Throughout the day about thirty different Holy Cross students studying abroad would be arriving in Amsterdam. Not only is this extremely fun, but also a crazy coincidence. None of the different groups of students (Cork, Galway, Dublin, London, Spain, Scotland) coordinated for all of us to meet up we all on our own booked the same city during the same weekend! It is so strange seeing friends from home in various places across Europe, but so much fun.
Will left to go meet up with some of his other friends arriving and Nicole, Caitlin, Betsy and I headed off to our first activity of the day, a bike tour of the city.
The bike tour consisted of our group of four girls plus eight other tourists and a tour guide. Biking is the most common means of transportation in Amsterdam so it was really cool that we were able to see the city the way locals do.
Also, because people bike so often, and so far, they have discovered a way to make it a lot more comfortable. In addition to cushioned seats, they ride flat foot, which means that when you are resting your feet are almost flat on the ground instead of on your tip toes. The pedals do not have the strap for you to put your foot in they are flat and tilted towards you to make it easy to start and stop cycling at a moment's notice, like at a red light for example. This was so important because the tour lasted almost four hours and we could have been in some serious pain the next day.
Throughout the tour we would ride for about 15-20 minutes and then we would stop somewhere important and the tour guide would explain some aspect of the city including history, politics, laws and regulations, society, fun facts, architecture, Dutch customs and life and so much more! It was very cool to get to know the city and understand more about the place that I was seeing.
Picasso sculpture in Vondel Park: Picasso saw Vondel Park and thought it was so cool that he wanted to be a part of it and built this sculpture for the place that it is currently standing in, one of the few Picasso pieces that is outside
Old Church: this is where most of the Dutch royalty gets married
Most narrow building (red one in the middle) in the whole world, the entire building is the width of that one window
One of the few working windmills left in the world
Caitlin, Me, Betsy, Nicole
Me, Caitlin, Betsy
Just some of the many houseboats lining the canals
All four of us were in agreement that the tour was incredible. It was so informative, and fun, and different than anything we had done previously in other cities. We really lucked out with the weather because it was relatively sunny but warm enough that we were not too cold biking, and no rain because it rained every other day we were there.
We explored the city a little more that afternoon, got something to eat and then headed back to the hostel to change. Friday night all of the Holy Cross students had booked a dinner cruise on the canals to have a place where we could ensure we would all be at the same time. For about two hours we sat, ate, and enjoyed the city from the water catching up about all of our different experiences abroad and wondering about what was going on back at HC without us.
HC Group
Afterwards we all went our separate ways. It was raining pretty hard at this point and the girls and I were wiped from the day so we headed back to the hostel, picking up a late night snack along the way.
Amsterdam's Christmas Decorations
Betsy, Caitlin, Nicole, Me
My late night snack: Apple Beignet, basically a fried apple pastry...delicious!
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