oh Amsterdam...

So we're spending our last day in Amsterdam today... and sadly it's been cold and rainy. I guess we couldn't hope to be so lucky to have sunshine every day... :) But we're kind of okay with that. It was nice to wake up this morning and just have it be kind of a cozy, relazxing day. We wanted to see the Anne Frank House, but had no real plans after that. We woke up to an absolutely beautiful breakfast at our B&B, with meats, cheeses, warm homemade croissants, coffee, orange juice, home made yogurt, etc. I guess the guy who runs the B&B used to be the food and beverage manager of the Hilton and has his own restaurant here in A'dam. Needless to say it was a wonderful way to wake up in a cold and rainy morning. It felt just like a Sunday morning at home... :)

Yesterday we took the day to just wander around (and get lost occasionally) in the city. We're staying in the residential area of Amsterdam which is actually really nice because we're not in the heart of the bustle of downtown. It's about a 15 minute train ride into the city center, and we really don't mind it. We see a lot of families riding bikes together, people walking their dogs, etc. instead of all the crazy Americans partying downtown. I would definitely recommend this to people because we've really been able to appreciate Amsterdam and it's beauty rather than staying in the center which is somewhat off-putting. It's been really interesting too, to see how subtle the coffeeshops are that serve marijuana. They're really unassuming and set up just like American coffee shops, with menus of different kinds, etc. It's a lot less "wild" than I pictured it and I've actually really loved it here. I grew up in private school so the smell of marijuana everywhere took some getting used to... :)

The B&B that we're staying at is literally someone's own house, so that took some getting used to as well, because I'm used to hotel stays and even small inns, etc. but not being in someone's actual home. It felt for a little bit like we were invading, but then we met some other guests and really came to appreciate the place. It's owned by two men (I think they are boyfriends...) who have amazing taste and it's so well-decorated inside. They really take care of us there, so we will absolutely recommend it to people. It's just really getting into the European culture. Rick Steves would be proud that we've stayed at "back door" places and people-watched, really experiencing the culture rather than being trapped in the droves of tourists.

We've also come to appreciate why Europeans dislike the stereotypical American person, because we've come across some really embarassing ones. Very loud, rude and self-centered people that literally made Lexie and I cringe and want to apologize on behalf of our culture. But everyone has their faults. We're just trying to blend in as much as we can and hopefully give Americans a better name. :) Trying to understand Dutch has been hard because we literally don't know anything in Dutch, but the Dutch people are incredibly friendly and easygoing, and they attempt to speak English with us whenever we can. We've had some interesting dialogues. We've had to be careful here because we've definitely been hit on by some creepy men who asked us way too many personal details and have had to make up quite a few lies... so don't worry, we're being safe. :) The Dutch commercials here are also hilarious. That, or Lexie and I are too easily entertained... :)

We leave tomorrow morning (early) for Rothenberg which I'm so excited for! We have limited internet access here, but we're hoping there will be more available there. Then on Wednesday we head over to Munich- yeah! Today I think for the rest of the day we're going to take it easy and go to sleep early to be ready for our early train.

I've posted some pictures on Facebook so you should check them out!
Bye for now. :)
-Megan