Hello hello everyone and welcome to my first official blog post! I wanna give a special thank you to those who have signed up for emails, y’all rock and I’m gonna assume you love me the most. So Dad, not that you’ll see this because you’re not SUBSCRIBED, but how does it feel to know that Bella* loves me more than you do? Disappointed.

*shoutout to Bella (aka Monkey) for being my first subscriber. you da best

Side Note: Since this blog is for friends and family (not trying to become famous or anything), please tell me if there’s anything y’all want to know, want more pictures of, etc.! I want everyone to enjoy it so I will accept any suggestions. I’ve already been instructed by Anna Beth to make it funny so ABC, I’ll do my best (; Anyway, here we go.

First off, I love Amsterdam!! It’s so pretty here and I’ve never seen such a clean city. The architecture is beautiful, and you can walk or take the tram everywhere which makes it so easy to see everything. This was definitely a bittersweet trip because we had a great time, but this is also goodbye for me and my parents. See ya in 4 months, not gonna miss y’all at all. jk ):

Day 1: Day 1 wasn’t too exciting- by the time we got here we’d been traveling for 24 hours so everyone just took a nap. After that we had a really yummy dinner at the Mediterranean restaurant in our hotel, then my dad and I went downtown for drinks!

Day 2: We woke up really late (from jet lag, not a hangover. don’t worry Grandma) and went straight to lunch at an Irish pub, then to the Van Gogh Museum. After, we went to Amsterdam central to see the “gingerbread houses” and try some stroopwafel, and walked around a bit. For dinner we went the the Amstel Hotel and had a crazy six-course meal where my dad and I tried sweetbreads (google it), which I am VERY proud of myself for, and my mom didn’t order but wished she had because it was actually really good!

Day 3: Day 3 was my favorite- we woke up a bit earlier and did a canal tour, which was so relaxing and a really great way to see the city. Afterward, we went to a little bar where my parents ordered some beers, and then left to get ready for the Semester at Sea parents dinner. I walked to meet some new friends for the Heineken Experience, which was way cooler than I expected, plus you get free beer so yay for that (;

Day 4: Today is the big day!! It’s 8:30 AM right now, and I board the ship at noon! I’m so so excited, I haven’t even seen the ship yet so I can’t wait. Tonight we leave for Poland, so I will post again in a few days!