It's Memorable

So lets start last Monday. After my weekend in Venice I decided to kick in Torino for a weekend and just relax which was highly needed considering the craziness that was about to take place. Tuesday we had off because it was Carnivale (it kinda is a month long thing). So all the study abroad kids went to a place called Ivrea which is a small town about 30 minutes out of Torino. I expected it to be tourist central but we seemed to be the only Americans which I had no complaints about. Anyways the reason we went was for the orange throwing festival. At first I didn't think I would participate but that ended pretty much as soon as we got there. We had some time to check out the town and watch the parade before the throwing started and once it did I was a bit hesitant. Chariots would come around and they chuck oranges at you and you are on a team so you chuck them back. It lasted for about 3 hours and I got hit in the nose a few times, legs, arms, neck, everywhere. I was covered in orange juice and goo and was getting tired and sore but it was a crazy mess and a lot of fun. (PS there are some pictures on Facebook)
Then I went back to school for Wednesday and Thursday and finished my first Italian class and start my second one today! I had some homework and two tests within those two days so I was doing the school thing for at least 2 days last week!
Then the weekend came around and we were off to Amsterdam. Let me just say I did not expect that city to be so beautiful. Yes it's known for its weed and hookers but there is so much more to it than that! First things first, no I did not smoke but went to plenty of smoke shops with my friends, but I did try half an edible to that worked enough for me. Right when we got there we went to a popular smoke shop and the whole set up is interesting. It's just like a cafe with a menu for different types of weed and the prices for quantities. After that we walked around looking for a hostel and found one in the downtown area where we were on the 4th floor and the stair case was a crazy maze. (I will upload a video). We then went to dinner and hit up the red light district. Once again I will describe it as interesting. There were sex shows, shops, and the hookers in general were all in a 4 block radius or so and the majority of the people walking around were men obviously. But it was just a relaxing night and checking out the town. The next day my friends and I went to the Anne Frank house, some beautiful churches and cute little street markets by them, and I hit up the Van Gogh museum which was awesome to learn more about him and see how work. We just walked around the city all day hitting up the sites. After that we went to mexican food, which was highly needed for me, and then went and relaxed in a cafe a.k.a smoke shop. Sunday we went to the Heineken museum which was actually really awesome! It was super interactive with games and such so learning the information was fun and you got 2 beers with the ticket purchase. Also they had a boat you could ride which took you into the main square and then game you a bottle opener. They know how to do a museum haha. After that we went to a large park and met this little Asian guy and played soccer with him and just relaxed the rest of the afternoon. After a long night of travel we made it back to Torino and now I need to rest then get ready for class tonight!