Canal

I don't want to go home!!!!

Ok, now that I have that out of my system for this post, let me begin my tale with the story of a chess game. Let me clarify- last night after doing my laundry I was in the lobby of my hostel, observing two girls playing chess, one of whom had not played before. Eventually, they noticed my interest and offered to play a new round with both of them versus me. With nothing better to do and my interest piqued, I agreed. The two girls, who were Danish, proceeded to completely own me. Haha, it was truly embarrasing to lose so swiftly, but in my defence, they had two minds and a secret language on their side. I definitly had a lot of fun, and it passed the time.

Then, at about 11:30PM I headed off into the darkened Berlin streets to get to the train station. I arrived well before the train, as waited at the platform, enjoying the breezy, cool evening air. Unfortunately, I waited there longer than I anticipated, as the train was 40 minutes late. Thus, I began my second night train adventure, although due to its late hour, there was not as much dramatic dialogue as last time. It was after a mildly fitful night of sleep that we arrived in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at about 10:30AM this morning.

I took the tram, soaking up my preliminary views of the city, and checked into my hostel. I learned of a free tour of Amsterdam, hosted by the same firm as in Munich, and decided to do that, as it would give me my bearings. After spending about an hour and half wandering the streets and canals of this beautiful city on my own, I met up with the tour, which was led by Laura, an American from Boston.

We started with the Red Light District, that center of debauchery that has become the main image of Amsterdam. It really saddened me to see how thriving the industries of depravity are here, especially prostitution. I hope that someday this practice will be made illegal here and everywhere- it simply is so bad for everyone involved. Unfortunately, many of my peers think its funny or respectable and thus provide for its continuity.

The rest of the tour, though, was great, and I loved seeing all the parts of what I think is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The canals and cobblestone streets with bike riders everywhere make for a quaint feel, but behind it all is an industrial and commercial powerhouse. I think, since English is such a dominant language here, I will try and get an internship here next summer, but who knows.

One of the coolest stops on the tour, I thought, was the original home of the East Indies Trade Company, which was such a huge corperation and shaped so much history. It really shows just how powerful the Dutch were in their prime. We ended the tour at the Anne Frank House, which I visited with my family in 2001- definitely a great museum.

Tomorrow, I hope to take a day trip to Haarlem, and if there is not too much there, The Hague as well. Hope you are all doing well!