With the semester coming to a close, we were faced with only one last travel weekend.  First of all, it was crazy to think that the semester was already over, which meant that I only have one more semester to see the rest of Europe before the year ends!  Wow. I seriously have to start planning.

Of course our decision to go to Amsterdam was last minute, but luckily everything worked out better than we had even planned.  We manage to get on the same flights as everyone else & booked the cutest little apartment in the middle of the Nine Streets through Air B&B.  Although all the planning worked out perfectly, we started off the trip a little tired…well more like a lot tired.  Our flight was fairly early (we took the 3:40am train to Geneva) & somehow we were convinced to go out for 5-litre beers at this pub in Lausanne called Brasseurs the night before.  Between these two factors, I manage to get about 2 hours of sleep.  When we got up in the morning I asked my partner in crime how she did.  She said she “got a full 40 minutes!”  Literally though, movie references aside.

Don’t worry, we all shared.

Our 3am faces!

As soon as we landed in Amsterdam, we had to meet up with our Air B&B host to get the keys to the apartment we were staying in.  Luckily we got there on the earlier side & had enough time to grab some coffee at the coffee shop below our apartment so we could continue to function at a normal rate.  We also managed to try a stroopwafel!  Amsterdam is known for these delicious pastries that are made up of two cookie-like waffles held together by sweet honey.  Between the sugar & the caffeine we were ready to go!

Our first stop was the Van Gogh Museum.  I never realized how many works of art Van Gogh had created until I realized they could fill a whole museum with his paintings!

Right near the museum was the famous Amsterdam sign.  I wish Amsterdam would change it’s name to “Hamsterdam” so I could pose in front of the H.  The Instagram caption would have been “Hamming it up Hamsterdam!” with a little hamster emojii…opportunity missed.

Next we decided to take a boat cruise on one of the many canals in Amsterdam.  Although the cruise was nice & the city was beautiful, it turned out to be a waste.  Between the warm climate inside the boat, the soft rocking of the canal, & our poorly timed sugar & caffeine crash, we slept through most of the tour.  We woke up to strange looks & empty memory cards on our cameras.

Some other people getting the most out of their boat tour…

If you thought we might have slept in the next day because of the boat cruise incident, you’re wrong.  We got up extra early to get in line for the Anne Frank Museum!  The museum opened at 9am, but we knew that there would already be a line up by that time, so we met up with some other Lausanners & arrived at 8.  We were the second in line…yay for no sleep!

Even though I would have liked to sleep in a little longer & I didn’t enjoy standing outside in the cold for an hour, I would have done it a million times over.  The Anne Frank Museum is by far my favourite museum.  I couldn’t believe that I was climbing the stairs behind the bookcase & actually standing in the room where Anne hid, recording all her thoughts in a journal.  It was so powerful it gave me the chills.  What shocked me the most was at the end of the tour they had the original journal that Anne had gotten for her birthday & had started her famous diary in.  For some reason I didn’t even think that I would see it, which made it all that much more amazing.  You cannot leave Amsterdam without seeing this museum!

After the museum we decided to grab breakfast at a pancake place called “Pancakes!”.  Since there were too many choices, Caroline & I shared an apple cinnamon pancake & a brie cranberry pancake.  Usually I don’t order pancakes for breakfast because after one & a half I’m over them, but these I could have eaten forever!

Apple Cinnamon!

Brie & Cranberry!

As you can probably guess from my past posts, we love food.  So naturally, we spent a lot of time eating on this trip, as we always do.  In Caroline’s research on Amsterdam, she found this little french fry place called Chipsy King.  They make delicious french fries with any topping you could imagine.  Their original sauce was mayonnaise, & although I admit it looks pretty gross, it was to die for.  Let’s just say we visited his majesty more than once…

Our last day in Amsterdam we spent just walking around & soaking up the city.  Between the beautiful canals, rustic apartments squeezed together, & all the bicycles that rule the road, Amsterdam is by far my favourite city so far.  It is unlike any other place I have been to.

I love Amsterdam!