Peace and Quiet in Amsterdam

I loved Amsterdam because I'm from New York, and since New York used to be New Amsterdam, New York and Amsterdam have a similar feeling... except that Amsterdam is clean, beautiful, full of canals and trees, and best of all, quiet. I couldn't believe that a big city could be so quiet, but it was, and it was so wonderful. It was like I was out in the country. We took a boatride along the canals at night, which was of course gorgeous, we took a tour of a diamond factory, saw the Ann Frank house, and just walked around. It was a sunny morning and we walked through the streets off the canal, and it was beautiful.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

The little trams were so fun and fast, and they had open windows so that you could see the city as you zipped past. They were also pretty cheap and the drivers were very helpful and friendly.

It's a touristy coffeeshop, but we wanted to go in just to see. I don't smoke, so I can't tell you about that aspect, but everyone else seemed to have a pretty good time. We were carded to get in; you have to be 18-years-old. The staff was pretty pushy and not too friendly. They were pretty rude unless you were continuously buying drinks.

As far as the atmosphere goes, it was your typical dark wood old-world bar, and it's very large inside. On the main floor is where most of the people are hanging out, but we went downstairs to a smaller and more private-seeming room. And don't try to take pictures! If you think the staff is rude, wait 'til you see the bouncers!

A very moving experience, especially since I am Jewish. But I also think that most Americans have heard so much about the Holocaust and about Ann Frank that it is a must-see. It's a very small museum, so after you've gone through it once there's not much reason to go back, but the one time was amazing for me.

The part that affected me the most was at the end. There was a book that listed all of the Jews that had been killed in the Netherlands alone, and it was such a gigantic book, like a phonebook, just names and names... very sad. Go on a nice sunny day, otherwise you will be very depressed coming out into cloudy or rainy weather.

Since I was a little girl I dreamt of going to Holland, seeing the tulips, and buying clogs. Well, unfortunately, when I finally did go to Amsterdam, it was too late in the summer for tulips, but I was determined to buy clogs. I wanted to buy real clogs, the kind that real Nederlanders buy, because I'd learned that the majority of clogs are sold to the Dutch, and not tourists.

This was easier said than done, however, since I was only staying in Amsterdam for two days and I doubt that many people in Amsterdam were walking around in clogs. So eventually I had to give in and go into a tourist store for clogs. I wanted plain wooden ones, but I had to settle for painted, white with blue designs, kind of like Delft pottery, which cheesily said Amsterdam all over them.

Make sure you try the clogs on though--the sizes are not really uniform, as are carved out of wood after all. They weren't expensive at all, and though everyone made fun of me at first, by the end of the trip after I'd worn them a few times, everyone was so jealous! Don't miss out, buy some clogs!