Amsterdam and Bilthoven

There is no better way to spend two days in the middle of your trip than to stay with a family. After the train issues getting there anyway. The Smits were the most hospitable people that you can imagine. They wouldn't let us lift a finger. Jackie (the mom) barely let us do our laundry. It is nice to be babied after traveling, trust me. They took us to a fantastic dinner and we had a very nice visit talking about what we have done previously. They had 4 computers that we could use it was so nice! I couldn't believe it, it was nice to not have to fight for it. haha... The two younger kids were there Benjamin and Sophie. I love kids it was really refreshing to be with a family. Sophie was absolutely adorable, so was Benjamin.

The next day Bob and Jackie took us out and about in the area and showed us the most beautiful historic towns. It was really cool because neither of them had been to one of the towns that we visited it was called Marken. It was a really cute port town that you can really only walk around. They said that it was one of the only towns that still works around the town the same as it did in the past.

That evening we had a delicious meal at home and enjoyed the company of the two older girls who came to visit for desert. Desert was the real treat. Bob made delicious crepes from scratch with strawberries and icecream.. Yummy.. We enjoyed a quite evening after that we watched a movie and slept in nice and late the next day.

Upon arriving in Amsterdam we were a little overwhelmed, we certainly wish that we could have had more time there to see all of the sights. The first thing that we did was go on a boat tour of the city as well as go to the Van Gogh museum. What an incredible place! I am not a huge fan of all of his work, but some of his pieces are just incredible. I was hoping to see his really famous piece with the night sky, we cant remember the name of it at the moment.. Anywho it was really fun to see everything.

We got back to the hostel and these guys stopped us and said "hey you guys are in our room!!" They had been resting when we arrived and recognized us. It turns out that they are from Oakland! What a small world, another Californian in Europe haha.. We have meet so many people from California its crazy! Well we went out and about with them to see the night life. We went to a couple of bars and had a drink or two. Good times, learned a new card game.

The next day we went on a walking tour of the city because it is free of course. Well we were under the impression that it lasts about 2 1/2 hours maybe 3 it lasted like 3 1/2-4! We weren't complaining too much except for our hangovers. Our tour guide was so good, she didn't top our guide in Rome but she definitely came close.. We were a little worried because we had booked a reservation to go to see the Anne Frank house, luckily it got out just in time..

The Anne Frank house was really cool, she had so many hardships and so many fears. I cant believe how very brave she was. That was a huge highlight of the trip.

We hadn't eaten too much so we splurged on the Hard Rock, we were craving a good cheese burger and what better place? That night I stayed in because I was a little tired from the night before, but that didn't stop Alison and Ellen and the boys from going on the Pub crawl. They had a lot of fun, it sounded like. One of the bartenders blew fire that sounded pretty cool! But I like sleeping, and I don't regret it at all..

We could not believe how crazy it is to see all of the women in the windows in the Red Light. They literally stand in the windows and do everything but strip naked it is so gross. Most of them are really nothing to look at. We also didn't look too long it was very uncomfortable. I saw a couple of them calling and chanting for the guys walking on the street. It was a little too much for me, so we didn't stay around too long.

We left on the 26th and were sad to go, especially because we were leaving Ellen. It was such a blast to have her on the trip with us even for just a little while. She is such a doll, I think that we are going to have to get her to move to California for a little while.. haha... I guess we will be seeing her again soon so no worries..