HAMBURG / AMSTERDAM

The next stop was Hamburg, a smaller city in northern Germany. Everyone we had talked to (including a girl who lives down the hall from me who is from Hamburg) strongly suggested we visit this little city, and guaranteed we were in for a good time if we wanted to take part in the night life. So, we decided to go. We were just there for one day and one night, and spent the better part of that rainy afternoon wandering through streets, doing a little shopping, seeing some of the sites… Kaitlin finally tried the “curry-wurst” everyone had been raging about in Germany – essentially a bratwurst with curry seasoning smothered with ketchup… but pretty tasty! By nightfall, we were ready to find out what everyone had been talking about…



Perrier wants to be a sailor...

After exploring a quaint village-type area in town and finding dinner, we were off to explore what our map called the “most sinful mile.” Little did we know, Hamburg was mostly known for having the largest red light district in Germany! But, despite the obscene amount of… obscenities… we managed to have a pretty fun evening! We found a bar that served 99cent drinks – a great way to start any evening – then found another nice jazzy bar and chatted with a few Germans for the rest of the evening… overall, a success.

cool sculptures on the "most sinful mile"

The next day we hopped on yet another train and headed to our final destination, AMSTERDAM. This was the first city that I would be revisiting after my trip to Europe with my family in the summer of 2002. It was a great feeling of déja-vu... I think this email that I sent my parents says it best…

hey! just got done seeing the house of Anne Frank, a very different experience from what I remember seeing when I was 14. I think I am able to understand the magnitude of it all a little better now, although I don't think I will ever be able to wrap my head around it... But visiting Dachau while we were in Munich definitely served as a physical manifestation of very real suffering... this trip has been powerful in so many ways.
…
Love you guys a lot, and I miss you! Amsterdam is the first place I have been back to that we all saw together, and my memories of the city are really vivid! And I'm thankful that we all got to see parts of Europe together, and that we will be able to do that again in just SIX WEEKS!!!!! I can't believe Christmas break is coming up that soon... I love you! and I'll talk to you when I get back to Paris -dani

It goes without saying that Amsterdam was amazing... Halloween was certainly a night to remember… And the next day we made it to the house of Anne Frank and saw more of the city by foot before it got dark and we decided to wander through the Red Light District (“it’s cultural!”). Every night ended with us (myself, Kaitlin, and the four other girls we met up with in Amsterdam, all from our Gonzaga program in Paris) eating the most AMAZING waffles known to man… my favorite was the chocolate and banana combination. They were to die for. Literally, I might be willing to die. For a waffle. It was that good.
Our last day in Amsterdam was spent wandering through parks, stumbling upon an amazing photography exhibit, and eating an incredible Indonesian meal – SO much good food… It was the perfect way to end an incredible trip.


Great Indonesian food

Lattes to GO! the concept doesn't really
exist in France... we were pretty excited
when we found a great little coffeeshop in
Amsterdam... No really, this one had COFFEE.

Picasso sculpture in a park

Monday morning, we caught a train back HOME, to Paris : )

now THAT'S American.