Venice of the North

This week has been a very fun and exciting week, with the highlight being an adventure to Amsterdam. But before I get into that, I would like to talk about Florence a little. At work while everyone in the Elite 8 was attending our tastings we have been coordinating, I was asked to help with a cooking lesson students from James Madison University out in Virginia. About a quarter of the students were also hospitality management majors so it was very heartwarming to talk to them about my experiences and also giving them valuable advice. Also, their faculty leader was a hospitality professor and now she is considering bringing up the idea of an internship program to their university!

But back to Amsterdam. Often known as the Venice of the North because of the many canals and bridges running through the city, Amsterdam stands as one of the most popular cities in Europe with a huge amount of history. Although I went with 5 of our other colleagues, I ended up staying at my own hostel which motivated me to do a lot of solo exploring. Activities I partook in included exploring the Vincent Van Gogh museum, touring the Heineken brewery, visiting the house where Anne Frank hid (never went inside but still cool!), visiting the house of Rembrandt and also Rembrandt Square, going on a canal cruise, and renting a bike to explore the city. With a town so rich in history, I did not want any of my time to go to waste. I also fell in love with Amsterdam because it had an atmosphere that reminded me of home. The weather was a huge contributing factor to this, considering it was 60 degrees and raining on and off, just like Ohio 50% of the year!!!

But alas, we are back in Florence with scorching hot 90 degree weather. I still cannot believe our last week is coming up. We have a super busy last week including a gelato making class, a trip to Tuscany, and a final voyage to Spain! Stick around!!!!