I don’t know how many more times I can stress the lack of luck we seem to have every where we go. Let us pick up from where we left off yesterday. We had just arrived in Amsterdam …

We rolled up to our lodging at 11:30 p.m. in the middle of an alley across from a sketch parking garage and nestled between a pizza shop and a car wash. We hopped out of the nine-seater van and waited in the freezing misty rain until two men with indistinguishable accents let us into the Hostel we would be staying in. By the way, my older brother booked this 5-star experience, and he might potentially be cheaper than my parents.

Six loud Italian humans slept in three creaking bunk beds in an eight-foot by eight-foot box of a room. The toilet was located outside our shoe-box in the middle of the vestibule to the building, and the three “private” showers were at the top of a steep staircase in a room that didn’t lock. The males and females of the family had to take rotating shifts so that someone could stand watch while the others quickly showered. Needless to say, we all slept fitfully last night and had to be up and on the move again bright and early before we received a major parking ticket.

Once we managed to assemble ourselves in a semi-decent fashion, we loaded back into the van and began the journey into the city. We located a parking garage and trekked around in search of a breakfast spot. It was still completely dark at about 8 a.m. and it was raining, but we found a cute little café called Omelegg, where we devoured lattes and omelets.

After sating our hunger, we proceeded to the Heineken Brewery for a tour, which was my first experience in a brewery, and I grew up a few blocks from the original Yuengling Brewery. During our tour, we learned the entire fermentation process and even had the chance to drink – and let me tell you, we all needed it. At the end of our tour, we each snagged a brew … well, all except for my younger brother. He was only allowed to drink a soda. While he was a tad bummed, I still have plenty of interesting photos to capture the experience.

After the brewery, we had plans to visit the Anne Frank house; however, all tours were sold out. Therefore, we took a canal tour where we learned about the intrinsic architecture, including a lopsided bar, a house boat with a statue of Kim Kardashian at the helm, and the lofty price of a one-night stay at the Waldorf Astoria. While it is beautiful, it is not worth €2,500 a night.

Once we emerged from the boat, we walked to a little Italian pizzeria, and munched on various pizzas, which were so delicious. The next stop was the car, and of course, we got lost trying to read Dutch signs leaving the parking garage the wrong way. That’s right ladies and gents, we were going down the wrong lane, and then when we got to the kiosk at the end to pay, we almost lost a credit card in the machine because it turns out we needed to pay before we got to the exit.

And then we traveled four and a half hours to Cologne, Germany, and you bet we got lost once again. However, we did manage to arrive, and now we are in a better-quality Air BnB. I mean, for the most part because there is no hot water until Wednesday … we’re only here for one night. Here’s to cold showers and many more artsy lattes because I’ve definitely been a hot mess this trip even though I am enjoying every bit of this European experience. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures!