Sex, drugs and... windmills?

Day 24: AMSTERDAM!!!

I will write about days 24-26 together because Amsterdam was by far my favorite city on the tour, and not for reasons you would expect.

Seven hours straight through to Amsterdam today. No pit stops. At this point in the trip bus rides are going faster and faster and we actually enjoy the downtime of reading, writing and cutting up together.
I can't believe we have 10 days left of unlimited adventure. The trip is flying by and we still have  so much left to see. My brain can't wrap around how we will see everything in the next 10 days.
I have learned so much about myself and the world in the last 25 days. We have a million other cities, hundreds of countries and five continents I've yet to see! I just ponder what each place holds. I can hardly capture what I've already seen via photographs, but the craziest part is as real as everything is, it all seems artificial because it's simply too wonderful to be real. 

We finally arrive in Amsterdam and waste no time taking a quick change of clothes and heading to the town center to do what else than legally partake in drugs :)
In Amsterdam there are coffee shops and cafes. Coffee shops are not filled with warm beverages and cupcakes. Well, actually they are but all of the pastries in coffee shops are prepared with hash (or whatever.)
Taking it easy, as to not get sick, because the desserts and marijuana are typically stronger there, Bri and I split off with Eirini and wandered about the back streets. I had my first Chinese food take out experience- chopsticks and all. This is a big deal because I'm not a fan of Chinese food.
Also, smoking isn't as cool as you would think here because it's a bunch of tourist thinking, " OMG! I can smoke legally as much as I want so I have to get high and stay high." Maybe it's just not my thing.

The best part of Amsterdam was we didn't have any guided tours so we were free for the entire three days with no commitments (except Anne Frank's house.)

Day 25: 
Had a nice day of sleeping in then touring some hot spots in town. We hit the flower market- exactly what it sounds like. A Strip of tents filled with flowers along the river. We went to Museum Square but didn't pay to go inside. We took a million pictures on the "I AMSTERDAM" letters.We navigated our way through town, in the rain, via public transportation and friendly locals. 

Me, Bri and Nicole

Flower market...

Van Gogh Museum we did not go in :)

The Square. This is a palace. No big deal. Royalty lives here seasonally

That evening we met the rest of our group in the town center to go to Anne Frank's House. Also, it's Anna Frank's Huis. We've been calling her 'Anne' all these years. I haven't read the book since middle school, but she is such an iconic figure in history you don't forget her story. I was her age when I read, "The Diary of Anne Frank," so I think that is why it stuck with me all of these years. I would definitely like to re read the book now and see how differently I perceive it. 
The house is literally a museum of empty rooms. After they were discovered, everything in the annex was destroyed, stolen or confiscated. It's still a very inspirational sight for people to feel the energy of her diary while in the annex. She was so brave. "Wow!," is really all I can say about the experience. 
After the walk through Anne Frank's I was feeling very mellow and thoughtful. Eirini lead some of us to the beautiful neighborhood of Joordan. I fell hopelessly in love with Amsterdam the moment we stepped foot into Joordan. It is so homey, quaint and beautiful. 
The tall, leaning houses stacked one after the other line the streets along the river that flows through the city. There are countless bridges along the river. House boats line the banks of the river and bikes line the paths of the streets. Amsterdam is the No.1 city for bikes in the world if I remember my facts correctly. 

house/annex from outside

Houseboats :)

Joordan- so in love!

Bikes on bikes on bikes!

In love

Day 26: BUSY day! 

First: Bike tour through the country side of Amsterdam. Wow! Jaw-dropping beauty here, guys. Aside from my aching bottom from the years of bike riding experience I lack the bike tour became one of my favorite days of the trip. After walking through Joordan the previous night and the bike tour this day, Amsterdam shot to the top of my list. I honestly don't know enough adjectives to describe the beauty of this day (all of Europe really.) 
The weather was a perfect 70 degrees with a chocolate-scented breeze blowing our direction from the nearby chocolate factories. No sweating and the lack of a/c was the best part of the day because Southern Europe had been so hot. 
Thirty minutes into the ride we pulled over and had coffee on a dock overlooking the Zaan River. From there we biked around for an hour or so then pulled over for sack lunches in an open-air museum. Green windmills, goats, geese and grassy fields were not scarce here. Once we hit the back country road, I'd fallen in love with Amsterdam all over again. The wide open fields, lightly-traveled blacktop road and farm houses reminded me of home. 
After our sack lunches of turkey sandwiches and juice we walked over to the clog store where we watched a clog making demonstration. Legit stuff! These people have mad skills. Any design you want on a clog they can do it. I passed on buying a pair because I didn't want to add anymore weight to my already heavy luggage. I stuck to a clog magnet :)
From clogging we went to the cheese factory where we got a brief look of how the cheese is made and had many samples. 

Pier for coffee break

Lunch break. Loved all the bikes.

Clog demonstration

Clogs, on clogs on clogs

Windmill

Groupie!

Cheese factory

After the bike tour we return to our hotel, change and get ready for the evening. We went to a cheese tasting; not the best one of the trip as far as tasting, but they definitely didn't have a short supply of cheese. This was my first experience with fondu and I must say, I'm not a fan. That's about as thrilling as that gets, then we head to the live sex show. 
We all decided early on in the trip this was a touristy thing we couldn't skip. We also decided we should be high to experience it to void out some of the weirdness. Eirini obliged at our requests and set us up with two free drinks and two hours at the show; more than enough time. a live sex show is exactly what it sounds like. It is live porn without expression. The sex show consisted of an odd, rehearsed display of sexual acts. That's really all I can say about that adventure. I've also never been more thankful for the legal use of drugs in this city, ha. After the show we just cruised the red light district. Girls in lingerie lined the doors along the bottom level of the streets, as well as upper floors. This is the Amsterdam you hear about the most, and honestly it really is quite an unforgettable experience, and one every tourist, of the right age, should partake in. However, I love Amsterdam for everything it offers outside of the red light district and the town square filled with tourists.