Week 4: Excursions While Abroad

I spent the weekend after week four travelling to Amsterdam! One of the coolest parts of being in Europe is how easy and quick it is to make an excursion to neighboring countries. Amsterdam is a city I have always wanted to visit and I’m so excited I got this opportunity to explore a new city with some friends.

After landing on Thursday night, we checked into our hostel and started to plan our weekend in Amsterdam. We woke up Friday morning and headed downtown to explore. We wandered through Central Amsterdam and took in the gorgeous canals and fascinating architecture. From the dancing houses to the Amsterdam Centraal train station and Dam square, there is so much to see. After trying stroopwafel and a full day of wandering, we headed back to the hostel for the night.

Saturday in Amsterdam is one of the most fun because it’s the most popular day for markets! Whether you’re looking for food, clothes, art, or anything in between, the Saturday markets have every vendor imaginable. After shopping around Noordermarkt and Albert Cuyp Markt, we headed to the NEMO science museum.

The next day, we decided to venture outside of the city to Zaanse Schans to see some Dutch windmills! This was one of my favorite days. The entire city smelled like chocolate, we met some very cute cows, and tried some of the best cheese I’ve ever had. After seeing the town, we headed back to the city for a canal boat tour. The tour was an incredibly fun; we spent an hour cruising along the major canals and seeing all the sights. Afterwards, we got dinner and tried some of Winkel 43’s famous Dutch apple pie. It was the perfect last day of an amazing trip!

We flew back to London early Monday morning to make it back in time for class. Amsterdam was one of my favorite parts of this week. My takeaways from this trip are to take advantage of every opportunity to explore a new culture because I never know what I am going to discover or learn.