i amsterdam

My first international trip. AHHH. So.stinking.exciting. The flight there was fantastic. I had great passengers and an awesome crew. When we arrived, we headed straight to the hotel to nap for a couple hours before heading into the city.

Karleen, a FA on my crew, offered to come out and see the city with me, so we slept until around 3:00pm, hopped on a shuttle, and proceeded to take on Amsterdam.

Biking is huge in Amsterdam. There are devoted bike lanes and the bikers are nearly as fast as the cars. It's madness. Next time I'm there, I might attempt to join the masses, but I doubt they have electric bikes like they did in Vancouver. So I'd likely get run over.

Ahh...the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Notice the crowd? There was a youth soccer game in front of the palace. And seriously, this was The Hunger Games of soccer. Every few minutes a kid would get knocked onto the cobblestone ground screaming and holding some injured area of their body. All that craziness and I only caught a goal on video. Bummer.

The Magna Plaza is a shopping center we went into for a little bit. The architecture of the building is stunning.

Karleen wanted to get her makeup done, so we stopped into Micabella Cosmetics Club for a quick makeover.

Speaking of beauty products, I have been looking for a Lush store for months and apparently had to go all the way to the Netherlands to find one! Unfortunately, they were closing when we got there, but they were sweet enough to allow me to look around for a minute before locking up.

I love that place and I can't wait purchase some of their products! I've heard especially good reviews of the Cupcake face mask and the Bubblegum lip scrub. Mmm.

Next, we went to the flower market which was gorgeous. It's the only floating flower market in the world which made it even more incredible.

After the flower market, we stopped by the Red Light District. I was truly at a loss for words. It is a sex-driven, sin laden society that is in desperate need of a Savior. The openness of the sexual sin is what's so jarring. That combined with seeing so many women prostituting themselves brought me to tears. I am heartbroken and deeply burdened for these people. Please pray for this culture of sex to be torn down and for many to come to salvation in Christ.

For dinner, Karleen's friend suggested that we go to Wok to Walk. It has fresh ingredients but is quick and cheaper than many other restaurants there.

I had a chicken rice noodle bowl that was delicious!

After eating, we went back to the hotel to rest for the night before flying back to New York in the morning.

View from my room.

I thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam. It is a beautiful city with so much to do and see. Next time I'm there I plan to do a canal tour and maybe visit some of the museums. If I'm feeling really adventurous, I'll rent a bike and take on the streets.