Once upon a rainy day in Cork I was sitting in class contemplating life when I decided it was time that I begin to see another part of the world. So I went back to the apartment and found an 80 euros roundtrip ticket from Cork to Amsterdam. Of course I couldn’t let that deal go to waste so I found 4 people from my early start class to go with me and we booked it. A couple days later I found myself on a plane headed for the Netherlands. We left at 6:30 on September 11th and arrived in Amsterdam at around 9. After arriving in Amsterdam we went straight to the hostel to check in. Since I initiated the trip I sort of designated myself as the tour guide, so I was in charge of figuring out what to do, where to stay, and how we would get around. From what I have heard hostels tended to be very dirty, kind of dumpy, and typically have some weird people staying there. My assumptions were completely correct but all in all my hostel experience was not bad at all and I would most definitely do it again. Thus, we ended up at Bob’s Youth Hostel located only 5 minutes from Dam Square, the main square where the Queen of the Netherlands lives in the Nieuwe Zijds Kolk area. After checking in with Bob we headed up to room A, a 15-bed room and settled in. The room was decorated with an interesting painting of an Arabic man who was saying something although it was written in Arabic so I couldn’t read it. Since we began our day at 4 in the morning and had a late concert to go the night before we decided to take a nap. After napping for a while we bought an unlimited tram pass for the duration of our stay and hopped on the tram for the Westerkerk, the area where Anne Frank hid during World War II and the Holocaust. We were able to actually walk through the building and the annex where the Frank family hid. Anne Frank and her family hid in an annex in the top of her father’s company warehouse building. Overall I thought the Anne Frank house was a very humbling experience and it helped me to understand the situations and conditions that Jewish people had to undergo during that period. Since I had read the Dairy of Anne Frank in the 8th grade I knew a bit about the situation however actually visiting the house helped me to reflect on the horrors of our past. After touring the Anne Frank House we walked around the Prinsengracht, a very picturesque and typical neighborhood in Amsterdam where the Anne Frank House is located. We then caught the tram to Dam Square where we looked around at all the sights in that area. After checking out the square and hitting up Albert Heijn, a Dutch grocery store, for some toiletries and water we then went to grab a bite to eat. Since Holland has a large population of Indonesian people we decided to try some Indonesian food. The food was very good, however like most places in the Netherlands they would not give out free water they would make us pay for it, just an annoying fact.
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