Paris and Amsterdam

On Saturday I returned from a week long trip with my program to Paris and Amsterdam. We were in Paris for about five days and Amsterdam for 3. I really enjoyed them both, and I would definitely go back! Paris was absolutely beautiful, especially at night. I think I liked it better at night. The Eiffel Tower all lit up was truly magical. That is the best way to describe it – magical and breathtaking. And Paris is so fun because there are so many places that are famous and make you really feel like you’re in Paris! You always know that you’re in a famous place. So, in Paris, I saw the Eiffel Tower (went up in it at night and had a picnic in front of it during the day), Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Musee d’Orsey (impressionist art in an old train station!), Notre Dame (went to a Sunday mass and then climbed to the top for the view after the service), Sacre Coeur Versailles, the Moulin Rouge, and probably some other important stuff. We took a day trip to the beaches of Normandy and visited the memorial/cemetery site and a museum. It was definitely cool to see that and learn more about what D-Day was like. And perhaps the highlight of my time in Paris was running into a friend from high school, Horatio Thomas, on a random street in Paris one night! It was crazy and super exciting!

By the time we got to Amsterdam I was all museum-ed out, so I regret to say that I didn’t visit the Anne Frank House, Vincent Van Gogh Museum, or the Rijksmuseum (which houses Rembrandts, Vermeers, and other “Dutch Masters”). But, I did enjoy the canals and leaning houses. We took a boat tour all through them. We also shopped around a flee market and walked around the city. The next day some of us rented bicycles and biked out to the countryside surrounding Amsterdam and had a picnic by a random canal. It was farming countryside and we saw (and at times smelled) lots of horses, sheep, and some roosters. It was definitely a fun bike ride and cool to see some of the more quintessential Dutch landscape (where windmills and wooden shoes are easier to imagine). In case you are wondering, marijuana and prostitution are both very legal and very in your face in Amsterdam. And that was definitely a bit alarming and sad. It really reminded me of Romans 1:22-25: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised.” The sad part is not necessarily the abundance of sex and drugs, but that it is indicative of the fact that they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and are worshiping and serving gods who are merely the creation, not the Creator who is the immortal God.

The weather was fabulous for our trip, which I am SO thankful for. It was warm and sunny almost everyday! And here in Berlin it has been warm and sunny as well! It’s amazing to see how the city has become more lively – all the cafes have put out their outside tables and the Biergartens have opened up! Biergartens are really popular in Germany and they are like a big outdoor seating area with lots of tables that serve beer and pretzels and some food. You go up and order your beer and/or food and then sit down for however long you’d like. Some of my friends and I went to one tonight and it was really delightful! I am looking forward to enjoying the warmth and sunshine that has recently come to Berlin!