This about sums up Italy perfectly

Fall Break Part 3: Amsterdam

Amsterdam was a really fun experience. We were there from Wednesday until we left to go back to Rome on Sunday. Amsterdam was a city unlike any other. Even though Amsterdam has a reputation of being a city that acts a certain way, I didn't feel that from just walking around. It was weird t me because as a city most of the people speak English and most of the restaurants are chain places, not local cuisine. In the words of a friend who is currently studying abroad in Amsterdam, "There really isn't a local cuisine here. It's known for it's French fries (with a lot of different sauces, they're amazing) but most of the places that I go to eat are chains of American type food."

Walking up the street to the fair

As I walked around the city the most noticeable thing are all of the bikes. This city is known for being bike friendly because it is so flat and has a bike lane on every street. I found myself having to avoid the bikes more than the cars themselves. They also have a great metro system of trams and buses that were very useful for getting around. We spent most of the day on Thursday and Friday roaming around the city without any plan. We did the Anne Frank House on Thursday morning which was very cool. It was interesting to finally see the house that I had heard so much about and it met all of my expectations.

On Saturday we met up with a friend of mine who is studying abroad in Amsterdam and he showed us to the "I am Amsterdam" sign. He made a good point that reinforced the idea that Amsterdam is lacking a certain local culture: The "I am Amsterdam" sign is in English, not Dutch. Later that day we went to the Heineken Factory. That was one of my favorite things because I love beer and am very interested in how it is made; so seeing a model factory was very cool.

"I am Amsterdam"

All in all it was an amazing 10 days. I spent a week in 3 cities, 3 countries with 3 different languages and 3 different currencies. Even missing the train added to the experience.

Next up Parents weekend. 

Fall Break Part 2: Praha

Prague is an amazing city. As you wander the city all you can see are castles everywhere. The cobble stone streets everywhere make the city feel like its one big movie set. We arrived from Budapest on a 5:30am train that took seven hours to get to Prague. If you have ever seen the Movie Eurotrip the train was exactly like that, six seater cars with individual doors on each six person section. Some of you may be asking why we would ever want to take a 5:30am train? Well we didn't; we missed our overnight train originally that was supposed to be a sleeper cabin with 6 beds. We ended up finding out that our tickets were still valid for the next day so we found empty seats and slept in the seats for 7 hours (or more like took 20minute naps for 7 hours).

Prague Castle

Ok now back to talking about Prague. We were only in Prague from Monday morning to Wednesday afternoon but that was plenty of time to explore the city. We walked around and just really roamed the city the first day we were there. We got some pork and potatoes for dinner and found some bars that were suggested from friends that have previously studied there at night.

Lennon Wall

On the second day we spent most of the day sightseeing. We walked over the the Charles Bridge which was really cool and took it over to the Prague castle. The castle was really cool because it is huge. It sits atop the hill across the river and it can be seen from almost everywhere in the city. We didn't pay to go inside of it but instead just walked around the grounds. I was taken back from all the detail work that is put into and how old it is. Its always amazing how in Europe everything is so much older than in the USA.

Later that day we went over to the Lennon Wall. I'm still not completely sure how this wall because famous and why it became a center for Graffiti but there is a large Lennon face on it. From what I learned it was a center from youth rebellion and they used Beatles lyrics to air their grievances and in turn it became known as the Lennon Wall.

Overall I really enjoyed Prague. It is relatively cheap because it is not on the EUR and it feels like a movie set that isn't part of Europe at all. It was certainly a great middle part for Fall break.

Astronomical Clock in Prague

I promise more posts to come soon including Part 3: Amsterdam and Parents Weekend rome edition.