Sunday, March 31, 2013

Amsterdam, Holland Part 2


Well I have found my favorite city in the world, so far at least!  Amsterdam is a typical historic European city, with an awesome modern style that is 100 percent my style.  I knew before I got here that it would be a fantastic place, but it exceeded my expectations. 

Early this morning we took a tram to the middle of the city with a plan to eventually work our way back to our hotel.  As a group we walked to the northeast side of the city where a residential development was recently built.  In ARCH 100 we studied the whole area with an emphasis on two specific places of interest; a residential building referred to as “the whale” and a canal lined with individual and unique townhomes.  Townhomes are my absolute favorite type of residential architecture.  When the area was developed, each townhome was designed by a different architect.  Not every unit is the best example of design, but all of them together paint a glorious picture.  After we walked through the development we returned to the city center and got released for the rest of the day.

Dan, Devin, and I split off as usual and did some shopping.  I had to find my sticker and Devin had to find his postcard; it’s the same routine in every city.  This time we switched it up and both bought a shirt in addition to our sticker and postcard.  The hoodie I got is the first article of clothing I have bought since I have been on the trip and wearing it makes me feel like a new woman!  It is so great!

Now seems like an appropriate time to mention that Amsterdam has legalized prostitution and marijuana.  They are most famous for their Red Light District, so we just had to walk through it.  It is ironic, I know, that this city would be my favorite when things like this exist, but believe me when I say the Red Light District is probably the only thing I hate about the city, yes hate.  It was so disturbing to me that a society can be so accepting of something like this.  I mean the gift shops alone were enough to educate me on things I could have gone my entire life without knowing.  So yeah, the Red Light District was interesting to say least. 

We ate lunch after and headed back towards the hotel for another night of work.  I did not really get much done at all unfortunately.  I have never been more scared for my studio project in my life.  The end is approaching too quickly as far as my design is concerned.  Prayers are gladly accepted!

No comments:

Post a Comment