When Steph came to Holland :)

The past two weeks, one of my close friends from college came to visit. I wanted to give Steph a good taste of some Dutch culture, but knew it would be pretty busy. She went along with us on our school bike tour of Rotterdam and we went on our own to Amsterdam. Rotterdam is the second largest port in the world and due to this importance it was heavily bombed during WWII. Much of Rotterdam was destroyed and since then has begun to be rebuilt; there's a strong influence of modern architecture here.

Harbor in Rotterdam 

Some views from old town Rotterdam 

 In Amsterdam we gave her a quick 3 hour tour of the red light district, Anne Frank House, Rijks Museum, Heinekin Museum, and just walking through Amsterdam. We also spent time introducing her to our host families, Dutch friends, and the student life in Zwolle. It was fun showing Steph around and introducing her to people, as it reminded me of my first time exploring the city....and since I love it here :). Of course, one of my favorite parts about her visiting was just catching up and hearing all about her life and getting caught up on things in Iowa. I feel so detached sometimes as my only interaction is Skype dates with close friends and family or news articles shared on Facebook.