Three Weekends of Travel: Part III - There Were Three Jolly Fishermen

So begins the camp song that I especially liked for the chorus about Amsterdam. Being able to say "Amster- Amster- Dam Dam Dam" was my favorite part of the song, as I think it was/is for most groups between the age of 12 and 15. Now, at 23, I finally got to visit the place where these three jolly fishermen should have gone to instead of Jericho.

My friend and fellow English assistant Christine convinced me to go with her, since we'd both never gone before. I figured it would be a good chance to go somewhere outside of Germany and she knew somebody local, so it worked out well. People always talk about it like it's one of those "must-see" places, so it must be worth it, right? Right.

Apparently I'm the worst at preparing for weather this spring. I even do more checking the forecasts than I have ever done before and still get it terribly wrong. I swear the forecast was for sun and maybe a bit of light rain, so I was trying to pack as light as possible for a three-day trip. Since I thought it was going to be nice, I only brought a pair of shorts, a light sweatshirt, and enough t-shirts to get home. I even packed the sunscreen to prevent a repeat of my first disaster.

The weather was nice on Saturday when we arrived, but Sunday morning was cold and rainy. Not like a little rainy, but a legitimate full-on rainy day. Lucky me and my non-waterproof hoodie, shorts, and shoes with more holes than a salad strainer. Since the walking tour we had planned on taking on Saturday (good weather) was full, we had to postpone until Sunday (not-so-good weather). So. A three hour outdoor walking tour, for which I was already wet just by walking to the meeting point from our hostel. We broke down and bought cheap umbrellas from a souvenir shop on the corner, which was genius. I only hated myself a little bit for being from Seattle and having to buy an umbrella to make it through the day. But my feet were soaked and cold and I had a camera to keep dry.

The tour was really great though! We walked all over Amsterdam and learned lots of interesting tidbits about the city and some of the famous people who lived there. Other places we visited during the weekend included the Anne Frank House and the Historical Museum of Amsterdam.

Didn't realize I was about to jump into a puddle.

Breakfast. With ice cream.

It's made out of sand! I thought it was breathing at first.

There was a beach soccer tournament in the big square.
We got to see a few minutes of Germany vs. Holland.

A barge whose only purpose in life is to store bikes.
So awesome.

 Christine's friend took us to a really cool restaurant called Moeders, which translates to  "Mothers'," if I remember correctly. The walls are covered with pictures of people's moms, which you can bring with you and leave after you eat, and they'll put them on the wall or on the windowsills, wherever there is space. By that I mean you can leave pictures, not your mom.

Each dish and piece of cutlery is different from the rest, so everyone at your table gets a little different look for their meal. The story is that when the restaurant opened, they asked everybody to bring their own dishes. If they left them for the restaurant, they got a free meal. It's a pretty neat idea, and the place is really popular. The food is great!

More pictures of mothers at Moeders.

Statue of Anne Frank around the corner
from where she lived with her family in hiding.

Now I've only got two more weekends left and I'm on my way home! I can't believe it. But that's going to be another post. I have one more trip planned in a week and a half. Stay tuned...