JERCK-ing in Amsterdam.

It was Jenny, me, Rob, Chris, and Katelyn--aka JERCK. Jenny came up with it. I can't take credit...acronyms were never my specialty.

Anyways. Back to the point. Our very last week in England...we took a trip to Amsterdam.

We took the overnight bus there. Like always, it made for a great night's sleep and a wide-eyed, glowingly fresh look the following morning. We got off the bus in Amsterdam...only to get on another bus to reach the city center.

We had arrived at around seven, so nothing was open. The streets were empty--the city was just beginning to wake up. We just walked around, getting a feel for the city. I didn't realize until later in the day when we were surrounded by hundreds of people how spectacular this time was. It was really just us and Amsterdam.

in front of one of the canals.
our group, except for katelyn (who was taking the picture).

We stopped at a little bakery to get some breakfast. I got a strawberry cream croissant and a chocolate croissant. We took them to-go and walked over to the canal. We dangled our legs over the side, enjoyed the view, and ate. The chocolate croissant was good--the strawberry one was to die for.

chocolate croissant + THIS = breakfast of your life.

Amsterdam is just a beautiful city. Chris had studied abroad in Amsterdam before and knew where everything was...which honestly, was wonderful and made everything even better.

Amsterdam!

We ended up in the Vondle Park, where we slung off our backpacks and just chilled for a while.

beautiful park. good friends. great time.

We were waiting to meet up with a friend of Jenny's from the Hague. So while we waited, we did lots of walking, some looking around in stores, some sitting down and relaxing. Lot of atmosphere enjoying. And then we decided to do a cheap-o lunch so we went to the supermarket.

banana strawberry smoothie. pringles (no duh),
fresh baguette (still warm), and boursin cheese (fave french cheese).
it was so good.
i mean, really really good.

We finished lunch. Jenny's friend finally joined us. And then Chris took us all to a bike rental place, and we went for a bike ride! We rode over bridges, past canals and windmills, and into the countryside. It was beautiful! Such a lovely day. While the city was fantastic, the countryside was just gorgeous. Unfortunately, I was so busy riding my bike, that I entirely forgot to take pictures. Except for when we stopped at this little gem.

rob, jenny, and i with our bikes.
in front of a windmill.
YES.

We finally got to a little town, parked our bikes, and went to a little outside cafe/bar for drinks.

orangina ftw.
never has a drink been so refreshing.

We rested for a bit before pedaling back to Amsterdam. We were starving by this point. So we went to a Japanese Wok place and got some takeout. We ate right next to the canal again. I mean, how many times in your life are you going to be able to eat next to a canal?

Rob. Me. Canal. Food. 

And that's where the fun stopped. Well, kind of stopped. You see, Katelyn and I both took our laptops with us to Amsterdam. Mostly because our final essay for our Shakespeare class was due on Sunday night...and it was already Saturday night. I was not only finishing up that essay, but also working on my final essay for my History of the Reformation class that was due on Tuesday. Katelyn still had most of her Shakespeare essay to do. These essays were worth 45% of our grade. Although both Katelyn and I tend to procrastinate until the last possible minute (as evidenced by our many late night semi-productive study sessions), we were both freaking out.

We went to Mcdonalds, bought Mcflurries, and camped out in the back to use their wi-fi. Management couldn't see us, which was good, because we were there for hours. Rob and Jenny were also doing some work. Chris read a book. Productive night in Amsterdam.

Study Sesh. AKA being productive.

Did I mention that we were there for a very long time? Because we were. We left the Mcdonalds late at night so that we could take the tram to our hostel. 

We got detoured, however, by the gorgeousness of Amsterdam at night. All the city lights reflecting on the canals, the bridges, the everything. It was just beautiful. And then we came to an outdoors concert. A man was just singing in one of the squares with his guitar and he was really good. He had a crowd of people just sitting on the ground all around him. We joined their ranks. It was such a beautiful night. And I love music. And the atmosphere of Europe. Just magical. There was a man sitting slightly to the left of us that was incredibly high. He did interpretive dance throughout. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing--it was just ridiculous sometimes. 

Jenny and I had our own room so Katelyn and I camped out there to continue working on our papers. I ended up falling asleep...with all intentions of waking up early. I didn't. Oops. Katelyn continued working on throughout the night, literally falling asleep as she wrote. The crowning sentence of her paper as she theorized about The Tempest was "That awkward moment when the tram arrives really quickly so you have to step on super awkwardly, e.g. what's on the lawn right now." She caught it later. Obviously, she had been super tired.

Eventually, all of us got at least a couple hours of sleep.
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We woke up the next morning, still tired. Couldn't be helped. We just knew we would sleep well on the overnight bus back from Amsterdam to London that night. We ate a breakfast at the hostel, which was actually pretty good. My entire time in Europe, I had very positive experiences at all the hostels (with the exception of when Katelyn got bedbugs in Marseilles). I don't get why people are so fussy about them...they're a great place to sleep as long as you're not picky.

We then headed back out to the city center. One of the streets we walked down just reminded me SO much of downtown Holland...just on a much bigger scale. It was a quiet morning.

downtown Holland, Michigan, anybody?
also, katelyn & chris being adorable.

Everything was closed in that area so we headed for a different part of Amsterdam. We walked through a bit of the Red Light District. It was sketch during the day. I'm sure it's super sketchy at night. It's just so sad. 

Katelyn really had to go back to the Mcdonalds to finish her paper, so we split up for a bit. Katelyn and I needed to work on schoolwork and Chris came with us just because he's such a nice person and fantastic boyfriend. Jenny and Rob decided to explore Amsterdam a little bit more, but to come back to the Mcdonalds at 2:00 and we would decide what to do then.

Katelyn and I worked. And worked and worked and worked. Jenny and Rob came back. By this point, I had gotten to the point where I felt like I could do something fun again. I had emailed my final essay in to my Shakespeare professor and had gotten a lot of research done for my History of the Reformation class. Katelyn was still working on her Shakespeare essay though, so she and Chris stayed at the Mcdonalds while Rob, Jenny, and I headed out to check out a museum. 

First, we played on the big Amsterdam sign though.

Then, we split up. Rob went to the National Museum. Jenny and I went to the Van Gogh Museum. Holy cow, was that a fantastic museum. So much AMAZING art. The museum followed his entire career, and you just see and feel his artistic mission and journey. It was moving. 

Jenny and I with our museum tickets.

We went back to the Mcdonalds and hung out for a while with Katelyn and Chris.

Katelyn was still working on the paper, so Jenny, Rob, and I decided to rent a paddle boat and go down the canals. Great decision. We struggled a bit with the steering, but it was an absolute blast.

Afterwards, we met up with Katelyn and Chris, and it was time to BOOK it back to the bus station to catch our bus. We made a brief pit stop in the supermarket to grab something to eat for dinner later. We were sweating it a bit, but the important thing is, we MADE IT. I scarfed down my food, got on the bus, and slept like a rock.

We pulled into London very early in the morning, took the train back to Cambridge, and had Chris back in time for his 8:00 meeting. Katelyn and I grabbed some breakfast at the Pembroke Cafe. Then I went back home. Crashed again.

Woke up. Went to class. And life resumed as usual.

I <3 Amsterdam.