Amsterdam!

Amsterdam for Halloweekend...craziness. This place was like nothing I've ever seen before & as of next year no other study abroad student will probably experience because of the newly instated law that bans tourists from smoking the legal weed. Not that I'm saying that's the only reason a study abroad student would go buuuuut, well let's be serious, it is. In reality though Amsterdam was an absolutely beautiful city. The canals that lined the whole city made if feel like we were in Venice.



It was so beautiful during the day that when you stepped outside of a coffee shop you would kind of forget where you were...I guess for many reasons ;) It was insane how many coffee shops there were. It was like the equivalent of a Starbucks in NYC...which is a completely different type of coffee shop. It literally felt like at every street corner you could walk in and smoke up. It was crazy how you could just walk in and go up to the bar and order weed off of a menu. Hysterical.
On Friday we went on a canal boat ride which we were all super excited about. After about ten minutes we were over it haha. Obviously it was really pretty but for people who were hungover and running on close to no sleep, we were struggling. AshleyAnne practically died...



Friday night we went to dinner at the most delicious Italian restaurant & then ventured to the red light district...talk about crazy. Literally the craziest thing ever. So bizarre walking down the street and turning to your left and seeing practically naked girls just waiting for a guy to walk up to their door and ask to be let in. SO BIZARRE.



On Saturday we rented bikes and went biking through the city and Vondelpark. Vondelpark was so pretty! Especially this time of year while all the leaves are changing colors, so beautiful.



Saturday night me and AshleyAnne went out to a club with her friend from school and a bunch of her friends that she is studying abroad with. Took us awhile to actually get into the club but once we did I was sooo happy we went! Literally so much fun, the best music & lights. Techno music with pop music mixed in...my favorite. We literally did not stop dancing the whole night, or should I say morning. We didn't get back to the room until 530 in the morning. When we walked out of the club at 515 you would have thought it was 12 midnight by the amounts of people hanging around the square and people were even still just going into the clubs. Literally everyone is just constantly messed up. Loved it.

Being Tourists

On Friday we went to the Oxford Castle, which we've been wanting to do since we got here but of course just got around to. It was pretty interesting stuff. We went through the jail and the tower and the crypt. The tower was filled with the scariest stairs in the world, so skinny and claustrophobic, we were freaking out. The crypt is supposedly super haunted so we tried to get the ghost to touch us or something but it obviously didn't work. It was definitely way colder in the corner that the ghost was supposedly in though so I believe it was down there. We walked around in the jail and got to see where all the inmates stayed after they built it themselves. Of course we found the things to play with and dress up in like everywhere else we go. We all took mug shots that were absolutely beautiful. Kim's was extra scary...



On Sunday we went into London to go to the wax museum and the ice bar. The wax museum was crazy crowded & when I thought about it, it was the most bizarre concept ever that we were all standing around waiting to take pictures with these fake wax celebrities. Whatever I loved it. I especially loved my boyfriend JT...



It was a lot different from the NYC museum. They had it set up in specific sections and even had a "tour through London history" where we hopped on this little ride in fake taxis that brought us through time and showed us London's history, but everything was of course made out of wax figures.

After the wax museum we went to the ice bar which was super cool. The concept for this is also super weird when you think about it but for some reason is a must see in London. The whole entire bar was completely made out of ice...the tables, the seats, the walls, the bar, even the glasses we got our drinks in.



It is so cold in there that we were only allowed in for forty minute intervals and we were given big parkas and gloves. It was actually super fun and we were just running around taking pictures like fools. Everyone looked exactly the same in their parkas so Kim thought she lost us and started saying, "Where are my friends?!" when I was literally standing right in front of her hahaha so much fun.