Day 7 - Amsterdam, full day

Today was my last day of travelling before I leave for Tanzania tomorrow. I am so excited to get on that flight (despite it being 10 hours!!). I spent the full day exploring as much of Amsterdam as I could. I started out by heading to the house of Anne Frank, where she hid for over 2 years from the Nazi's. I had to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to get in, as there was a big line up on the street. It was certainly worth the wait. It was a really interesting visit. They had excerts from her diary throughout the home, which ultimately led you to the secret annex where her and her family hid. You got to walk behind the bookcase hiding the opening in the wall, and see where they all were living. It was so sad reading some of the excerts, and watching videos about the war and the power of the Nazi's. I am really glad I waited in the cold to see this.

Afterwards, I set to explore a few different sites in town, including old churches, the palace, a shopping district contained in a series of nine streets around three canals, and the red light district (how can you not visit it in amsterdam?). The city is quite beautiful with it tall homes overlooking the canals, and the historic buildings scattered throughout the city.

I then went to the Vincent van Gogh museum, which has the largest collection of his art in the world. Some of the exhibits were really cool, including one section that showed hidden paintings underneath pictures. They said that canvasses were very expensive at the time, and artists commonly paininted over old paintings, after treating it in a certain way. I got to see van Gogh's Almond Blossom, which I absolutely love. It was so cool to see it in person. I wanted to take a picture, however I was caught in the act so was unable to do so. I did manage to take some other pics in the museum though.

It was a short visit to Amsterdam, but I learned alot about the city, and saw some really awesome things! Just enough time to do what I wanted, and now I am super excited to head off to Tanzania! My posts will likely be less, but I hope to update you all every once and a while.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I wish you all a Happy New Year. Sending my love!

At the Anne Frank house.

Busy streets filled with cool shops and lots of people!

Lunch! Apparently the best fries in town. They were pretty good!

Me in front of the Palace.

Bikes - the main form of transportion in Amsterdam. You have to always look out for the bikers, and make sure you don't get hit!

Lovely buildings and canals.

Vincent van Gogh museum.

Exploring the art!

Day 6 - Off to Amsterdam

Today I arrived in Amsterdam, very tired that's for sure. I finally made it to my hotel around 5, and settled in nicely. The hotel is super modern, and really cool. The shower and toilet are surrounded by circular glass doors, and have lights above which you can control the colour of. The bathroom is essentially integrated into the room, and then there is a giant bed and tv. See the pics to help you understand.

After orienting myself, I headed into town to explore. The city is full of canals and bridges, and neat stores with interesting things. Of course there are also 'coffee shops', however the city is full of much more history than I thought. I decided I would treat myself to a nice dinner, after all of the travelling and site seeing I have completed. I found a restaurant called Seasons, which was recommend by trip advisor. The food was amazing - I would say it was the best meal I have had in a long time. It was a three course meal, which started with a ceasar salad, then chicken curry, and then the most amazing dessert - a marshmellow hot fudge sundae. This was by far the best dessert I have EVER had. I can't even describe how good it was. I had trouble finishing the meal because it was so big, but I was so happy to have found this place. If you are ever in Amsterdam, you need to go here!

Here are just a few pics from the day. Enjoy!

My giant bed in the hotel!

Picture of the shower - note how it is integrated into the room, with glass doors that pull closed. Pretty cool!

The caesar salad. I had to take these pics with my iphone, because I fel funny taking out my SLR in the restaurant. It was a very nice place - they took my coat for me when I arrived!

Yummy chicken curry with naan bread. Unable to finish this!

The dessert. Hard to tell its awesomeness from this picture, but you will have to trust me!

Day 5 - Malaga, Madrid ... New Year's Eve!

Hello Again!

On Day 5, I spent my morning continuing to explore Malaga. I decided I would head to some old ruins of a castle, situated on a high hilltop. It was a bit of a hike to get up there, but provided fantastic views along the way. The castle itself was really neat as well. You were able to walk around the top on all sides, and see different views of the water and the city. It was such a beautiful day with great weather, and having those awesome views just topped it off. Afterwards I headed back down to the city, doing a bit of shopping and heading to the local market. I bought some really nice cheese and bread, along with some strawberries for a delicious lunch. It only came to 2.75 euros! What a steal!

I then took the train back to Madrid to spend the evening there for New Years! I had some time to kill before the celebrations, so I took to explore another area of the city I had not spent much time in, near the opera. I met this really cool artist doing some paintings on tiles in the street, so that was interesting to watch. I also bought one as a souvenir!

It was then time to head to Puerta de Sol. This is the area in Madrid where everyone celebrates new years. The tradition in Spain is that at midnight, you have to eat 12 grapes, with the sound of the clocks bells. Apparently it all started in the 1900's, when there was a surplus of grapes, and they wanted to find another way to sell them. The tradition of eating grapes at midnight has continued since then. Cool eh? People were walking around selling packs of twelve grapes, in additon to lots of other things including beer, champagne, wigs, and flashing accessories. I'm not sure why, but people in Spain on new years wear crazy wigs, of all different colours and types, so that was different to see! At midnight, it was really hard to eat all the grapes fat enough, especially since they had seeds. I had met some people from Australia and Chicago, and we all struggled to get the task done. I was also literally showered in champagne from everyone spraying their bottles - everyone was having a great time! It was a super fun night, and one that I will certainly remember.

Here are some pics!

On my way up to the castle. Self timer worked again!

Another pic of the awesome views!

I finally got to use my telephoto lens. Here is the bullring seen from up on the hill!

Explore the castle ruins.

Here is a pic of the slide from my hotel!

Next hotel in Madrid. Hotel Liabeny. Very close to all of the action!

Me at Puerta de Sol getting pumped for all the action!

Me and some furry creature ... possibly a star wars character? I have no idea! He just kept saying I love you, and I love whiskey. Good times!

The square packed with people, and filling all of the adjacent streets.

Twelve grapes to eat at midnight, not an easy task.

Me and some people I celebrated with, from Chicago, Australia, and Spain. Fun group!

Me and my new flashing ring after midnight :) Happy new year!