Day 21- Amsterdam Day 3!

Today we employed the same wander-towards-things-and-maybe-stop-along-the-way tactic as yesterday, which was really nice again. We ended up visiting the Van Gogh Museum, the location where a scene from The Fault in Our Stars was shot, and a grocery store to buy stroopwafels, along with going on a boat tour and just wandering some more.

The Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS) by John Green was pretty trendy a few years ago, and a scene from the movie adaptation of the book with Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley was shot in Amsterdam on a bench by a canal. Apparently the original bench was stolen, but it was replaced and there were a bunch of hearts with names on it. It was quite cute, and a lovely spot to stop and have a snack. 

We spent most of the day walking around again, and stopping here and there to go into a store or sit down at a bench. Every street was picturesque and adorable. :)

The Van Gogh Museum was absolutely beautiful and very much worth the €18 entrance price. I’m not usually into paintings that much, but seeing so much of his work in one place, with very specific stories behind his motivations and inspirations, was such a neat experience. There were two sections of the museum, one 4-story section of his paintings in chronological order with his life story as you walked through, and a smaller temporary section called Van Gogh Dreams, which made for some sweet pictures!

Above: a glimpse into Van Gogh’s creative process, a statement about his purposeful use of color and his unique style of short lines in his paintings.

Below: “inside” Van Gogh’s brain right after he cut off his ear, symbolic of the mental turmoil and unhappiness he was feeling at the time.


I tried to pick a favorite painting of his, but I just couldn’t choose... here’s one of the ones that held my attention for a solid few minutes, it’s called “Cypresses and Two Women”, painted in 1890:

I just adore the motion throughout the painting, and the sense of nature being greater than mankind. The individual brushstrokes are purposeful and striking, and it’s overall a visually pleasing image. This landscape style is classic Van Gogh, and there were tons and tons of similar images. However, something different that caught my eye was this small piece titled “Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette”, painted in 1886:

I love the dimension in this piece, and how the shadows and highlights are defined. It’s pretty dark and dissimilar to what you expect when you think of Van Gogh. 

After the museum, we went on a canal tour, which was a relaxing way to end the day. All of Amsterdam is so photogenic, it’s almost impossible to find a house that won’t look adorable in a photo. Here are some of my favorites from the boat tour:

After that, we grabbed a waffle for dinner and then hopped back on the plane to Berlin.

 It was funny to realize that coming back to my hostel room felt a bit like coming home to somewhere familiar... I’m definitely going to miss Berlin when I leave. 

Day 20- Amsterdam Day 2

Today we got up feeling quite refreshed and headed into town. Side note, our Airbnb host had breakfast set out for us, which was super adorable and also really nice because the convenience store at the train station literally only took MasterCard, which neither of us had.

Our plan for the day was to wander in the direction of things we wanted to see, but to stop if we found something else to do. This was the first time I’ve ever utilized such a laid-back vacation/sightseeing technique (looking at you, dad), and it was actually quite nice. We found lots of cute cafes, visited a giant Bulldog shop (which I think was the first “coffeeshop” aka weed dispensary in Amsterdam), went to the sex museum, found the spot where you can see the most bridges over a canal in a row in all of Amsterdam, ate stroopwafels, and went to a freaking cat boat!!

We had been trying to get tickets to the Anne Frank Museum since we planned the trip, but they were all sold out, and we were unable to find any. However, the next most visited museum in Amsterdam was the sex museum, which at €5 was also much cheaper than the others, so we went there instead. It was definitely interesting, and more informative than I had expected. Here’s one of the first nude/sexy photos ever taken (from 1890!!):

And our favorite exhibit, the 7ish foot tall peen:

And my personal favorite smaller-scale statue:


All in all, 100% worth the entrance fee. We grabbed a coffee at a cute spot by a little church square, and watched the interesting medley of passers-by. 

Here’s the spot where you can see 7 bridges in a row (technically... realistically you can see like 3, but it was still a lovely view):

We then found a spot called Hasta La Pasta for dinner, which we decided on literally just because of the name, but ended up having delicious authentic Italian pasta!

When I was looking up things to do in Amsterdam, a catboat was recommended in a blog post. I was very confused as to what exactly a catboat was, but I liked the sound of it. So I found where the houseboat was moored, and we went there after dinner. It was absolutely wonderful. Essentially, once upon a time someone rescued a stray cat and her kittens and kept them on their houseboat, and now there are about 15 permanent residents and a small number of cats that are rescued and then adopted from the boat. It’s an adorable and trendy nonprofit, and there were only 4 other people there!

After the catboat, we joined 2 of the others from the large group and went to Vondelpark, a massive park just south of Amsterdam itself. Amsterdam has a reputation for being hip and trendy, I think partially-if not mostly-due to the fact that a number of drugs are legal there. I think one of the kids-I mean young adults-came to Amsterdam only for this reason. We spent a lovely evening at the park, and then got waffles on the way home.

Day 19- Amsterdam!

Today we got up way too early at 4:30am, and then missed a train, which led to our being at the gate 3 minutes before it closed (we still weren’t even the last people to get on the plane!), which was an adrenaline-inducing start to the day. We all slept on the very short 1-hour plane ride to Amsterdam, and were ready to face the day once we arrived. It was absolutely beautiful, and everything that I had expected. Tall and skinny colorful houses next to the canals, with cobblestoned roads, bridges, and bikes everywhere.

My roommate from Berlin and I couldn’t check into our Airbnb until 6pm, and it was only 9am, so we went to the Rijksmuseum, where we could leave our heavy backpacks for a few hours. It was full of paintings, sculptures, and explanations of life in Amsterdam from the 1600s onward. 

Above: detail of the most beautiful mirror I’ve ever seen, with two golden women each holding a side.

Below: a statue of Mary (I think), placed at just the right height that she looks directly at you.

There was a really cool free app that served as an audio guide, and we spent a good 3 hours there.

After that, we basically wandered around, turning every corner and going “oooo, look at that building” or “whoa, look at all those bikes” for another hour or so. We walked through a beautiful courtyard called Begijnhof, visited a very interesting sex shop, and made a list of things we absolutely wanted to see this weekend. 

We then met up with the rest of the group of Americans from our program for noodles at a place called Ramen-Ya. Considering how crowded the streets were, this place was a lovely oasis of quiet and emptiness. Excellent ramen as well, I’ll miss this this coming year when I’m eating Cup Noodles. 

We were going to head to our hostel, dump our bags, and then go explore the nightlife, but we decided to take a quick nap first, which turned into 12 hours of sleep, which in hindsight was actually an excellent idea. 

Day 18- Asian food

Today the only interesting thing I did was go out with some friends to an Asian restaurant for dinner.

Tomorrow we’re headed to Amsterdam! We were planning on going out, but then realized that for the flight the next day we had to get up at 4:30am... so we decided to pack and then go to bed early. 

Day 17- Shopping & a thought

Today I actually finally went shopping, which I planned on doing the first week, but got too busy to do. I’ve learned that if I buy souvenirs from the places I travel to (like a piece of the Berlin Wall, or a T-shirt that says Checkpoint Charlie), I end up with lots of clutter that just gets donated in a few years. But if I buy clothes that I actually enjoy wearing, even if I could get very similar ones online or back home, I gain much more enjoyment from the object I attach memories of a place to. So when I wear the clothes I bought today, I’ll think of Berlin and the fun stuff I’ve done while I was here!

Day 16- the Reichstag

Today after class we went to the Reichstag!

It was beautiful, and the tour took us all over the place, not just the actual room where the parliament meets. This was my favorite building, Paul-Löbe Haus:

The absolute best part of the whole tour was the very confused individual who first wondered out loud where Meghan Markle’s office was, and then at a later point when our guide was talking about Angela Merkel loudly and confusedly asked “Wait, wait, wait... who’s Angela Merkel?”. 

We also walked up into the glass dome on the top of the building, which I remembered doing years ago with my family, so that was really neat.

After the Reichstag I decided to walk to Potsdamer Platz and get dinner by myself. I sat down outside a cafe and just watched the happenings, it was very relaxing. I’m definitely going to miss this vibrant, wacky, and historical city when I go back home. 

Day 15- Class & Homework

Today was just the most exciting day ever, I went to class and then went to a coffeeshop and did homework. It’s nice to have a day that iss truly relaxed, with no crazy sudden adventures or random decisions to go find some particular restaurant that someone wanted to visit. It was a great day!

Unrelated, but I found this street art in a hostel courtyard and I love it. 

Day 14- laundry & homework

I’m pretty sure I slept for a solid 10 hours last night, which was a good change. I met the rest of the Americans at a restaurant called Hallesches Haus. It was absolutely adorable but a bit expensive.

After that, I went back to the hostel, did laundry, cleaned up my room a bit, and worked on some homework. In the evening I went out with a friend for a burger, which was delicious, and then to a rooftop bar called Klunkerkranich, which was truly beautiful. 

Day 13- Dresden!

Today was another cultural excursion, this time to Dresden! I got up early & then took a delightful 2.5 hour nap in the bus on the way there. It reminded me of early morning speech trips in high school...

We arrived in Dresden around 10am and went on a walking tour around the city. It’s relatively small, and I found it both depressing and hilarious that most of the old-looking buildings were actually restored or completely rebuilt only in the last 50 or so years. By the end of the tour, the default response to “so this building was first built in 17-something, and then...” was “it burnt down”, usually at least twice. However, it was absolutely beautiful, albeit way too hot, and fun was had wandering around the cute cobblestoned alleys. 

This building was actually built for one of the Duke of Saxony’s mistresses, who cleverly made him sign a contract when she agreed to be his mistress that she would receive money, her own palace, and his hand in marriage. She ended up in jail in her later years, but she lived the high life for quite some time due to her own ingenuity. #girlpowergoals Anyways, now it’s the most fancy hotel in all of Dresden. 

 This was the square outside of the palaces, and the little green person is where we later climbed 215 steps up inside a tower that provided us some spectacular views. 

This was one of my favorite buildings in Dresden. It was an old church that was built in 1727. It’s called the Frauenkirche, and it’s dome used to be one of the most distinctive features of the Dresden skyline. It was destroyed during WW2, and the citizens of Dresden liked it so much they actually painstakingly numbered and organized the rubble to put it back together. This is what gives it such a mottled color, where old sandstone blocks were put back in their original place right next to new ones during the reconstruction from 1993-2005.  

Next we went to the old royal palace, most of which had been turned into a museum. It was one of the most extravagant museum displays I’ve ever seen, there was room after room of trinkets made from every precious material you can think of. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon, and I learned lots about the Duke of Saxony (who was also the King of Poland) and his confusing history and family. 

The last thing we did before leaving the city was to climb up a tower in the old palace for a gorgeous view.  

Day 12- brunch, pedal boat, and coffee

Today was Friday, which means we didn’t have class! I didn’t realize but except for the first week, there’s never class on Fridays! I went and got brunch at a super cute place called Belle Alliance. I had Greek yogurt granola in an adorable bowl made of half of a mini melon!

The cultural program for the day was to go to a park and get on some pedal boats, so after lunch we headed to Treptower park. 

It was absolutely gorgeous, with some cute little stands selling food and trinkets along the waterfront. We pedaled around for an hour (by which time I definitely was starting to get a sunburn), before heading back to shore and grabbing some ice cream. 

We wandered back towards Berlin proper and found the oldest tattoo convention in Europe, the Berlin Tattoo Convention! It would’ve been fun to go inside, but tickets were €20 so we went to a coffeeshop instead. 

Afterwards, we went back to the other American’s hostel and watched movies and chatted until 3am before passing out in a common room.. oops!

Day 11- some... regrets

I decided that, after last night, I would just chug some coffee and head to class and be fine. I also decided to treat myself to not one, but two chocolate croissants. I probably could’ve eaten about 7 more... Also, 3 people in my class (besides me) fell asleep during our first break, so maybe Wednesday is a more common night to go out than I thought.

This whole “just caffeinated and go” attitude worked fine until about hour 4 of lecture, where I briefly wondered if my professor was even speaking English anymore. After class, I went back to the hostel and promptly fell asleep until 8pm, when I awoke and grabbed some food, then took a shower and went right back to bed.

Day 10- German Museum of Technology & a pub crawl

Today after class we went on a guided tour of the german museum of technology. It was absolutely massive, I’m pretty sure there’re enough exhibits and things to see to keep me entertained for hours and hours.

After the museum, dinner, and a nap, a group from the same summer program as me decided to go on a pub crawl, and the ticket was only €12 so I decided to join. I think “pub” crawl is a misnomer, because each place was more like a bar than a pub, and it ended at 1am at a club called Matrix. For some reason I associate pubs with a more chill, slightly older audience, so I didn’t expect to be out that late... but we danced and sang and danced some more until 4am, conveniently right when the trains started running again. It was so much fun, and not how I expected my Wednesday night to end. 

Day 9- Class and naps

An exciting day: I went to class and came back, did homework and took a nap.

Something cool that I noticed on the way to the train station is that I walk over where the Berlin Wall used to be every day. It’s weird to think about how it literally wasn’t possible for 28 years to walk across that particular ground, but I can and do every day. The whole city has this small double cobblestone path marking where the wall used to be, but it’s difficult to follow because buildings have often been built right on top of where the wall used to be, and it’s not at all a logical path, so I’m not aware of how many times per day I venture into and out of the old East Berlin. It’s neat to walk where so many important historical events have happened. 

Day 8- back to class, Prinzessingarten, and beer education

Today was another excruciatingly hot day stuck in a classroom, but after class there was another cultural excursion to an “urban mobile garden” called the Prinzessingarten, or princess garden. It was very hip and trendy, but also a really neat use of the space that used to be an apartment building block that was destroying in WW2. What I found particularly amusing was how organized and tightly packed everything was, because the park has a very limited amount of space, with tall buildings on every side.

 I went to a similar sustainable fresh veggie garden-type thing in Montana a while ago (I think that was a trend in 2015ish?), and it was massive, sprawling, and not very organized. It’s always fun to see how cleverly people can use spaces, particularly when they don’t have much of it! Fun fact: the plants are all in crates because the ground is just rock and the ruins of the old apartment complex, so very little can actually grow in the dirt there.

After the garden I met a friend for a beer, and we walked around the Kreuzberg area, which is apparently known for it’s nightlife and being a fun place for young people. They also educated me about different Swiss beers, which was pretty fun. I learned I definitely do not enjoy wheat beer, and I definitely do enjoy this: