Amsterdam in Pictures

Partly because I'm lazy and partly because I don't think you can really understand this city without seeing it, I've decided to show you my weekend in Amsterdam through pictures.

The most surprising thing about Amsterdam: 

Amsterdam is not so much of a city in the bustling metropolis sort of way, but more in the everyone is relaxed, friendly and takes afternoon rides through canals sort of way. The entire city looks like the poshest neighborhood in any big city, where every single building is beautiful. There wasn't any "bad part" of the city (Yes, even the red light district looked nice despite all the naked... everythings.). It was the most gorgeous, quaint, little city I've ever been to.

The most "Amsterdam-y" picture:

We took a canal tour on our second day. As I was trying to take yet another picture of the cute stacked houses along the canals, this boat snuck into the frame. The only thing that could make this picture more "Amsterdam-y" (a word I proudly just made up) would be if the driver of the boat was drinking a Heineken.

My least favorite thing about Amsterdam: 

This picture doesn't quite capture how horrifyingly steep the steps are in all of Amsterdam. I don't know if they historically had shorter feet or just a knack for acrobatics, but I swear I experienced vertigo on these things. I had a little shoulder bag for the weekend, but I couldn't imagine carrying up a suitcase for a weeklong stay. They actually have these large hooks at the top of buildings that they use to make a pulley in order to lift mattresses and couches up and through windows, because you can't take them up the stairs. How about just make less diabolical stairs?!... but I digress. 

My favorite thing I did in Amsterdam:

Canal tours are nice and I'm sure the Van Gogh Museum is excellent, but my main reason for going to Amsterdam was to see the Anne Frank house. We waited for just over an hour to tour the house, but it was so worth it to me. I don't really know how I can correctly or adequately put into words what going through the house where Anne Frank and her family hid for two years was like. First, it's incredibly eerie. There isn't much in the annex, because almost everything was removed after her family was discovered. Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father, asked that the rooms remained empty in order for visitors to remember all that was lost during that time. However, the original bookshelf that hid the entrance to the annex and Anne's original diary remain in the house. Both are rather simple looking, but both gave me chills when I saw them. I could go on for several more paragraphs about the house, but in the interest of everyone's tear ducts I'll move on. 

The most difficult thing to take a picture of ever in the history of tourism: 

I love the "I Amsterdam" sign. In fact, I love it so much that I wanted to take a nice picture of it. Sadly that is impossible. I don't mind all the people climbing all over it that's part of the fun, but the sign is so long and there is a large fountain directly in front of it that you can't get back far enough to take a picture, hence my strange side angle shot.  It's not like I could even go to the end of the fountain to take the picture because there are these large abstract sculptures in the middle of the water!!! I know, first-world-picture-obsessed-tourist problems. This picture isn't so bad though. Maybe I'll invest in photoshop and erase some of the randos in front of the "I am" part. 

Although its stairs are insane and its fountains are poorly placed, Amsterdam was a beautiful, strange, crazy city, and I'm very grateful that I got to explore it.