This past weekend, I took advantage of a wonderful offer to spend the weekend in Amsterdam and Maastricht, The Netherlands. My roommate, Cande, invited me to join her and her sister and her brother-in-law on their European vacation. Cande's boyfriend, Mateo, lives in a town a 3 hour train ride from Amsterdam called Maastricht. Thursday night, I landed and had no problems at all meeting Cande. We walked promptly to our hostel and crashed. We were both totally exhausted from the week and knew the weekend ahead would require substantial rest. I woke up early, had breakfast in the restaurant downstairs (EGGS and BACON!!! with toast) and headed to Anne Frank's house.
Standing in line sandwiched between a father and daughter from Atlanta and a family from Florida, we passed the time quickly by making small talk in the line. The wind from Amsterdam's canals and overcast skies made for bone-chilling weather, especially compared to the 90 degree heat I left in Madrid the day before. Once inside, I couldn't help but be surprised at how much of Anne Frank's diary came back to me. I remember the cover of the book so vividly and I remember despising having to read what I thought was just a stupid required school book. Amazing to think of my self-transformation from that girl in eighth grade to this girl, who is now going to law school in the fall with intentions of studying international human rights and humanitarian aid with an emphasis on the holocaust. Though the rooms were larger than I had expected (possibly because my Dad has always referred to this small small closet inside a closet in our house as the Anne Frank suite - ha) being in this place obviously gave all the visitors chills.
Throughout the next two days in Amsterdam, the group of us did all the touristy things- the Van Gogh museum, the famous Dutch art museum, stood to take pictures with the "I AMsterdam" sign, The Jewish History Museum, did a canal cruise and walked all over the city to truly grasp its flavor.
Friday night, we had a spectacular Argentinian meal with the best steak I've ever sank my teeth into.
We finished the night by getting ridiculously lost but finally ended up at a bar made entirely of ice, where they provided gloves and coats before entering.
Saturday evening after a full day of sightseeing, we headed onto Maastricht.
Cande's presence in my Madrid life has been beyond a blessing. My living situation this year has been quite a roller coaster ride with four other roommates coming and going. If Cande hadn't been such a great roommate, I surely would have moved out. If Cande hadn't been such a great friend, I could have easily given up on teaching and headed back to Atlanta with my head hung low, defeated. Let me tell you a little bit about why I love Candelaria so much. Cande is one of the prettiest people I know with barely any sense of style at all, always just throwing on simple clothing, but making it look magazine-worthy. Since I met her in October, I have maybe seen her wear make-up three times total, but everyday she looks beautiful. As simple as this is, she has accidentally taught me to care a lot less about what I look like before leaving the house and that simplicity is beautiful. I've been super proud of her as she has made excellent grades, getting the highest grades in several of her classes both semesters. She's got dreams as big as I do and I am completely confident that she's going to chase them until she accomplishes every single goal on her list. We've got all kinds of things in common and definitively some of my most favorite memories in this city have been sitting right here in our apartment. Did I mention that she's an incredible cook? All this to say, this weekend together was a huge blessing because with our combined travel schedules, I will only have one more opportunity to see her and tell her goodbye.
Maastricht is a lovely little quaint town. We hung out like college students just relaxing. Our first night we had a great homemade meal while one of Mateo's friends, Mateo, Cande and I had intellectual conversations until 5 in the morning.
Certainly some of the most interesting people I have ever met with big ideas for making our future globe a better place. They are people who's futures I am as excited about as I am my own. We may very well be colleagues together in a non-profit organization or some huge NGO, who knows!
Sunday afternoon, it was time for me to pack my things and head to the train station. I was having such a good time that with a little convincing from Mateo's friends and Cande, I purchased a new plane ticket to leave at 5:50 PM instead of that morning at 6:50. Under the mantra, "YOLO" I figured I should take advantage of more great memories in the Netherlands. Monday turned out to be rather hectic and for nearly three hours I thought I was going to miss my flight. When I got to the airport, checked in, strolled through security and walked to the gate, I had 5 minutes to spare before boarding! I was thrilled.
Then... lonnnng story short, my flight was CANCELLED. I ended up spending the night at some airport hotel and getting rebooked the next morning. It was 24 hours in total from the doorstep of Mateo's to my apartment in Madrid.
Hey, you only live once, might as well have an incredible weekend and then end up stranded at an airport outside of Amsterdam and spend the night there and come back to Madrid 36 hours after you planned.
you made me cry. nothing else to say.
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