This past weekend I took a trip to the Netherlands! My friend Emily who has been volunteering in Portugal this summer, met me in Amsterdam. The first day we were there it was 100 degrees out! I don’t think I have ever been that hot in my entire life. We didn’t let the heat stop us though from exploring this beautiful city. We took a cruise through the famous canals, walked around Dam Square, and had drinks in an ice bar out of glasses made entirely out of ice!
The following day we ventured outside of the city to the villages of Zaanse Schans and Volendam. In Zaanse Schans we got to see some of the famous dutch windmills and attend a workshop showing us how traditional wooden clogs are made. Volendam is a cute marina town with colorful dutch houses and old fishing boats in the harbor. We toured a cheese factory and wandered along the harbor eating delicious waffle deserts. We then rented bikes and rode around the town of Zaandam until the sun went down.
On our last day in Amsterdam we toured the Anne Frank house which was incredibly sad but extremely interesting. This was one of my favorite parts of our trip and something that has always been on my bucket list. We then went to get pictures at the Amsterdam sign and stopped in to view the artwork at the Rijks Museum. Afterwards we went to view a house that had seven styles which was very cool and made sure to grab some frites (fries) with sauce before we parted ways. I hung around the city for a few more hours and got pasta in a pasta bar before heading to the airport. The Netherlands has been a place I have wanted to visit for the longest time and I am so glad I got to visit while I am staying in Europe.