The Netherlands

Hello Friends.

It's about time I caught you all up, eh? Here goes:

So, last sunday I left for the Netherlands. I went by train, as usual, and it took all day. It took four trains but I eventually made it there. (I got to take one of the nice ICE trains...they are the really fast ones that go 187-ish mph and have reclining seats and pillows...even in second class!) When I arrived in Amersfoort, NL, Elselien (for those of you who don't know, Elselien was an exchange student my senior year of highschool in PAHS) picked me up with her friend and we went straight home for a Dutch dinner. They then took me to the exhibit of miniature Netherlands. It took about an hour to get to the outside miniature park and it, of course, began to pour as soon as we got anywhere near. Eventually we gave up on the rain and went to the park anyway. (Heck, I am from Washington.....if I can't stand a little rain, I don't know who can! (; ) The park has all of the important things in the Netherlands like Amsterdam, the ports, the airports, the Dam, and all those things. It is full of real working miniature boats and trains and everthing that makes Europe what it is. We walked around for a bit and saw it all while they were getting ready for their nightly light (and fog) show of the little boy who put his finger in the hole to stop the flood from ruining everything. It was mighty cool and I suggest that every goes to see it if they can. Plus, I want to go back another time....in the day time so that I can see all the details on the buildings. Here is the website if you want to find out more:

http://www.madurodam.nl/index2.php

The next day we went straight to Amsterdam. What is really amazing to me is that all of the Netherlands that I saw is sooooo different from Germany. (Not that I thought it would be the same exactly, I just didn't realize that even the buildings would be different.) The buildings here in Germany, or at least down here in Bavaria, are mostly all stucco and tiles roofs. The buildings in the N'Lands (I saw that on a street sign, so I didn't just make that up) are all brick and shingle-type roofs. Weird, huh?

Anyway, Elselien said that she had never been to "The Redlight District", but knew where it was because her parents have always told her "DON'T get off the train and go LEFT!" Haha, so we knew right where it was. So what did we do?......get off the train and go left, of course! The Redlight District is not safe for women to walk in after even the early afternoon, so we made sure that not only were we early in the day, but also that there were three of us. It alternates between "coffeeshops" (where you can legally buy and smoke Marijuana) and whore houses where women stand mostly naked or naked in the windows and lure people inside. It was weird. I mean, I am opened minded....but that was weird. It was just like this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCN9KevQFiA

Too weird for me. Oh, and the signs in the windows which Elselien translated for me said "Room for the Night or Just the Evening" and the clubs on every corner that in English said "Live Porn Show"....yeah, I am opened minded, but that was a little too much for me. Haha. Let's just say, we didn't stay long in that part of town and quickly made our way to the Dam. The Dam is the center area of Amsterdam that has the big old pretty buildings and the huge white statue monument in it. Then we walked across some of town till we made it to the Gay Pride monument and Anne Frank's house. Both were very cool! After those we went to the Albert Cuyp Market that houses around 300 booths and sells everything from fake purses to fresh fruit. It was a successful day of tourism.

Then yesterday we went to Zaanse Schans (don't worry, I can't pronounce it either...) It is a little town a little outside of Amsterdam that is quite popular with tourists from every country. Once you see the pictures you'll see why. It is an old fashioned town, all painted in green that houses about eight old windmills. It is quite adorable. They have a small general store museum that is supposed to mimic the first "stores" that were present in small towns in the Netherlands. They also have a cheese making factory, a costume museum, several houses in the little bog area in which people still live, a wooden clog making house(!), and many other interesting shops. We toured around all the windmills, out to the very last one, and watched how wooden clogs are made today and how they were made in the past. Did you know that it used to take 3 hours of hand work to carve out the inside of a wooden clog and it now takes 5 minutes per shoe for the entire process? Now you know!! (I have a video of the process for anyone who wants to see when I get back.)

Then back to Amsterdam to end up the day, once again at the market deciding on our final purchases. Then we went to the Vincent Van Gogh museum and I got to stand just a few inches from THE sunflower painting of all time! How cool is that? You know, I have often wondered, why is it that almost all of the great artists have or have had mental issues? I mean, I have had a bad painting or two, but nothing so bad that I would shoot myself for failing talent. I mean, geeze!

Then today, I came back to Prien. The train that I was taking from Utrecht, NL had some kind of problem and they switched us at Köln, DE instead of waiting for Frankfurt, DE which was cool because not only did I not have to switch trains to get to Munich in Frankfurt, but also the new train went in a completely different direction so I got to see a whole new part of Germany! Hooray for problems, eh?

As of now, tomorrow we are celebrating a friend of Lena's, Anna's, going away party because she is going to study in Thailand for the next 6 months and doing some last minute shopping around here. Then Friday we head, once again, to Salzburg, Austria. It was my favorite place so far so we think it is only fitting that we go back again. Plus, I have not yet seen the gazebo from The Sound of Music, the castle on the hill up close, or the famous, really old cemetary. I am looking forward to going back there again. Saturday we will head to Munich to get a few last things and head back here to go to the beginning of the Rosenheim festival and then Sunday I leave for Paris. Lena and her family are leaving on Sunday to go to Greece for their holiday and since I will be alone anyway for the last few days I thought I would spend the time looking at art and staring with wide eyes at the wonderous Eiffel Tower. Sounds like a plan to me!

See you all soon!

Cori