Week 12: Amsterdam

Guten Tag!

This past week has been a busy but quick one! We’ve had a lot of Enmodes meetings to prepare for our final presentations next week and things seem to be coming together slowly but surely. We also went to Bingen to the Hildegard museum and had a lovely lunch right next to the Rhine River and learned about the flowers in the garden outside of the museum and the enigma that was Hildegard the nun.

On Friday, I went shopping with Katie, Kate, and Artavia. It was the first time I’ve been shopping since coming to Germany so I got carried away with the spending, but I figured it would be an early birthday present to myself! European style has really rubbed off on me and I hope I can take some of that style back to America and influence the other American’s on campus because over-sized shirts and shorts are no longer going to work for me!

On Saturday, the girls, Harrison, and I met up at the Bonn Hauptbahnhoff at 6am to leave for Amsterdam. We took 5 different trains to get there and didn’t miss a single connection, which is pretty amazing! We spent Saturday walking around the city, eating Dutch pancakes, and enjoying the perfect weather out in the garden. I was enjoying the sun so much that I fell asleep on the grass and it was so relaxing, heavenly even. 

Later that night we went back to our hotel in Almere and talked all night. It was really nice to bond with them because I’d only traveled with Kate and the others were all new travel companions for me. We really enjoyed one another’s company and it’s nice that we are switching things up during our last month together.

On the Sunday, we ate pancakes. The restaurant was literally called Pancakes. and it was DELICIOUS. I got a large Dutch pancake the size of a medium pizza, topped with bananas, almonds, and chocolate. The only reason we went there was because my host sister recommended it to me before I left, and it did not disappoint. After that, we went shopping. Everyone walked out of the Pull&Bear store carrying bags and we were all content with our daily dose of consumerism. We headed back to the park after then took an uber to the train station since we were running late that evening. 

My thoughts on Amsterdam is that the city is really amazing and crazy futuristic! Everyone was riding bikes everywhere and all the buildings looked super modern and the streets clean. Most of the people walking around were young and I could tell that it's definitely a city for the youth. It seemed like a very rich city yet the food was all decently priced which is definitely a plus in my book. 

That night, we made it all the way to Cologne until we had a problem with the connections, and it was just because our train to Bonn was late due to signaling errors, so no big deal. Later that night, I got home and went right to the kitchen to eat some dinner. I was very hungry after the hectic day of traveling- walking and on the trains.

Overall, this past week was a lot of fun, but every time I write a blog post, I know I have one less week in Germany. I’m not ready for my stay here to end; not even close.

Now, I must work on my pharmacology project since I have my presentation on male birth control tomorrow. I think it’s an interesting topic and I’m pretty excited to present! This next week, I look forward to my birthday on Friday and to be done with Enmodes too! That is like a present in itself, just to have this big accomplishment that we've been working towards all semester.

Anyways, thanks for reading and Bis Spater!