Day 2 in Amsterdam was quite a wonderful experience. I woke up with the expectations of accomplishing many things today since I knew the city a little bit more than day 1. In addition, I also had a great night of rejuvenation, so I knew that I was going to be moving around a lot today. Upon my adventures, I planned upon visiting a variety of gyms throughout the area, visiting the Anne Frank Museum, and utilizing some leisure time.
To start out the day right, I decided to get back into my workout routine. I did things such as push-ups, abdominal strength exercises, and stretching. I felt like this part was definitely needed for my day to make sure that I was physically and mentally ready for the day.
Secondly, I traveled throughout the city looking for various gyms. I have to admit that it was a lot of walking, but I love the idea of exercising to explore the city. I feel like it’s a great way to be active and still learn at the same time. I also remember keeping the thought in my mind to look at my watch throughout the day to figure out how many steps and miles that I put in for the day. With that being said, I found multiple gyms, approximately seven to eight gyms and I was able to get in one interview. I was excited for the interview too because it was the same manager that I spoke to on the phone, and I was able to accomplish something today.
Thirdly, my group went to the Anne Frank museum. The only expectation that I had going to it was to learn about what Anne Frank and family and friends went through during the Holocaust. I remember the tour guide providing a brief background story of Anne Frank, and it helped to give me an idea of what to expect when I enter the museum. While there,three things that resonated with me were the small stairs, Anne’s writings, and the cleverness of her father. It’s amazing how they were able to walk on these stairs because only about a quarter of my shoe could actually fit on each stair. Then, Anne’s writings were amazing because she had many aspirations and she was already living out her goals through her writings during the war. Lastly, I could only imagine what was going through Otto Frank’s mind with the war going on and still trying to protect and provide for his family.
To finish out the day, I spent some leisure time with my group members by going to the shopping district area. There were many shops and I was enjoying the opportunity to look at the variety of stores throughout the area. My main highlight during my leisure time was when my group stopped to eat at a place called Green Corner barbeque restaurant. The funniest thing was that we found this place earlier because I was stopped by the chef there and he was wondering if I was interested in playing European professional football. I was kind of shocked a little because I was headed to Anne Frank’s house and it has been six years since I last played football. I did not take the offer seriously and we used the discussion as an opportunity to get some food recommendations for Amsterdam. Our discussion was brief and he recommended his restaurant because he was a chef there and they had a decent variety of selections. We actually ate here and the food was very delicious. I had the mixed grill meal which had shrimp, ribs, chicken wings, corn,and guapas (potatoes). This meal was a little expensive, but it was worthwhile because I only spent on average about seven Euros on food for the whole trip so far. This was definitely my highlight of the day, and it made me look forward to more days like this one.
