Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities.
I made my first journey to the Netherlands on a weekend trip with Niklas in November. The weather didn’t want to cooperate with us, but we made the best of it.
One of the best ways to discover the city is through a canal tour.
We caught the last tour before the rain, and it was definitely my favorite part of the trip. We had a really nice tour guide who told us some pretty neat facts about all of the canals and the city. It was amazing to see something developed in the 17th Century. Oh, and there were three women from Ireland who made the tour pretty interesting, to say the least. Every year there’s many events on the canal ring, so I hope to make another visit in the summer.
Of course everyone thinks of the Red Light District when they think of Amsterdam. It actually wasn’t what I expected, though. There was a cathedral in the center, and even a kindergarten. A little bizarre, I thought. It was a busy Saturday afternoon, so many families with children were walking around the RLD.
During the rain we also checked out the Anne Frank House. It’s located right along the canal, and it’s where she hid during WWII. I really enjoyed reading her diary in school. Seeing the building in person was so surreal.
On our way back to MĂĽnster on Sunday, we stopped at a park with a windmill (I had to see a windmill in the Netherlands.) and ate a traditional Dutch lunch at a nice cafe.
Amsterdam is definitely on my list of cities to visit again.
Kristen Lehmann 