Long Weekend in A'Dam!

I officially began the holiday season by celebrating Thanksgiving in Amsterdam with my roommates! It was such a fun and memorable trip.

Through our friends the Johnsons, we were able to stay the YWAM Amsterdam base in the city. If you are unfamiliar with YWAM, take a moment to learn more about this amazing worldwide ministry.  Both links have short videos on the home page!

We stayed in this building - you can see the "God Roept U/Jesus Loves You" at the top in blue letters.  It was such a blessing to stay in a very affordable place in such a great location - beautiful canal view, 5 minutes from the central train station, AND we had our own living room and kitchen!

We started our first day by visiting the Rijksmuseum, where we saw works from famous artists such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt.

This was my favorite thing in the Rijksmuseum - this beautiful library! It is a bookworm's dream!

You can see from the picture that it is actually used by people!  You can also just barely see the beautiful winding staircase in the right corner, which was my absolute favorite.

Right outside the museum is one of the "Iamsterdam"

 signs and an ice skating rink!

We did a little shopping at the Magna Plaza, where I could not get over this beautiful, suspended Christmas tree in the middle of the mall! We mostly wandered in to stay warm and window shop, enjoying novelties like a Yankee Candle store!

Cheese stores like this are everywhere!  We went into several each day and enjoyed samples! I love that this city is all about cheese and chocolate, two of my favorite things! 

We tried out famous Amsterdam fries at Manneken - voted the best Holland fries in the city. They serve them hot in a paper cone and you choose sauces that go on top. SO delicious!

On our second day, we visited the Anne Frank House. We were not allowed to take pictures but the website offers a really good virtual tour where you can see the rooms. This picture show the house in the background.

 Like many people, I first read the Diary of Anne Frank in middle school.  I have been fascinated with her story ever since. Being in the house was a powerful and sobering experience. The part that made me teary-eyed was towards the end.  There is a large portrait of Anne's father, Otto Frank, that was taken in the house long after the war.  Something about the look in his eyes...you can see the pain and sorrow of a man who lost his entire family The museum reminded me that Anne and her family represent millions of people whose lives were devastated by the Holocaust. It left me with a heavy heart but I was so glad I went.

Although I am not much of a beer drinker, I had to make a stop at the Heineken Experience in honor of my late grandfather and my brother (both in the business of brewery management)! :) It was really cool! 

Later we headed the A'dam Lookout where we had this awesome photo made upon arrival! We were there at night and the views from the top were beautiful.  I love seeing a city all lit up!

Ashleigh and I briefly lost our minds and decided to do Over the Edge, which is Europe's highest swing.  It was incredibly cold and windy up there!  Megan took a video of us where we (I) did a lot of hollering/almost-crying!  But we were proud of ourselves for doing it!

The next day we were off to the town of Haarlem!  We spent most of the day there but wished we could have stayed a night!  It was so beautiful.

We took a tour of the Corrie Ten Boom house (this link takes you to the old website but it is English).  She is one of my heroes of the Christian faith! My sister and I both read her book  The Hiding Place a few years ago and I read it again before this trip.  It tells the story of the Ten Boom family and how they saved many Jewish lives in Nazi-occupied Holland in the early 1940s. Her father owned a watch shop, so the front housed the business space and the back and upstairs were family's very small living quarters. Their family would take in Jewish people whom no one was else was willing to hide because of the risk they posed - such as an older woman with a terrible cough or a mother with an infant who cried often.

 The Ten Boom family was torn apart as they were almost all imprisoned and taken to concentration camps after being discovered.  Corrie and her sister Betsie spread the gospel throughout the women's units and shared the love of Jesus in the most horrific circumstances.  Several of her family members were later killed in concentration camps.   God gave Corrie many more years on earth, which she spent sharing His love and telling her family's story.

The opening to the actual hiding place was through the bottom of this built-in shelf. The hiding place could fit 6 people and they often did drills to practice.  Corrie's bed would have been where I am standing.  It was really inspiring to be in their home and remember the events that took place over the years. I left feeling inspired to be more like Corrie. She was bold in the way she shared God's love with everyone and she was faithful to spend her entire life serving Him! 

Haarlem has a beautiful market set up in the square near the main church - Grote Kerk.  We enjoyed walking around and of course, hot stroopwafel! It is basically two thin waffles with a layer of caramel in the center. So delicious! 

On our last day, we took a long walk and enjoyed the views just one last time. The city itself is so uniquely beautiful.  Canals and bicycles are everywhere!  There are literally more bicycles than people in the city.  And we learned the canals themselves are full of bicycles that have fallen in over the years!  

We found a cute cafe to enjoy one last meal before heading to the airport.  I choose ginger orange tea and Dutch apple pie and I was not disappointed!  It was a great way to end our fantastic trip!

I will say this was the most unusual Thanksgiving weekend I have ever had!  My family never travels for holidays so it felt really different, but I enjoyed it so much.  Being in such a lovely city with my wonderful roommates was a nice distraction from feeling even farther away from my family than usual. So grateful to God for the gift of this trip!