I think you could guess that the further you travel, the greater the adventure will be. I think that was certainly the case this weekend, as the journey north brought about some really interesting circumstances. Though through it all it was quite a weekend full of craziness. 
I picked up the rental car on friday at 10 am, and we arrived at our sleeping arrangements at 12:30am. Here's how it happened. After picking various people up and grabbing a quick lunch to go, we set out on the road north to Amsterdam. Directions in Europe are always tricky, but we only had a slight detour once on the way back. This time it was easy--follow E-35 the whole way. However, despite the...shall we say...efficiency of German highways, it still took a good 10 hours to reach Amsterdam because of several traffic jams and a stop for food. That night we were planning to stay in these cabins outside of the city for very cheap, but after an ardent search following directions that ended in a huge campsite, no cabins could be found. Fortuanately one of our passengers was planning on leaving us and staying with a friend, who was gracious enough to offer her place for us to stay at for free. So that was nice. She had a nice view from her apartment (right in the city), but my bed was a little unconvential--as you can see: 
Saturday morning we woke up and made our way south to the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijkmuseum. I was looking forward to this greatly because Rembrandt is my favorite, and I have heard the VG Museum was phenomenal--which it was. I was surprised at how some of the paintings moved me. The Rijkmuseum was a little disappointing, because a lot of it was closed and there surprisingly weren't that many Rembrandts. Though they did have his most famous, the huge Night Watch (12 by 14 ft.). The trips to the two museums were split by a visit to an irish pub, complete with a little futbol. It was an engaging day. 
Paintings above: Landscape at twilight (left), and field with crows (right). 
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Paintings above: Jeremiah weeps over the destruction of Jerusalem (left), and a young self portrait of Rembrandt himself (right).
Amsterdam is a city known for its freedom. The smell of weed is all over the city streets at any time throughout the day and night. It's sold for free in various "coffee shops" that are never more than a 2 minute walk away. This, the famous red light district, the various sex shops and museums, and a fun-seeking group of friends had me expecting a pretty roudy night. At the end, I may have been the only one able to walk in a straight line, but I had just as many good stories. A couple highlights from the night were the crazy eurotrash dancers and being able to watch the second half of michigan vs. michigan st. at one of the bars. That night we also settled one of our little setbacks--they're vicious in Amsterdam:
Sunday morning brought a little later start, but one well justified. We went to the Anne Frank house, and then to Rembrandt's House Museum. They both were really well done with a lot of interesting information--though of course very different. After that we made our journey home--leaving at 4 pm and finally falling asleep at 3:30 am after returning the car. I liked Amsterdam. It was a very different city than any that I've been to so far, since all of the places I've been to have been either with a German or Italian feel, even the Swiss ones. Everyone in Amsterdam spoke English, and it was cold--which I really liked. I have lots of thoughts from the weekend, but none to share right now. Perhaps later in the week. I'll leave you with a picture of Rembrandt's The Night Watch: 
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