Holland

With my Rotary district in Belgium I participated on a trip to Holland and there visited two towns: Delft and Amsterdam. With about 60 other  exchange students, most hyped up in some form of energy drink, we crowded onto a bus early in the morning and departed from Belgium.

(Shriya, exchange student from Australia)

Our first stop: Delft. This cute village is known for it's beautiful blue tiles and  for being the hometown and inspiration of the famous painter Vermeer. There we visited a museum of Vermeer's life and works and then were let to explore the village ourselves. It is a very quaint town with some very unique stores.

Then we continued on to Amsterdam. With the Rotary we were taken to the Marine Museum and famous Rijksmuseum where we saw great works of art. We were also taken to an art gallery of Van Gogh which I found absolutely magnificent. We took a tour of the Anne Frank house and once more revisited that horrible time and that heartbreaking story.

I have mixed feelings about the city of Amsterdam. There are many interesting things to see and much history, and the city does hold a sort of charm. But that is contrasted sharply by the red light district and the sexuality that laces the shops throughout the main roads. Also the lenient laws in regards to “soft drugs” has left the city a drug tourist destination with an over abundance of “coffee shops” which leaves the whole streets smelling of the fumes.

While I enjoyed my visit to the city those two things very much lowered my enjoyment.

P.s. If you ever do visit Amsterdam (or the Netherlands in general) beware of the bikes! They are everywhere!