Day 7 – Paris Day 2 - Wednesday May 30th

Chris and I got up pretty early and headed straight for the Stade Roland Garros to watch the French Open. We saw two matches, Gasquet v. Vliegen and Chela v. Monfils.

I hadn’t heard of any of them, but the arenas were pretty crowded. The fans were really split for both players in each game, so we heard all sorts of chants and yells. Many of the people around us spoke English, and it was easy to get around and talk to people. We had lunch. I had a hot dog that was served on baguette and with weird tasting ketchup that was very good. We bought some Roland Garros tennis balls to have as souvenirs.

We made it back to the hotel at about 5:30 where I went with Dr. Evans, Dr. Turkett, and a girl to see a symphony play baroque style music, including Pachabel and others. I was blown away. The symphony was beyond talented, and performed in the Sainte Chapelle, the surroundings of the stained glass windows and the great acoustics made for a great setting. The violin player was especially gifted, and he added a lot of emotion to all of the pieces. We left through the Palais de Justice where apparently there had been protestors all day outside. I only saw two, but security was very tight.

We ate at a small diner type place that had free wi-fi. The food wasn’t very good, but the service was excellent and free wi-fi meant I could borrow a GPS and check my mail. The ice cream they had was incredible.

We headed back on the metro and I called it a night. I had had a long day even though I spent most of it watching tennis matches. It was already making me sad that I had to leave in only a day.

Day 6 – Paris Day 1 - Tuesday May 29th

We got up at about 8:30 and headed to a local bakery across the street. I got two croissants that were better than any croissant I can remember. We headed for the Louvre, but it was closed. Hazards of traveling I guess. We headed instead to Notre-Dame, and on the way, we saw the Seine and several monuments. I took a picture of a policeman who helped us to cross the street while he directed traffic. I caught him right when he noticed the camera. He didn’t want me taking a picture, so I acted like I hadn’t and kept going.

The Notre-Dame looked beautiful. It was hard to grasp how difficult and time-consuming it must have been to build something so intricate. Rob pointed out to me that it marked a major turning point in architecture. We went inside and looked around. Some people were praying, but the majority was walking around taking pictures. It seemed wrong that a church as beautiful as the Notre-Dame was used more for tourism than worship. It must be hard to go to a church like that. I’m not complaining though; I was taking just as many pictures as everyone else.

We then walked from the Notre-Dame to the Arc de Triomphe (about 6 miles or so). We saw many monuments, parks, and buildings along the way. The Jardin des Tuileries was gorgeous with all its statues and fountains. Rob and I looked for one of Minerva, but we came up short. Anyway, We continued on down the Avenue des Champs Élysées. Gypsies would come up to us and ask if we spoke English, so they could give a sob story and ask for money. I usually just said, “No, solo español.” It worked every time, though I could have just ignored them. We walked under the street and up to the Arc de Triomphe. After climbing to the top, we enjoyed a great view of the city.

We enjoyed a nice cafe on the Avenue des Champs Élysées. After lunch, we just decided to head to Versailles. We went to the nearest metro, bought train tickets, headed to the train station at Montparnasse and made it to platform 19, where we took a twenty-minute ride to the town of Versailles. It was about a 20 minute walk from the train station to the château. The whole front side was under construction, so it wasn’t too pretty until we made it to the back side. We took a vote on whether to tour the gardens or the house; the garden won. I had already seen the inside, so I didn’t mind. The garden tour was nice, but you had to pay extra to see the hamlet or to take a boat out. I thought that was pretty gimmicky. We passed on both and just took pictures from afar. We made it back to the hotel by 7:00 to catch up with people for a group dinner. We went to an expensive restaurant, but I hadn’t spent much during the day, so I didn’t mind. We went to a bar afterwards and walked back at 12:00.

Day 5 – Travel to Paris - Monday May 28th

We awoke at about 7:00am and quickly packed, ate breakfast, and headed for the tram by 7:45. We took the tram to the Central Station and found our train. Oddly enough, Sawyer from the show “Lost” was there as well, apparently traveling to Paris with his wife. Mt friend Amelia and I approached him and asked if he was in fact Sawyer from “Lost.” He smiled and replied, “Sometimes,” and coolly walked off with his wife. I saw him on the train, but I never approached him for a picture. I felt bad since his wife was with him and they seemed to want their privacy. The train ride was only about four hours, and it was over sooner than later.

It was raining in Paris when we arrived, but we traveled by metro, so it was not all that bad. After only one train switch, we made it to our hotel, Hotel lu Serre on Rue Cler, just about three blocks from the Eiffel Tower. The rooms were much nicer than those in Amsterdam. Being on the top floor also helped, though the absence of an elevator made it difficult with a backpack. Some of the girls and I headed to the Eiffel Tower to take a look around. We stopped for crepes and asked some green berets for pictures, but they refused.

We returned to the hotel and got ready for dinner. It was at a fondue place that previous Eurotours had been on. The great thing was that we got to write our trip on the wall along with the names of the previous ones. They served us meat and cheese and wine out of baby bottles. It was all a great experience.

After dinner, we ventured up to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur and took a look inside and out. It was raining, but the view from the highest point in the city was still wonderful. After a while, we decided to head towards the Moulin Rouge. We found it relatively quickly and took pictures, though it was not at all what I had thought it would be. It was much more modern, and therefore tacky, than I had expected. I was still glad to have gone though, and we used the trains to find our way back to the hotel. We sat down for a time at a local bar, but went to bed pretty early.

Day 4 – Amsterdam Last Day - Sunday May 27th

Chris and I woke up around 8:45 and ate another traditional breakfast. Mr. Turkett, Chris, and I soon headed out to see the Rembrandt House, and after taking the 14 tram down to Waterloo Plein, we made it there a little before 10am.

The House was mostly just recreations of the original made from references to sketches made by Rembrandt himself. The house was originally from the 1600’s, and the exterior was still the original. I found out that although many of the exteriors appear to be very old, most of the interiors have been completely reconstructed. The house also contained a large collection of paintings that Rembrandt owned and would have sold, but it did not carry any of his own paintings. The entirety of the Rembrandt collection at the house were etchings and sketches, and preliminary drawings for his more famous works.

After the house, Chris went on his way while Mr. Turkett and I met up with Dr. Evans to attend the final International Dance Theater performance of the season. The show was incredible. The dancers were all very talented, and they preformed dances from the Netherlands, Russia, Cuba, and the United States among others. In between each dance were performances by the live band they had playing the music for the dances. Towards the end of the show, a male dancer spun down to one knee, everyone stopped dancing, and he proposed to his girlfriend. The whole audience took pictures and everyone was cheering them on. They soon left the stage. The women in the show were very beautiful, noticeably so, and it seemed to be the common trend of the Netherlands.

After the show, Dr. Evans, Mr. Turkett, and I went to a flea market and to a delphware store. We soon headed back to the hotel, but we decided to walk which took longer. We happened upon the red-light district on the way back, but it wasn’t anything special. The women just stood in their lingerie staring at the crowds through their windows. We really just strolled on by. It wasn’t anything to stick around in, and we moved quickly through it.

Once back at the hotel, I met up with Chris and we decided that we wanted to see a windmill. Everyone was still out touring the city, so we rented some bikes from a nearby store, got directions, and headed out to Ouderkerk, a small town that was parallel to the Amstel River. It took us about an hour to get there, but we finally found a windmill. After a quick photo op, we headed on back to the hotel. On the way back, we stopped to take in the scenery. We found goats to take pictures of, and we found some beautiful countryside views. Biking in Amsterdam was fun, but many of the cars would follow too closely or cut narrowly past us. It was difficult to navigate some of the streets as well, but we stayed relatively on track the whole time.

We made it back around 6:30, and we met up with a large group of people (Brent, Sam, Drew, Nick, Rob, and four girls) to go out to dinner. We went to a place near the hotel that also served Italian; it was purely by coincidence that we ate Italian two nights in a row. Both restaurants still had a Dutch flavor to them, so I didn't feel bad. I got the spaghetti carbanara.

We headed out to Leidse Plein where most of the younger crowd hangs out at night. We sat down at a table outside, and some people got drinks. We stayed for a bit, but then headed back. The group wanted to see the red-light district at night, so I saw twice in one day. The crowd was livelier at night and more crowded, but the situation was still the same. The main differences were the actual red lights and the huge amount of people. We moved quickly through it, and some of us ended the night early and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow is Paris.

Day 3 – Amsterdam Day 2 - Saturday May 26th

We woke up at 8:00am well rested and ready to explore. We had a traditional style breakfast, cheese and ham with a hardboiled egg and a variety of breads. Then Chris, Mr. Turkett, and I headed to the Anne Frank House at about 9:15. The line was already wrapped around the corner when we got there, but it moved quickly. The Westerkerk church was right next to us the entire time as well, so we had some beautiful scenery to look at.

The Anne Frank House was very touching. The tour had two main parts. The first was a tour of the house and what it must have looked like. Paired with quotes from her diaries, each room carried a little bit more weight with it. There was a real story here from a remarkable young girl. The second part of the tour was focused on her time at the concentration camp and what happened to her father afterwards. Although she died in the camps, her father made sure that her legacy continued and her diaries were published. The most interesting parts of the entire exhibit were her actual diaries that they had mounted behind glass. The house also contained a little program called Free2choose, where we watched clips on current issues on personal freedom and voted on our own opinions on each subject.

After that, Chris and I met up with Drew, Sam, Nick, Rob, and Brent (who came from London to visit). We headed towards the Koninklijk Paleis, the royal family palace in Dam Square. We stopped at a pancake house and had our first real pancakes on the trip. They were incredible. We headed back to the palace, but it was closed due to complications. We then headed back to the hotel and regrouped.

Next, we decided to go to the Heineken brewery. We took the trams for the first time, and they were not too difficult to figure out at all. Once we made it to the brewery, the line was very long, but they had entertainment going on with people from the factory checking in on us and other street performers. Once inside, we underwent the Heineken experience, which was just a large tour of the brewing process filled with games, movies, and even a ride that made you feel like you were a bottle going through the bottling process. We headed back on the tram.

Chris and I got off at a stop near Dam Square. Once we got off, we thought we saw a quick way to the square, so we headed in that direction. An old man on a bike was singing “Lady in Red.” I laughed in my head, but I cannot remember if I said anything in English to Chris or not. We walked quickly towards the square, but the man began to follow us, yelling “Hey!” We ignored him. Eventually he said, “I ought to cut you with my knife godammit.” We turned around at the sound of that. He cut us off with his bike and said, “This can either be hard or easy. I only want 10 euro. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll stab you and take your wallets. Give it to me and don’t ask questions.” I got my wallet out, and I suppose he saw more money in it, so he shoved his hand in and grabbed all 55 euros. He did the same for Chris. He told us to get out of there, and we walked astonished to Dam Square. I was ashamed. I felt so helpless. In retrospect we should have run, or beaten him up. He was old and fragile and on drugs. We could have had him. The shock was just too overwhelming. I wanted to find him and beat him up, break his bike or sink it in a canal, and stomp his face. I became just furious. He probably did not even have a knife. Chris and I just hoped he spent all the money on drugs, overdosed, and died. We’d be ready next time if it happened again. We gave up on Dam Square and went back to the hotel for a nap. Dr. Evans was nice enough to come check on us and talk it out.

At about 8:30 we headed out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. The interesting part of Dutch dining though is that they will never bring your check unless asked for it, and they don’t expect a tip. Both concepts really through me off, but we got over it pretty fast. Then we headed to a local bar and talked to some of the locals. The bar was crowded with people from all over the world. It was a very comfortable place and very fun too. Some of us then headed back to the hotel, which was just a block away, and went to bed.

Day 2 – First Day in Amsterdam - Friday May 25th

We landed in Amsterdam at about 7:00am and headed for the train station. Once there, we had a little time to go exploring the station and to exchange some money into euros (pronounced “ooh-rows”). We noticed pretty quickly that many of the women in Amsterdam were very attractive people. That trend continued all day.

We made it into Central Station around 10:30 and into our hotel rooms around 11:00. The owner came out and said “Oy,” or hi. Our bedroom weren’t luxurious or anything, but they had everything we needed, so there were no complaints.

Trying to be adventurous, Chris and I headed off to see the Van Gogh museum on foot. The walk took a very long time, but we did see a large variety of locals. There were an astounding number of bikes, more than cars even, and we regretted not renting one once we realized how far the Van Gogh museum actually was from our hotel. The museum was wonderful, though nearly two floors were under renovation. We saw much of Van Gogh’s work, including the work of his contemporaries and influences. After we were there for a while, we headed out, intending to head towards Central Station to look around there. We ended up stopping and visiting the local park named Vondelpark. It was beautiful, and it was nice to see the local people all about, lying out or biking or playing with dogs.

We left, but ended up coming out on the wrong side, so we spent several minutes trying to find our way back. We did so casually and stopped several times to sit down and enjoy the town. One bakery we stopped in had some wonderful bread and cheese that we tried out. We quickly learned how easy it was to talk to locals at the bakery. Most of them understood English very well, and many could speak it fluently with a nice accent that I had never heard before.

We ended up eating dinner at a restaurant on Overtoom. The waitress was exceedingly nice, and she took very good care of us. The food was alright, but nothing extraordinary. We weren’t looking for fine dining this night though. We stayed for a while before we got a cab called. We made it back to our hotel around 9:30 or 10:00 and went to bed since we were so exhausted from the plane ride and a long day of sightseeing.

Day 1 – Flight to Amsterdam - Thursday May 24th

Fleming came over at about 8:30, and we all headed downstairs for breakfast. We wasted no time heading to go sightseeing. We ended up getting joint tickets for the Top of the Rock (the Rockefeller Center) and the Museum of Modern Art. I saw some impressive art at MOMA, including Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” Picasso’s “The Musicians,” and Lichtenstein’s “Girl with Ball.”

We headed towards Kennedy airport at 1:30 in the same car from yesterday. Getting my bags checked took a while, but I made it to my gate pretty fast. Our plane left a little after 6:00, and luckily, I had an aisle seat next to Drew. I tried to get some rest, but I really just dosed off for minutes at a time, no real sleep.

One Day to Go - Wednesday May 23rd

My mom and I got up early to travel to New York City via Delta and landed a little after 2:00. We were picked up all professionally with the man standing at the end of the escalator with a sign, “Suitt.” My brother met us at the hotel, the Omni, at about 4:15, and we headed to 5^th Avenue to look around. I was able to see some street performers and a few stores, including this giant candy store over near Park Avenue where we bought some coke floats.

We ate at around 7:30 at this restaurant called Buddakan that was really cool. It was over near where my brother lives, near Madison Square Gardens. My Uncle and Eddie came with us. The food was family style, so the portions were pretty generous. It was Asian food, but it seemed to have a more continental flair, which was great. I liked it a lot and would go back given the chance. We finished off the evening looking at my brother’s condo which has a great view of the city, including the Statue of Liberty, and then returned to the hotel, one night before I would be sleeping in Amsterdam.