Mary : The highlight of the weekend for me was the visit to the Anne Frank Haus. Being in the space that she wrote about in her diary was very moving, overwhelming actually. Her celebrity photos are still on her wall. The museum also has a room dedicated to current acts of intolerance that brings the whole experience to the present.

Traveling by fast ferry to Amsterdam made us feel very ‘local'. I finally got my wish to stay in a castle, though our room was actually in the orangery (a type of wooden greenhouse). We dined at the castle and enjoyed the surrounding grounds. Our castle was about 45 minutes outside of the city of Amsterdam in a quaint village called Heemskerk.

The beach was only a 30 minute bike ride in the other direction. The internet is an amazing tool for finding unique lodging experiences. I hope to consider traveling by train next time, as the short air flight requires hours of waiting and transportation on the ground.

Brianna : They have really great beaches in Holland. Well at least the place we went to did. Not like rocky English beaches! In a small town outside of Amsterdam, we stayed in a really cool castle (our room was in the orangery next to it) which had nice mushroom soup as one of the courses for dinner. We stayed for two days, one which we went to beach and one we went to Amsterdam.

On the day we went up to the beach, we rented bikes and after we swam for four hours, we rode back in to town and swam at a water park for another hour! In Amsterdam they have really cool trams that can take you all over the city. We visited the Anne Frank house and of course, got ice cream. We looked around in the shops and wandered along the canal. But to get to and from Amsterdam, we took a flying ferry (well more of a gliding ferry). It was very fast. Over all I had a really good time in Holland!!!!!!!

Dillon : What do I know about London I live there oh wait this is about Turkey wait no no uh hold on where were we, mum! Ah yes I just remembered this is about Amsterdam I went there and uh oh yeah that it has great I mean great beaches (and great great ice cream :D).

On to a more serious note the Ann Frank Haus (house in Amstrerdameish) it was quite interesting but sad. In the city of Amsterdam canals rule the world mua ha ha whoops I didn't say that. Over all Amsterdam was great. Well ttfn Q(“Q) Dillon (that's my computer signature by the way)