Today we took a train from Berlin to Amsterdam and it was an interesting experience. When we got on everything was very confused for a bit because we had 3 minutes to get 39 of us with our bags on the train and then everything got clogged up as we tried to find our seats. The first few hours were very quiet and I mostly just watched the scenery and slept on and off (we had to get up at 5:30 to catch the train), but then we stopped in more places and gathered an interesting crowd. Around 12 we had one stop and a group of men got on and had their beers and just were having a grand old time chatting and laughing with each other.
When we got off the train I basically had to chuck my bag into the platform because I wasn't able to maneuver it through the doors and get off the train.
Then we ended up getting lost trying to find our bus once we arrived in Amsterdam so we were all wandering around with our bags and it was a little hilarious. (Especially because there are bikers EVERYWHERE and they were a little upset that we were accidentally takin up all of their bike lanes.) Eventually we got to the bus and arrived at our hostel which is really nice for a change. The rooms are the perfect size and they are air conditioned!
I didn't realize it when we arrived, but right behind our hostel is a beautiful park and I'm kinda hoping we have some free time tomorrow so that I can go sit on a bench and read for a little bit.
Unfortunately we weren't able to go to the Anne Frank house tonight like we had planned, there was a special event that caused it to close to the public early so we are hopefully going to go tomorrow after we have a walking tour of the city. My fingers are crossed that everything works out (regardless I am going to go before we leave, I want to go see it more than anything else really). Since we couldn't go to the Anne Frank house we wander around the main square for a little bit on our own and I did all of my souvenir shopping for Amsterdam so that I don't have to worry about it over the next 2 busy days. Luckily I found everything pretty easily and had dinner and then when I was waiting for the tram back to the hostel I met 3 Utah State grads who are mechanical engineers here in Amsterdam for a conference. I was wearing my USU sweatshirt and I heard someone say something about Utah State and so I turned and then they came over and we chatted for a little bit. It was kinda cool, what a small world.
Now I'm back in the hostel and ready to curl up and go to bed! Tomorrow we have a really busy day and I'm excited!
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