NETHERLANDS

The charm of Amsterdam is pure and refined-

don't be swindled into thinking differently. 

"Everyone who did a semester abroad talked about the weed and the women of the Red Light District, that all sounds so lame now. Walking out of Anne Frank's House down a few blocks along some of the city's famous canals, I reflect on the prophetic nature of Frank as a young woman. If she was a Catholic she'd be canonized by now. I sit down at a canal side cafe and order a coffee. I stare at the row of boats floating below the row of houses. So Dutch, they float in unison perfectly. I think Frank must have been a prophet, to be that young and with such a grasp of the moral calamity around her--she was both telling the world to wake up and stay awake in the future."

--Luke's Journal

CITIES VISITED:

MUST DO:

FAVORITE MEMORY:

Amsterdam

Visit the Anne Frank House.

Picnic in Vondelpark.

If it's raining, go to the Van Gogh Museum.

Canal cruise and the central area.

Take an afternoon west of the central city and hit up the hipster Bos en Lommer & De Baarsjes --two great neighborhoods.

Standing in awe and admiration for the bicycle infrastructure the city has and the citizenry uses. Makes you wish one city in America would do it.

DIFFICULTY TO VISIT RATING:

1/5  EASY

 Don't get hit by a bike or fall into a canal and you'll be fine. Very safe and accommodating place.