Internet is a beautiful thing that allows you to access massive amounts of information at one time. The internet also facilitates communication across borders both geographical and cultural. It is interesting to see how absolutely dependent I have become on internet and how much it affects my daily life. It seemed a lot easier for me to book all my travel plans and housing online, which it was. The thing is it is easier to conceal things when the internet is used. I booked an AirBnB for Amsterdam for four people and thought nothing of it. I get to Amsterdam with Nicole we take the "15"minute tram ride which was actually 50 minutes and arrive into a rather poor area of town. From there we walk to our apartment for the weekend, it is a several story concrete building with worn-out shoes sitting in front of the different apartments. When we reach the one that belongs to us we realize exactly how bad it is. The shower is a facet in the wall with two curtains as the boundaries. There was no heating and the man was still in the living in the apartment while we were supposed to stay there. It is hard to describe everything but both Nicole and I felt super uneasy about the whole situation. Right there and then we decided that we would not stay there during our stay in Amsterdam. Luckily, Nicole managed to find a hotel room that fit four people, was centrally located, and relatively inexpensive. I informed Angelica and Austin who would be joining us later of the change of plans. When we got to the new hotel I started the process of informing AirBnB of what happened. The problem is since AirBnB is an automated online service I did not have the flexibility to describe what as actually wrong with the situation. So unfortunately I could not get a refund.
The rest of my Amsterdam visit was so pretty good. I managed to get my sister's iPhone which had been giving to me to use while in Europe because the screen kept breaking and other things were wrong. It turns out that there was a manufacturing defect with the battery and it was expanding. The repair people never told my sister this, but when I should it to a friend they instantly told me what was wrong. I went to the Apple store in Amsterdam to see if they could do anything. All the employees freaked out the second they saw the phone. They asked me to set it down and not touch it again while they arranged special transport for the phone and a replacement for me. The expanding battery in the phone could explode at any moment and as a serious safety hazard. I was able to get a free replacement because it was a manufacturing defect.
After I got my new phone we started exploring Amsterdam. We went on a canal cruise, saw the Anne Frank museum, Body Worlds, the torture museum, and the flower market. The Anne Frank museum was really interesting and thought provoking. I was really happy that we had received some background knowledge about the strategies of the Third Reich for controlling the masses from a museum in Cologne. Having this knowledge made what happened to Anne and her family seem more realistic, not just a legend. My favorite museum was Body Worlds. It was a museum full of plastinated organs, organ systems, and cadavers. All the exhibits were oriented to show how the health of your organs attribute to your happiness and vise versa. I was finally able to see things in close detail that had been described in my anatomy class. I also admired the great skill it took to prepare the exhibits. I also really enjoyed all the beautiful sites Amsterdam had to offer. I also bought a beanie with a fur ball on top of it that I have been wanting since I came to Germany.
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