Amsterdam!

This sums it up - a clog boat on a canal in Amsterdam!

Sorry for delay in posting - recovering this week from our big weekend in Amsterdam!

We (12 of us - Canadians, English, Australians and a token European, an Austrian) enjoyed a 15 hour train ride to get there, which included 3 different trains, one involving a large number of drunk Danish men in leiderhosen on their way to Oktoberfest! We also stopped in Duisberg in Germany for 2 hours, so I got to experience my first taste of Germany - a nice bakery open at 6am!

Anthony, Ben, Mel and Peter - Aussies en route to Amsterdam!

Once we arrived in Amsterdam, tired but excited, we realised how warm it was (much warmer than Denmark had been - my coat was so not necessary!), and also just how lovely a city it is!




It's a beautiful city, the canals are pretty! We spent the majority of our time there wandering the streets, enjoying the feel and look of this gorgeous city.

Charles and Christoph




We saw the Van Gogh museum, which included some of the famed sunflower pictures, and was set in a lovely park. It still amazes me how all the art we study at school is actually hanging in these European cities, in the originals, just able to be seen!



On the Friday night, we found a restaurant serving steak, chips and salad for 9 Euro - bargain! We then wandered around the red light district, which is certainly something to behold! Basically, all the prostitutes are in windows of little rooms with beds and bathrooms, which they rent and control, and men come along and negotiate with them! It's one of the best and safest ways for women, as they are not at the mercy of people on the street, but it's quite amusing to watch, as these women just sit there in their underwear, sometimes eating! You can't take any photos, cos they get pretty angry, but just imagine a really big street, with a canal in the middle, with strip clubs and porn stores and hundreds of lighted windows on both sides - it's quite cool! And, we went and saw a sex show - hey, in Amsterdam, do as they do! It was amusingly mechanical in a lot of ways, but quite an eye-opening experience!

We also saw Anne Frank's house over the weekend, which is quite moving, as it is actually where she and her family were hiding, so you really see what effect war has on people.




Otherwise, we spent quite a bit of time in the nice little cafes and coffee houses scattered around the canal, just soaking up the atmosphere - it was less of a crazy touristy weekend, and more of a relaxing experience of a city, which was very nice! And my friend Emily is on exchange there, so I got to catch up with her, which was also nice!





After another 15 hour train ride back, we are now home in Aarhus for at least the next 2 weeks, until we go to Spain for the October break! It's actually really nice to be home for a while, so I can do boring things like cook and clean and wash my clothes, oh, yeah, and some of my readings for classes too!