Amsterdam

On Friday Lauren and I went to Amsterdam for the day to hang out before she left for India on Saturday. We left around 2 in the afternoon excited and ready for a fun day! Little did we know what was ahead of us. There was a lot of snow on Friday, (and by “a lot” I mean barely anything compared to Wisconsin) and it turns out the Dutch don’t have any clue what to do when it snows more than an inch. To be fair, it is unusual for them to have a lot of snow, but the way the city shut down you would’ve thought it was a blizzard. On our way to Amsterdam, several of the trains were delayed, and many of the trains going to Amsterdam were cancelled. We ended up having to transfer twice in Utrecht and Amersfoort, and what should have been an hour and a half ride turned into four and a half.

On the way in, several people told us they had shut down all flights at the airport and that people were stranded until early next week. There were over 100 flights cancelled and since the trains and buses weren’t running, many people had nowhere to go. The airport actually brought cots out for people to sleep in until they could find a flight. It wasn’t looking good for Lauren’s flight the next morning. But we decided to not think about that and just enjoy Amsterdam for the night.

We had planned on going on the Heineken brewery tour, but since we got there so late it wasn’t an option. Instead we walked around the city and enjoyed the scenery. Amsterdam is absolutely beautiful in the snow! There were Christmas lights everywhere and people had built snowmen all around the city. We found a “Winterland” (similar to the Christmas Market in Germany) and went in. There was an ice skating rink so we went skating too which was really great! After ice skating we started getting tired so we made our way back to the hotel. Our hotel was really beautiful and it was decorated so nicely for the holidays. Our room had a great big bath tub so I got to relax a little after our hectic day.

After a good night’s sleep, Lauren and I got up this morning to check her flight status-hoping for the best! Her flight was still on time so we made our way to the airport. Schiphol airport  was packed with very stress and angry people so it was a very hectic time again this morning. After a few hours, Lauren got to check in and we said goodbye. Even though I will see her in a few weeks, I was very sad to see Lauren go. Arnhem just isn’t the same without her! After leaving the airport I walked around Amsterdam for a few hours and came back on an afternoon train. Thankfully the trains were operating somewhat regularly so I didn’t have to wait as long as yesterday.

Even with the crazy Dutch transportation it was an excellent weekend in Amsterdam. It’s also  the last weekend I will have there! I’ll be home in less than a month :) Hope your weekend was wonderful! Love and miss you all

XO, Sarah