AMSTERDAM!!!!

Hello everyone!!

I just got back from Amsterdam today and MAN WAS IT AMAZING!  It's definitely my favorite city I've been to in Europe so far!!

First of all, it's absolutely the gorgeous.  How the Dutch constructed this city on a swamp to be laid out so masterfully covered with beautiful canals, is completely bewildering.  The Dutch architecture is soo adorable and you can really picture these cute Dutch people walking in clogs through the canaled streets.  I loooved it.  It's seriously so beautiful, so quaint, and really a modern marvel.  

Second of all, the Dutch are a fabulous people.  They are sooo chill, so accepting of others, compeltely okay with their city being international, it's so fantastic to be around.  Everyone is happy, everyone does their own thing and they don't bother each other.  No one was being nosy, no one was being rude, everyone is just living their life to the fullest.  It was a culture I was sooo drawn to and I'm extremely jealous of!  They live the simple life and they absolutely love it.  

Third, I LOVED that bikes rule in Amsterdam.  Cars and trams have to cater to the millions of bikes that roam the streets.  There are ALWAYS bike lanes, not always walking lanes, but definitely biking lanes, and sometimes not even car lanes but ALWAYS bike lanes.  It's sooo cool to see.  They are so environmental, so in love with keeping their city pretty-- it's really inspiring.  It made me want to ride a bike for the rest of my life.  I also love that it's taboo to talk on your phone in public.  It's such a modern city, with such a respect for people and culture.  I love that modernization hasn't destroyed their traditions.  It really gives me hope that our future isn't headed in such an awful direction.  We could learn so much from the Dutch!!

Forth, the canal boat houses are absolutely adorable!  How can you not love these little houses strapped to the sides of the canal.  I would LOVE to rent one out one time... how fun!

I met up with my parents during their 3 hour lay over at the Anne Frank house.  It was sooo cool to see.  To be in the house she hid in; to walk through the book case that hid her family; to see the stairs she climbed, the places she wrote her diary.  It was really emotional, extremely moving, and definitely worth the 30 minute line. :)

So I got to see Julie, Devon, Blake, Elissa and of course Lindsey who is so lucky she gets to live there!!  It's so fun to meet up with my Texas girls in Europe!  I'm so lucky!  When Julie got in, we had a nice time in a coffeeshop, went on a great canal tour, and then went to roam the city to wait for Lindsey to come back from her weekend trip to play.  We went to Lindsey's, which is sooo cute.  It's very simplistic, as in the Dutch tradition, but still very cute.  And it was ikea'd out... these Europeans and their love for ikea!

I had a great time with my best friends in the best city in the world... I really couldn't have asked for more!