Today, we woke up whenever we could. We did plan to start the day early, but plans change! The hotel included breakfast, which was great. They had the best chicken sausage, and the little mini Dutch pancakes were amazing. 

We started our day by walking to the Albert Cuyp Market, a massive street market situated in the De Pijp area of Amsterdam. There were so many flower and jewelry vendors. We stopped at this bagel shop called Bagel Boy. They are famous for their amazing bagel sandwiches. I got the chicken avocado sandwich on a sourdough bagel, and the mustard mayo that was on it was amazing. It tasted like Dijon mustard mixed with Kewpie mayo. I will be recreating this in the US. 

After the market, we stopped to take some pictures on the various bridges along the streets of Amsterdam. We headed to the Rijksmuseum. Although we didn't go into the museum, they had a beautiful garden right next to it. There was also an amazing violinist playing in the big entryway of the museum. 

We walked through the park outside the museum and passed the Van Gogh Museum. It was smaller than I imagined. We also got to see the Concert Hall; it is probably prettier on the inside. 

After that, we walked to Vondelpark. The weather was so nice, and it was so peaceful. 

We walked to De 9 Straatjes (The Nine Streets). It is a big shopping area with lots of European clothing stores. 

On this day, our flight was leaving at 5:30 am, so I had to wake up at 3:00 am. I was so tired but so excited. I was going to Amsterdam with my friends Kylie and Dana. We had a connection in Lisbon, Portugal. When we landed in Amsterdam, we took the train to Centraal Station since our hotel was right next to the station. My friend, Kylie, her dad has lots of points with one of the hotels, and he booked us a room for two nights. 

Right when we landed, I was immediately happy that I wasn't sweating so much. The cool breeze of Amsterdam was so refreshing compared to the humid breeze in Spain. The first thing we did was get these amazing fries from this famous place called Fabel Friet. You can customize what you want on your fries. I got pickle mayo with parmesan cheese. By this time, I was starving, so these fries were divine. My friends both got truffle mayo and parmesan cheese. 

When we went to the hotel, the view of the canals and the city was amazing. I am so grateful to be able to study abroad in Spain, but being in a hotel room with AC is very nice. I am so grateful to Kylie's dad that he could do this for us. I already knew that I was falling in love with the city of Amsterdam. 

We booked a canal cruise for this night at 6 pm. We got ready and walked over to the pickup spot. I will walk anywhere in Amsterdam; the streets are so pretty and filled with beautiful flowers. The canal cruise included unlimited wine and beer. It was clear that I underestimated how strong the wine I was drinking really was. There were two other groups of girls on the cruise as well. 

One group was from Australia, and one group was from the USA as well. We were definitely getting along with the USA girls a little more. Towards the end of the cruise, I got to drive the boat. Let's be honest, it's a little canal boat, and it was fairly easy to steer. 

At the end of the cruise, I was feeling great! My friends needed some guidance, but we eventually made it to our 8 pm dinner. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of my food, but we went to this place called The Seafood Bar. I got the garlic prawns and the salmon & avocado tartare. 

We ended the day by walking home at 10:30 pm, and it was still bright out, which was crazy to me.