Amsterdam...the forgotten city

I just realized I never blogged about Amsterdam, and I'm already on my second day in Paris. For one, it was quite a quick stay. The bus I decided to take rather than the plane took an entire day off my 3 days there, so I really only had 2 days and 3 nights. And the first night I was so wrecked by the bus that I barely did anything other than wander alone for a while, which in Amsterdam is not always a great idea. Of course, my Chicago swagger and my black leather jacket made it so that no one bothered me on my expeditions, whereas other girls were hooted and hollered at continuously. I must have really developed a mean scowl because seriously, no one bothered me at all!

I ended up staying at a very frat-ish party hostel right in the heart of the bar/red light district. It was a pretty overwhelming scene and it felt like I was back in college. I did manage to make a few friends, and on the first day I went to the Reijkmuseum (or something like that) and the Van Gogh museum with a boy from Syria. The art was quite beautiful but it was definitely a side attraction to the gorgeous canals and shops and cafes around the city. I ended up just walking around for the rest of the afternoon, admiring the scenery. The second day, I went on a free tour of the city, and then managed to make it to the Jewish museum and the Anne Frank museum before dinnertime. The day was jam packed, and by the end I was pretty depressed, but luckily I was in Amsterdam, so I cheered up pretty quickly after that. I think the most depressing observation at the Jewish exhibits, moreso than the actual artifacts or the spaces, was the fact that the museums are so bare. The rooms are incredibly sparse, displaying anything that has any sort of significance, with the most impressive museum display technology I may add, but all in all, the exhibits were short on artifacts compared to everything else in Europe. You go to the Louve and their are at least 50,000 jesus paintings, billions of bibles, statues, every paraphenalia you can imagine; you go to at least a church a city for it's beauty and history; and then there's the one spare Jewish museum with barely anything in it. Quite a sad thing to think about.

But beyond that, Amsterdam has one of the coolest libraries I've found, and the pace of life is a perfect leisurely stroll. Two days was really not enough to really get a feel for the city, but it's definitely a place better explored with friends. So instead of changing my plans and staying an extra day or two, I took my scheduled bus to Paris, and that's exactly where I am!