Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Goals Achieved. Day 31.


July 22nd
 
Today we had a few major goals [small major goals] to accomplish.  First, we set out to find the Heiniken Brewery to partake in the Heiniken Experience.
The Heiniken Experience was fun, and we learned a lot as well! It took us through the history of the beer and told us about the….creators? Founder? Beer…makers?



Anyway, that was pretty interesting.  It also taught us about beer and the correct way to drink it. We also had the opportunity to send Heiniken-themed pictures and videos to our loved ones at home….



 We got many free samples of beer and then were led into the gift shop.  I think they really thought this one through… I can just imagine what went on in their minds….
            “Yeah, we’ll give them just enough beer to get them a little buzzed and then they’ll just happen to find themselves in the gift shop! It’s brilliant! They’ll never know what hit their wallets!”


 After our “mini” shopping trip at the gift shop, we walked to our next destination: A canal cruise.


Honestly, the canal cruise was not my very favorite thing. It was an enclosed boat, so it wasn’t quite how I was hoping it would be.  I like being on boats where you can feel the breeze. I felt too contained in this boat…lol. I’m sooo picky when it comes to my canal cruises in Amsterdam ;)

Anyway, after the canal cruise, we found our way to Anne Frank’s Hiding Spot. 

This place was incredible.  There was so much history.. I am so happy I got to see it all.  It was kind of in a museum-format. There was some history on WWII and some on Anne Frank as well.  Then it gradually took you up to the actual hiding spot.  They still had some of the original wallpaper that had writing on it documenting how tall the children were getting. It was amazing.  They even had the actual diary there, along with some of Anne Frank’s other writings.  Apparently she had planed on her diary being published and had multiple drafts with edits and such.  It was so interesting.  The whole place was beautiful and haunting. I’m so glad I got to experience it..
 After the museum, we went back to the hostel and found a little grocery store to pre-game a bit before we went out. On our way to the grocery store, we pondered on how many ways there were for us to get ran over in Amsterdam. Not only were there cars, there were trams, bikes, and so much more. It's surprising we never got hit, all of these modes of transportation always seemed to come from all over the place..
Once we were out an about, we met a couple guys and asked them if they knew how we could get to the Red-Light District. We wanted to see what it was like there at night. They showed us the way...

It was so surreal to see it in person..I had an idea of what to expect, but it was strange to see it actually happening. We would walk by windows and there's just be almost-naked ladies standing in there beckoning anyone who would enter. It was crazy. As we walked, Jill and I found a lingerie store and ran in to browse. Jill found something she liked, but didn't have the money for...one of the guys bought it for her!! LOL. It was too funny because he had a uni-brow among other things..but apparently he had all kinds of money to spare. Funny memory..

After awhile, we made our way back to the hostel and slept.




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