Thursday, March 8, 2012

Amsterdam


Last weekend we traveled to Amsterdam.  I was pleasantly surprised by the town and LOVED it! We arrived Friday night and started the trip with a feast at Wok Wok (an Asian stir fry place near by) It was so nice to get food besides ITALIAN Food! As much as I love Italian food I was ready for a break.  We then visited a couple of coffee shops and saw the red light district.  It was so bizarre to see girls dancing in windows waiting for men to enter the shop.  I found it very distributing and weird.  The coffee shops were somewhat interesting in that there is a menu in which you chose what type of marijuana to purchase.  I have to admit I was an obvious tourist in that I took a million photos documenting this experience.  The next day we started with the Anne Frank Museum.  The museum featured artifacts, documentaries, and quotes that depicted the story of Anne Frank. The museum was incredible.  I was moved by the exhibits and artifacts left behind by Anne Frank.   After we went to the pancake bakery and ordered HUGE pancakes!  I was spontaneous and tried a pancake with bacon and cheese cooked it.  It was DELICOUS!  We then made our way to the Heineken museum, which was like a big party inside.  The entire museum had rooms with music and logos of Heineken.  I personally hate the taste of beer so I barely made it past the sampler before giving away my two complimentary remaining glasses of beer.  After the Heinekin tour we went to see the Amsterdam letters.  Later we ventured to a diamond tour in which we toured the Gassan Diamond headquarters and viewed diamonds.  I found my future wedding ring!   It was a 3-carat diamond J and cost 200,000 euro.  So I’m going to have to tell my future husband to start saving once I meet him.  Later we dined on Thai food and visited another coffee shop.  The next day we walked around the near by town and then headed back to Florence.  Overall Amsterdam was my favorite trip so far.  I loved how the city was modern, and up to speed with technology.   It was a huge difference compared to Italy. There was a Starbucks in Amsterdam that I visited morning.  It was so nice to have a “normal” American coffee.  I was in HEAVEN!
This week after returning to Florence I visited and survived the Florence emergency room and hospital.  I was making lunch on Monday and cut my finger on a can.  I realized that I was going to have to go to the emergency room after feeling a horrid pain in my finger.  Ironically, I found out I live one street away from the emergency room.  I walked myself over and got admitted.  I was able to get a hold of my parents and avoiding getting stitches! I had to get a tetanus shot, which was unfortunate but my finger is ok! Another thing I learned was that everyone in the hospital only speaks Italian.  I had quite a bit of difficulty explaining what happened in Italian.  It is funny now looking back on it but a nightmare when I was there. Also I learned the health care in Italy is very cheap.  It only costs me 26 euro for the visit and shot.  Not too bad!  Currently I have to wear a large bandage over my thumb and can’t get it wet.  Showering, writing, and typing are a little more challenging than usual.  Hopefully it will heal quickly!
Anyway I’m anticipating my sister’s arrival to Florence!  Mel comes in TWO DAYS! I’m so excited to see her and show her Florence.  Unfortunately I have midterms Monday through Wednesday but after we are traveling to Torino for the weekend to go skiing and snowboarding! Looking forward to it!

Ciao!

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