Amsterdam!

So first of all...I have no clue why this first paragraph is underlined.  Anyways...I just got back from Amsterdam on Sunday...talk about a cool city.  Very tolerant, very open.  We stayed in Vondelpark, which is right by the Van Gogh Museum and the "Iamsterdam" sign.  After we got in on Thursday,  we went to the Anne Frank House and this epic pancake house called the Pancake Bakery.  These are no ordinary pancakes...they're similar to crepes, but not rolled.  And the size of a giant pizza.  Garland and I split a chorizo and cheese one (going all Spain style in Amsterdam), and then all 3 of us split the best thing I've ever tasted...chocolate syrup, ice cream, whipped cream, and powdered sugar on top of the pancake.  We devoured that in no time.  Then we finished the night with a little walk through the Red Light District.  Interesting, to say the least.  

         On Friday we took a free walking tour from our hostel...our tour guide, Kevin, basically came to study abroad in Amsterdam and never left.  What a life.  He told us sooo much about the Red Light District, like the fact that it's mandated to be gone by 2015.  The way they are getting rid of the red light district is by putting in "fashion windows" with new designers that are advertising their stuff, and buying up the windows with the prostitutes.  Then, theaters and restaurants and such are being put in there.  Our guide said though it's mandated that the red light district has to be gone by 2015, it will be 2012 at the rate it's going.  

         He also said coffeeshops (aka places where you can buy/smoke marijuana) are soon to be a thing of the past.  They keep doubling the number of coffee shops they close each year.  In January they tried to close all coffeeshops within 500 meters of a school, which would have closed all but 8.  So Amsterdam bargained to get that reduced to 250 meters.  He said the pressure is coming from the rest of the Netherlands and the European Union, which is VERY conservative compared to Amsterdam.  Interesting side fact to note: tobacco and alcohol are illegal in coffeeshops...but pot is okay.  The picture I put in here is the Coffeeshop from Ocean's 12...

Saturday was another touristy day...we started out the morning at the VanGogh Museum.  They charge you an arm and a leg, but it was still very cool.  After that, we took a little train 25 minutes out to this little village called Zaanse Schens, where there are a ton of windmills.  We got to go up in the windmill, which was really cool/probably very unsafe haha.  Our particular windmill makes the chalk dust for the markers on football fields.  All in all, a very cool little historical village.  Not to mention, we ate some delicious cheese in their little cheese tasting area.  Trip  = success.  Now back to studying for my next exam  and the GRE....