Like I said, Paris to Amsterdam is an 8 hour bus ride, including stops in Brussels and Antwerp, and the cheapest way to get between the two cities. Although it was a very cramped half day, we did indeed finally make it to this capital city. Since we were taking a night bus back home on Sunday night we had almost two and a half days to explore the city. The first thing that I noticed was the sheer number of bikes. There were entire parking garages of just bikes - seriously don't know how anyone finds their bikes at the end of the day. The second thing was the cones of french fries covered in who-knows-what that everyone seemed to be eating. Although we weren't adventurous enough to try riding bikes in a city where bicycles are used more often than vehicles, we did try the fries. We ordered the "special", which meant fries covered in ketchup, mayo and onions - not something you would ever crave, but it was delicious nonetheless. At the end of this very long Friday we got back to our hostel, and even though all I wanted to do was go to sleep, to my very loud shock and surprise there was a man sleeping in my bed. We woke him up, got the front desk, and he was thrown out into Amsterdam at midnight, but hey I wasn't about to share with him. 
Along with very unhealthy food this weekend, we also experienced Keukenhof - it was truly an experience. Keukenhof is also known as the Garden of Europe because it is the largest garden in the world. We went to see the tulips (which luck would have it weren't blooming for one more week) but ended up seeing so much more. There were fields of daffodils and red tulips, as well as huge planted beds, a windmill, and also an indoor greenhouse where we got to finally see some tulips. Luck would also have it that this was the single most popular day to go to Keukenhof - there is an annual, national flower parade that winds its way through the country, Keukenhof being one of the stops along the way. It was interesting to see the floats made out of flowers, but not worth the crowds.
Along with just wandering the very interesting streets of Amsterdam, we also hit up a few tourist stops along the way, including the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum and The Heineken Factory.
We had to wait in an hour long line to get into the Anne Frank House, but it was well worth the wait - it was crazy seeing the rather small space that two families inhabited for two years, never being able to go outside, or even open the windows. When the space was being turned into a museum, Otto Frank (Anne Frank's father, and only one who survived WWII) insisted on not replacing any of the furniture that had been taken from the apartment - this gave the entire tour more of an eerie, or perhaps somber, effect, as well as reinforced everything most of the visitors had read in this girl's diary. At the end you got to see Anne's actual diary and other pages she filled during those two years - seeing the red checkered journal and the scrawl of a thirteen year old really made the entire experience that much more chilling.Next we checked out the Van Gogh museum - definitely one of my favorite exhibits visited while being abroad. Although Starry Night was absent, The Bedroom and Sunflowers were present, along with several other gorgeous paintings. I didn't realize how much of Van Gogh's work I recognized, or how much his style changed between black outlines, brush strokes, Japanese influence, and his use of color.
Now onto the Heineken Tour - I have never taken a beer factory tour before, so therefore I have nothing to compare it to, but from what I can imagine this is the best it gets. For the 18 euros we paid, we got the entire history of the brand, saw the tanks where the beer is made (and for that matter just how in general it is made), the bottling process, took the "beer ride" (virtual video that turns you into a bottle of Heineken), learned how to properly taste beer, made a music video (mildly embarrassing) and then received two half pints of their finest beer. We had quite the afternoon. Once we made it out of this gigantic green maze we took the free Heineken boat to their souvenir location to receive our free bottle opener (and it just happened to drop us off closer to our hostel so we didn't have to walk!)
It was a great weekend, but once again, it was very nice to get back to Paris and the comforts of "home". Classes are still breezing by - had my first and only test today in one of my classes, and one of the questions, literally, was "True or False: Couples attach locks to bridges in Paris as a symbol of their lasting love for each other" C'est vrai.
The host family is as good as ever - dinners are extremely fun, especially when my host mom is constantly making jokes about her husband, the husband and I are talking about the difference between his favorite cheeses, or the daughter is telling me about great flea markets. They haven't served me anything too out of the ordinary, my host mom did eat cow tongue last night though, but I know I will miss the plethora of fresh bread and brie. I really lucked out with a great set up here!
Spring Break is only two days away, meaning it is finally time to ask my host family what the heck they did with my luggage, and purchase some sun tan lotion. For the next two weeks I will be covering 3,955 miles, 7 cities, and 2 countries; encountering new people, foods, and cultures; here goes nothing!
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