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| Lisa, Bettina, me and Emily |
Since our first trip to Amsterdam was not very successful we made another trip back. I went on a Saturday with Lisa and Bettina (Austria), Mike (Canada) and Emily. It was nice that Bettina had her car here and was able to drive so it was much cheaper; I round trip train to Amsterdam is about 30 euros, we each just chipped in 5 euros for gas and parking so that's a big difference! We arrived around eleven in the morning. First we went the the park with the famous "I AMSTERDAM" letters. Then after we took some pictures with the letters we split up; Mike had to go to the airport to change his flight, Lisa and Bettina went to the Rijks Museum and Emily and I went to the Heineken Brewery. The Heineken Experience was really cool and it took us about three hours to go through the self guided tour. The first part of it was just walking through and seeing the history of Heineken like all the different beer bottles and labels;they also had some of their horses there. Then we went on the "Brew you" 4-D ride where you stood on this platform and they took you through the beer brewing process; the platform would move and shake, you could feel the heat during the pasteurizing process, and even a splash of water. After, we went to a station that explained all the ingredients used in their beer and then they showed us with a free sample beer how to properly drink a beer and explained the importance of foam. They had a station that you could pick your back ground and then take a picture, record a message or sing this song in Dutch. I did all three and then you could email them to whom ever so I sent them to my family. They also had these cool chairs that you can sit in and then they have a movie screen on top to watch a short video clip about Heineken. The final stop was the beer sampling, which you got two good size glasses. It was a really fun experience.
After wards, we meet everyone back at the letters and were jut chilling with our feet in the water. While we were sitting there Mike turns to me and asks, "Kristen, a year ago would you have ever imagined that you would be sitting in park in Amsterdam with two Austrians and a Canadian?" No! When preparing for this trip it was really hard to grasp and really comprehend all that this trip would offer me. Now that I have been here for four months, sometimes I forget that I'm in Europe, it just feels so comfortable here. Though, when we go to a new city we are always like, "OMG, can you believe that we are in ...." its still surreal.
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| Emily and I in Amsterdam |
After the park we went to this small pizza place and sat outside and ate; it was pretty good though its still weird that they do not cut the pizza for you. Then we went and got stroopwaffel McFlurries from McDonalds which are amazing-just ice cream, caramel and stroopwaffle pieces! Then we walked around and Emily and I needed to do some souvenir shopping which I was very successful at shopping. We drove back and arrived home around 8:30. Then I skyped with my family and later went and played pool with Richard (Canada) at a place close by. I am not very good at pool but it was still fun; something different to do. Probably the next time I will be back in Amsterdam will be to go to the airport in exactly one month from today! (I have very mixed feelings about this)
Since our first trip to Amsterdam was not very successful we made another trip back. I went on a Saturday with Lisa and Bettina (Austria), Mike (Canada) and Emily. It was nice that Bettina had her car here and was able to drive so it was much cheaper; I round trip train to Amsterdam is about 30 euros, we each just chipped in 5 euros for gas and parking so that's a big difference! We arrived around eleven in the morning. First we went the the park with the famous "I AMSTERDAM" letters. Then after we took some pictures with the letters we split up; Mike had to go to the airport to change his flight, Lisa and Bettina went to the Rijks Museum and Emily and I went to the Heineken Brewery. The Heineken Experience was really cool and it took us about three hours to go through the self guided tour. The first part of it was just walking through and seeing the history of Heineken like all the different beer bottles and labels;they also had some of their horses there. Then we went on the "Brew you" 4-D ride where you stood on this platform and they took you through the beer brewing process; the platform would move and shake, you could feel the heat during the pasteurizing process, and even a splash of water. After, we went to a station that explained all the ingredients used in their beer and then they showed us with a free sample beer how to properly drink a beer and explained the importance of foam. They had a station that you could pick your back ground and then take a picture, record a message or sing this song in Dutch. I did all three and then you could email them to whom ever so I sent them to my family. They also had these cool chairs that you can sit in and then they have a movie screen on top to watch a short video clip about Heineken. The final stop was the beer sampling, which you got two good size glasses. It was a really fun experience.
You never know what life has in store! I'm so glad it brought us here and we got to meet! I, too, have mixed feelings about going home. =/ It seems much more normal to hop on over to Spain than it does to return to the US.
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