As a Hope girl, I felt like visiting the real Holland was almost obligatory when I live only a couple hours away from there. With two of my American friends from Trinity, I spent 3 days in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Every time I visit a place in Europe, I seem to have this problem where I grow so attached to the city and become so convinced that I want to live there someday. But let me tell you, this time it’s not temporary! Amsterdam was INCREDIBLE!!
Cycling through the city while enjoying the panoramic views of canals, picturesque buildings, and of course, the colorful tulips made me feel as though I was living in a dream that I didn’t even know I had. Have you ever seen a Ghibli movie called Howl’s Moving Castle? It’s one of my favorite childhood movies and Amsterdam’s vibe made me think of this movie.
Here is a pro-tip for when visiting Amsterdam! Buy tickets in advance!! Two regrets I have are not being able to go into Anne Frank’s house and the Van Gogh museum because the tickets were sold out by the time we started planning.
If you’re a Hope student, I hope you’ll visit Amsterdam someday and see it for yourself! You’ll definitely fall in love as I did:)