I’ve spent the last week in Amsterdam with my boyfriend, Ian, meandering through winding streets bordered by murky canals, taking in the grandeur of it’s many historical sites, and soaking in the freedom and possibility of being in a brand new country.

I won’t lie, though: right now, I am sitting in the airport (where I’ve been for the last six hours), waiting for my delayed flight (that keeps getting delayed) after my first one was cancelled. The plan was to meet my parents here to then fly to Edinburgh, but now I wait for a plane to take me to London for a night before we embark on our trip to Scotland tomorrow. My hope is becoming increasingly smaller as the hours tick by and my plane is still not here.

Alas! Now is no time for negativity. I have just had the most magical week in beautiful Amsterdam and I’m not about to let a silly flight ruin that. Let’s dive into it.

To start, Ian and I spent our first day here wandering through the city center, getting our bearings, and ending up at the Rijks museum – a strong start to the week. Here we saw famous artists like Rembrandt (their most famous painting is The Night Watch) and Van Gogh, but also other, more obscure – but no less beautiful – pieces of art from around the Netherlands. Did you know there are over one million artifacts in the Rijks? The place was insane, and the building itself was a work of art absolutely worth seeing. Throughout the rest of the week, we went to the Maritime Museum and got to walk up and down each deck of Amsterdam’s most famously recreated ship, aptly named the Amsterdam. We also did a canal boat tour, visited the city’s most famous farmers market, spent hours in the Royal Palace, and played with butterflies in the Hortus Botanicus. Every place we went was incredible, with fantastic historical recreations, intricate carvings and statues, beautiful art and plant life, and most of all, important reflections on the Netherland’s brutal history of slavery, racism, and colonialism.

Aside from historical sites, Ian and I experienced Dutch culture through food, people, and simply walking around. For one, Amsterdam is known for its delicious fries topped with parmesan cheese and truffle mayo sauce, so you already know we got this as a snack almost daily (it was actually insane). We also had plenty of stroopwaffels, devoured ginormous pancakes twice as big as our heads, and tried bitterballen for the first time (basically just stew deep fried into little balls). Even more importantly, everywhere we went people were incredibly kind and welcoming, making Amsterdam feel more homey than a city of this size would normally appear to be. It’s also a city of many cultures, making for a beautiful maelstrom of different languages, customs, and peoples.

So now, as I sit in this airport and reflect on the last week, I can’t wait to see what my next stop has in store. Starting in Peebles, then Oban, then Inverness, and ending in Edinburgh, Scotland will, I’m sure, hold many more incredible sights, tastes, and learning opportunities.. I can’t wait to share them all with you!

From Amsterdam, with love (and slight impatience),

Haley