had bottles of wine in every price range starting from 5 Euro all the way up to 2,000 Euro. Who could afford 2,00 Euro on a bottle of champagne? I have no idea. After our brief introduction we headed downstairs and that's when I understood; there were wine bottles covering every square inch of wall in four rooms and there were stands all over each room with even more wine!
We looked around and then sat down at a giant table and were brought a sample of prosecco, a sample of white wine, and a Chianti. In addition to the three amazing samples, we were also served bruschetta, chicken liver(YUCK), and pecorino cheese with honey and pears (YUM). We talked about wine, Florence, and travelling for the remainder of class getting to know one another. It was an amazing experience, and just think; I'm getting college credit for it! Even thought it was a short week, I watched the minutes tick by until I was released from my Italian class that afternoon. After class I met the girls in Piazza San Marco where we shared a bottle of prosecco as a the sun set, it was so relaxing and I was completely happy. For dinner we headed to our favorite pizza place near Piazza Santa Croce.
The next morning, we all slept in and then Anna, April, and myself headed to Boboli Gardens to enjoy the day. We chatted, listened to music, and read for hours before being kicked out at closing time around 6pm. Anna and I headed to Ganzo for dinner when we both realized that we were definitely sun burnt! We went home to pack and get ready for our trip to Rome on Saturday!
Spring Break, Day 11 - Home!
We were woken up at 6am by the other guests being insanely loud (they were from South Africa...weird!) This morning I woke up feeling terrible; stuffed up nose, sore throat, headache, and tired. The breakfast was minimal with strange corn flakes and toast made by the B&B owner's friend or something? We yet again walked in the rain to the train station. We were in another Harry Potter train which I half read/slept through the entire time. We made it to Pisa at the perfect time since a transfer train was supposed to be departing for Florence but it ws delayed 5 minutes making it a perfect ride for us! We made it onto the regional Florence train so it only took an hour before we were home safe and sound!
The trip was the perfect mix of relaxation and excitement! I wish things had gone more smoothly but I still enjoyed myself and wouldn't have changed anything since it all worked out in the end! In the future, I still would like to travel to Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and Greece.
The trip was the perfect mix of relaxation and excitement! I wish things had gone more smoothly but I still enjoyed myself and wouldn't have changed anything since it all worked out in the end! In the future, I still would like to travel to Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and Greece.
Spring Break, Day 10
Before going to bed we all reset our clocks for the time change and quickly fell asleep. I woke up and looked at my clock only to realize that it was 7:20 and my alarm was supposed to sound at 6:40. When I had changed the time, I some how switched the time from AM to PM so my alarm was seriously wrong. We started to rush to get ready but realized it was a lost cause and went downstairs to enjoy breakfast. The breakfast was by-far the best breakfast we had on the trip. There were criossants, muffins, donuts, eggs, cereal, fresh fruits, cakes, and a tons of different juices! We all ate until we were stuffed then we checked out and went to catch the 10am train.
We went straight to the ticket office who told us tht we needed to buy new tickets then go up to customer service to try and get our money back from missing our train the night before. We went up to customer service, they were not happy to hear that we already had new tickets and so they sent us back down to the ticketing office to get a refund on the tickets we had just purchased. Such a mess. On top of all this running around, we are told that the train leaves every hour on the hour for Genova, EXCEPT 10am since theis is when they clean the train.
We shopped and sat around in the station until getting on the 11am train. The train was just like the Harry Potter trains since there are all cabins with six seats in each cabin. We didn't have seat reservations so we just sat in 2nd class and hoped no one would ask us to move. I was still nervous about checking into the B&B since we were supposed to check in by 11am and now we wouldn't be arriving until around 1pm. We had a little trouble finding the B&B since everything was closed on all the streets and there were no signs. We walked down the street a lot further than we thought we were supposed to so we had to turn around. We went into the only open store on the block, a rotissery chicken restuarant. The women working inside didn't speak any English but were able to point us in the right direction of the B&B. We were still aimlessly walking when a man asked us if we needed help. We told him the address and he kindly walked us right to the B&B which didn't look like a B&B AT ALL.
The outside and the walk up to the 2nd floor was creepy but the inside was really cute and homey. There were three beds and a view of the sea port from our room. There were also two large bathrooms with towels and sheets included. We put our stuff down and headed into town to look for some lunch. Since nothing was really open, this task seemed nearly impossible. We walked off the main path toward where we saw lights but everything was still closed and about 10 times more creepy. Genova is basically the Italian version of Newark, NJ. All the men hang out on street corners starring at you and making comments under their breath. While walking, I saw a family and said, "Quick, follow the white people!". This may seem really ignorant of me, but it also explains the gravity of the situation we were in. The family ended up being a lost cause anyway since they were slow walkers and just wandering without a destination. We finally saw a little open shop with what looked like pizza so we went inside are ordered 3 slices of cheese pizza and a hot dog in a croissant. What we got ended up being the exact opposite of pizza; it was cold, basically uncooked bread, with rough and crumbling bad cheese. I ate less than half before I couldn't eat anymore and moved onto my hot dog. It was good except it was barely cooked and the little it was cooked, tasted like it had been done hours ago.
We walked over to the aquarium on the harbor since it is the largest one in Europe. We didn't go inside though since it was 18 Euro per person which didn't even include the entire experience. We then walked around the rest of the harbor and got gelato. It was pretty good but I think we thought that since we hadn't had any gelato in over a week! I got chocolate and cookies plus I got an entire cookie and it was in a cone cup! I was a happy camper. We shopped for a little but there wasn't much to do so we took a boat tour of the harbor for 6 Euro. TOo bad when they sold us the tickets they didn't warn us that the whole tour was in Italian. The ride was chilly, foregin, and boring since all we looked at was giant running cargo frieghts. After the unsuccessful boat tour we went into the city center. On the way, we finally passed some pretty buildings and fancy churches which gave us hope for the rest of the day. The center ws an enourmous fountain with smaller fountains all around it. Very pretty! We kept walking and saw a partial castle, a garden, and more pretty architecture. The main strip of the town had a ton of shopping but since it was 4pm and raining on a Sunday, everything was either closed or in the process of closing. I did manage to get into H&M and bought a shirt since I can't go into that store without buying st least one thing!
'
We planned to go out for a long, relazing dinner but we again couldn't find anything open. We settled on a bar/cafe that served food which was a plus. I ordered a Bloody Mary but the Chinese worker only spoke Italian and had no idea what I was ordering even thought it was on a the menu so I ordered a margarita. For dinner the girls got pizza (which they watched be pulled out of a freezer) and I got one giant chicken finger and salad. It wasn't bad, but not the dinner I was expecting in Italy. We went to the market to buy some snacks and some wine to enjoy at the B&B for the rest of the night.
We walked back to the B&B in the pouring rain without umbrellas. If my flats weren't already ruined, they were after that rain storm! Back at the B&B we got comfy and turned on the TV which didn't have many working channels and none of them were in English. The B&B also didn't have a wine key so while I channel surfed, Anna used a pen to force the cork INSIDE the bottle. It was hard and she ended up covered in wine but it was successfully opened! Too bad that after all that hard work, the wine was so awful it, it was basically undrinkable. We drank it anyway, ate Pringles and filled in our own dialogue for Italian TV shows. After a while I showered and was immediately exhausted and ready for bed.
We went straight to the ticket office who told us tht we needed to buy new tickets then go up to customer service to try and get our money back from missing our train the night before. We went up to customer service, they were not happy to hear that we already had new tickets and so they sent us back down to the ticketing office to get a refund on the tickets we had just purchased. Such a mess. On top of all this running around, we are told that the train leaves every hour on the hour for Genova, EXCEPT 10am since theis is when they clean the train.
We shopped and sat around in the station until getting on the 11am train. The train was just like the Harry Potter trains since there are all cabins with six seats in each cabin. We didn't have seat reservations so we just sat in 2nd class and hoped no one would ask us to move. I was still nervous about checking into the B&B since we were supposed to check in by 11am and now we wouldn't be arriving until around 1pm. We had a little trouble finding the B&B since everything was closed on all the streets and there were no signs. We walked down the street a lot further than we thought we were supposed to so we had to turn around. We went into the only open store on the block, a rotissery chicken restuarant. The women working inside didn't speak any English but were able to point us in the right direction of the B&B. We were still aimlessly walking when a man asked us if we needed help. We told him the address and he kindly walked us right to the B&B which didn't look like a B&B AT ALL.
The outside and the walk up to the 2nd floor was creepy but the inside was really cute and homey. There were three beds and a view of the sea port from our room. There were also two large bathrooms with towels and sheets included. We put our stuff down and headed into town to look for some lunch. Since nothing was really open, this task seemed nearly impossible. We walked off the main path toward where we saw lights but everything was still closed and about 10 times more creepy. Genova is basically the Italian version of Newark, NJ. All the men hang out on street corners starring at you and making comments under their breath. While walking, I saw a family and said, "Quick, follow the white people!". This may seem really ignorant of me, but it also explains the gravity of the situation we were in. The family ended up being a lost cause anyway since they were slow walkers and just wandering without a destination. We finally saw a little open shop with what looked like pizza so we went inside are ordered 3 slices of cheese pizza and a hot dog in a croissant. What we got ended up being the exact opposite of pizza; it was cold, basically uncooked bread, with rough and crumbling bad cheese. I ate less than half before I couldn't eat anymore and moved onto my hot dog. It was good except it was barely cooked and the little it was cooked, tasted like it had been done hours ago.
We walked over to the aquarium on the harbor since it is the largest one in Europe. We didn't go inside though since it was 18 Euro per person which didn't even include the entire experience. We then walked around the rest of the harbor and got gelato. It was pretty good but I think we thought that since we hadn't had any gelato in over a week! I got chocolate and cookies plus I got an entire cookie and it was in a cone cup! I was a happy camper. We shopped for a little but there wasn't much to do so we took a boat tour of the harbor for 6 Euro. TOo bad when they sold us the tickets they didn't warn us that the whole tour was in Italian. The ride was chilly, foregin, and boring since all we looked at was giant running cargo frieghts. After the unsuccessful boat tour we went into the city center. On the way, we finally passed some pretty buildings and fancy churches which gave us hope for the rest of the day. The center ws an enourmous fountain with smaller fountains all around it. Very pretty! We kept walking and saw a partial castle, a garden, and more pretty architecture. The main strip of the town had a ton of shopping but since it was 4pm and raining on a Sunday, everything was either closed or in the process of closing. I did manage to get into H&M and bought a shirt since I can't go into that store without buying st least one thing!
'
We planned to go out for a long, relazing dinner but we again couldn't find anything open. We settled on a bar/cafe that served food which was a plus. I ordered a Bloody Mary but the Chinese worker only spoke Italian and had no idea what I was ordering even thought it was on a the menu so I ordered a margarita. For dinner the girls got pizza (which they watched be pulled out of a freezer) and I got one giant chicken finger and salad. It wasn't bad, but not the dinner I was expecting in Italy. We went to the market to buy some snacks and some wine to enjoy at the B&B for the rest of the night.
We walked back to the B&B in the pouring rain without umbrellas. If my flats weren't already ruined, they were after that rain storm! Back at the B&B we got comfy and turned on the TV which didn't have many working channels and none of them were in English. The B&B also didn't have a wine key so while I channel surfed, Anna used a pen to force the cork INSIDE the bottle. It was hard and she ended up covered in wine but it was successfully opened! Too bad that after all that hard work, the wine was so awful it, it was basically undrinkable. We drank it anyway, ate Pringles and filled in our own dialogue for Italian TV shows. After a while I showered and was immediately exhausted and ready for bed.
Spring Break, Day 9
We had to wake up at 6am this morning in order to make our 7:45am train to Genova. Before we boarded the train we bought snacks since we wouldn't be arriving into Genova until around 10:30 pm. I tried to buy a criossant, a blueberry muffin, anda sandwhich with my debit card but for some reaso nthey wouldn't let me so I had to borrow money from Anna. Our first train went from Amsterdam to Koln, Germany. From Koln, we hada 10 minute time frame to make it to our next train which would bring us to Zurich. From Zurich we were headed to Milan and everything was fine until the train stopped and announced that they were making the final stop and everyone needed to exit the train. The problem was that we were stopped in Chiasso (NOT MILAN) and teh announcments were all in Italian so we had no idea what to do. Luckily, an Italian woman saw how confused we looked and explained to us that we had to get on the train next door as a transfer and then transfer again which would bring us to Milan. We had to choice but to trust her and board the train.
The train was basically a subway car and took half an hour to get to our transfer stop. The second transfer station was on a five minute delay and wasn't scheduled to arrive for another 30 minutes. We clearly weren't going to make the train to Milan in time for our train to Genova so we called the bed and breakfast we were staying at and explained that we wouldnt be checking in until the next morning. Once we got into Milan basically everything was closed since it was so late. We walked outside the station and started our search for a hotel room for the night. The first few we went to were either too expensive or fully booked but we finally found a room for 120 Euro a night. The room was massive with a king bed and a twin bed. The shower was heavenly with towel warmers and slippers! After putting all of our stuff down, we walked to the nearest pizzeria and got three margarhita pizza's to go.
We watched an ENGLISH version of the Jersey Shore while eating our delicious pizza. This may not seem too exciting but it's the first English television I had watched in two months! For anyone that knows me, this is probably the longest time I have ever gone without TV!
The train was basically a subway car and took half an hour to get to our transfer stop. The second transfer station was on a five minute delay and wasn't scheduled to arrive for another 30 minutes. We clearly weren't going to make the train to Milan in time for our train to Genova so we called the bed and breakfast we were staying at and explained that we wouldnt be checking in until the next morning. Once we got into Milan basically everything was closed since it was so late. We walked outside the station and started our search for a hotel room for the night. The first few we went to were either too expensive or fully booked but we finally found a room for 120 Euro a night. The room was massive with a king bed and a twin bed. The shower was heavenly with towel warmers and slippers! After putting all of our stuff down, we walked to the nearest pizzeria and got three margarhita pizza's to go.
We watched an ENGLISH version of the Jersey Shore while eating our delicious pizza. This may not seem too exciting but it's the first English television I had watched in two months! For anyone that knows me, this is probably the longest time I have ever gone without TV!
Spring Break, Day 8
We only had a few hours a sleep before getting up to get ready for our walking tour! We missed the meeting time for the tour at the hostel so we had to take the trolley into town and search for the meeting point. The meeting point was a monument in the center of town which was covered with people when we arrived. Everyone waiting at the monument was waiting to go on the tour since it was a free tour; we were all put into groups of about 25 which was the perfect size. Our guide was Julian who was from Australia and had been living in Amsterdam for the past two years with his girlfriend. We were on the tour for a few hours before breaking for lunch. We were all starving and craving french fries we had seen earlier. We walked and found the stand again which served cups of fries with a sauce. The menu of sauces was in Dutch so we had no idea what to order; we saw alot of people walking away with white sauce but I played it safe and ordered cheese. We met back up with the group and asked Julian what the sauce was, it was MAYO!
We continued our tour onto the canals of the city. I knew Amsterdam was on the ocean but I had no idea it was also covered in canals. Another unique part of the city, is that the houses were all built on swamps, so to prevent sinking, buildiners layed down large trees for the foundation. This method worked for a whie but now the houses are all starting to slant into eachother and to the side. Also, on top of the houses are ledges that were used as pulleys to lift things such as furniture inot the apartments since Dutch stairs are notoriously skinny and steep. The walking tour ended in front of the Anne Frank house so we decided to go inside since it was only 8 Euro. The tour took about two hours and I was surprised at how big the house was. When I read the book years ago, I some how imagined the house to be small and cramped but the building as well as the Annex were large and mildly spacious. Inside we walked into the rooms of the house which were covered in quotes from the book as well as photographs and televisions showing clips from a documentary about the Anne Frank story. We also walked into the Annex with crazy steep stairs and were in the actual rooms that Anne Frank and her family hid in for nearly two years. By the end of the tour, my feet were throbbing and I was ready for a nap.
We all layed down at the hostel for a while before getting ready for our dinner cruise which started at 8pm. The cruise met at the main train station, it was 70 Euro and included a four course meal (appetizer, soup, main course, and dessert), plus prosecco, unlimited wine and water, bread, and tea/coffee. The cruise was on the canals and toured the city for two hours. Before being served the first course, we were given the 'Chef's Specialty' which was a spoon full of goat cheese. I didn't like the cheese but I tried it anyway. The appetizer was shrimp over avocado and watermelon salad. I was nervous for the combination but it ended up being really good. Next came out the soups but since they were from the summer menu, they were served cold and in baby shot glasses. The first soup was cucumber and the other was gazpacho. I didn't like either one but I think it was because of the coldness. Next came the main course which was herb crusted salmon over mashed potatoes and mashed carrots. Everything was amazing, I basically licked my plate clean. Finally came the dessert which was creme caramel and strawberry soup. The texture of the creme caramel was strange but it tasted similar to creme brulee so I liked it. The strawberry soup was sweet and I really liked it. After the cruise we went back to the hostel and passed out. Unfortunately I spent the night tossing and turning and hadn't had much sleep the rest of the week either so I woke up with the beginnings of a cold.
We continued our tour onto the canals of the city. I knew Amsterdam was on the ocean but I had no idea it was also covered in canals. Another unique part of the city, is that the houses were all built on swamps, so to prevent sinking, buildiners layed down large trees for the foundation. This method worked for a whie but now the houses are all starting to slant into eachother and to the side. Also, on top of the houses are ledges that were used as pulleys to lift things such as furniture inot the apartments since Dutch stairs are notoriously skinny and steep. The walking tour ended in front of the Anne Frank house so we decided to go inside since it was only 8 Euro. The tour took about two hours and I was surprised at how big the house was. When I read the book years ago, I some how imagined the house to be small and cramped but the building as well as the Annex were large and mildly spacious. Inside we walked into the rooms of the house which were covered in quotes from the book as well as photographs and televisions showing clips from a documentary about the Anne Frank story. We also walked into the Annex with crazy steep stairs and were in the actual rooms that Anne Frank and her family hid in for nearly two years. By the end of the tour, my feet were throbbing and I was ready for a nap.
We all layed down at the hostel for a while before getting ready for our dinner cruise which started at 8pm. The cruise met at the main train station, it was 70 Euro and included a four course meal (appetizer, soup, main course, and dessert), plus prosecco, unlimited wine and water, bread, and tea/coffee. The cruise was on the canals and toured the city for two hours. Before being served the first course, we were given the 'Chef's Specialty' which was a spoon full of goat cheese. I didn't like the cheese but I tried it anyway. The appetizer was shrimp over avocado and watermelon salad. I was nervous for the combination but it ended up being really good. Next came out the soups but since they were from the summer menu, they were served cold and in baby shot glasses. The first soup was cucumber and the other was gazpacho. I didn't like either one but I think it was because of the coldness. Next came the main course which was herb crusted salmon over mashed potatoes and mashed carrots. Everything was amazing, I basically licked my plate clean. Finally came the dessert which was creme caramel and strawberry soup. The texture of the creme caramel was strange but it tasted similar to creme brulee so I liked it. The strawberry soup was sweet and I really liked it. After the cruise we went back to the hostel and passed out. Unfortunately I spent the night tossing and turning and hadn't had much sleep the rest of the week either so I woke up with the beginnings of a cold.
Spring Break, Day 7
We got a few hours of sleep before we had to get ready for our train to Amsterdam. We got on the train at 9:55am and transferred in Frankfurt before arriving in Amsterdam at 5:30pm. We took our first trolley ride which landed us in the middle of Liedensplein which is a square filled with shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars. We walked around lost for a while before finding a sign that directed us to the hostel. The hostel (Stay Okay Vondel Park) was incredibly nice and modern. There were giant red and orange arm chairs all over, a few foosball tables, a bunch of computers, and a bar/cafe.
We were on the top floor since were stayed in a 20 person room! The room was situated alot differently than we expected since there were nooks with two bunk beds and lockers. There were two toilets and three showers but no blow dryers! Luckily, the beds were super comfy! We made our beds then went down stairs to look at all the information we had collected about things to do. We decided to do a pub crawl of the Red Light District and the crawl started at 8 so we didn't have any time to get ready or get dinner!
The crawl only cost 15 Euro and included a t-shirt, free shots from 8-8:30, a shot at each pub, entrance into 4 pubs, and entrance into 1 club. At the first bar we were all hungry so I got a hot dog (AMAZING) and the girls split chips and dip. Some how Anna and I were convinced to try guacamole; not all bad but I still don't like it. Two guys came to sit with us who were from Canada, Brian and Ryan (holy confusing!). They had been traveling for the past six months and seemed like great people. We ordered some run and cokes and chatted until moving onto the other pubs. Walking through the Red Light District I was amazed at all the girls in their booths. There was every type of girl you could image, most of them were actually really attractive and clean looking. We made tons of friends with all the people on the Pub Crawl who were from all over the world; Australia, the UK, Canada, Brazil, and the US. The pub crawl was definitely a good choice, I had an amazing night!
We were on the top floor since were stayed in a 20 person room! The room was situated alot differently than we expected since there were nooks with two bunk beds and lockers. There were two toilets and three showers but no blow dryers! Luckily, the beds were super comfy! We made our beds then went down stairs to look at all the information we had collected about things to do. We decided to do a pub crawl of the Red Light District and the crawl started at 8 so we didn't have any time to get ready or get dinner!
The crawl only cost 15 Euro and included a t-shirt, free shots from 8-8:30, a shot at each pub, entrance into 4 pubs, and entrance into 1 club. At the first bar we were all hungry so I got a hot dog (AMAZING) and the girls split chips and dip. Some how Anna and I were convinced to try guacamole; not all bad but I still don't like it. Two guys came to sit with us who were from Canada, Brian and Ryan (holy confusing!). They had been traveling for the past six months and seemed like great people. We ordered some run and cokes and chatted until moving onto the other pubs. Walking through the Red Light District I was amazed at all the girls in their booths. There was every type of girl you could image, most of them were actually really attractive and clean looking. We made tons of friends with all the people on the Pub Crawl who were from all over the world; Australia, the UK, Canada, Brazil, and the US. The pub crawl was definitely a good choice, I had an amazing night!
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