Sunday, July 23, 2006

Amsterdam

For the record: Night trains are the WORST idea EVER! I booked a seat - not a bed - in a night train to save some money on lodging and pick up some lost time. I was put in a 6 seater car (just like the one in Eurotrip) with 5 people, and somehow wound up sleeping on the floor in between everyone elses feet! I suppose I only got about 2 hours of sleep, so I came into Amsterdam smelly, tired, hungry, and with absolutely NO place to sleep! It all worked out alright when I came across Bob's Youth Hostel and got a place for 2 nights. I'll tell you, after going all day yesterday on 2 horus of sleep (and for various other reasons) I slept like a log last night!

Ah, Amsterdam. Most famous for its liberal attitudes, Anne Frank, and Van Gogh. It really is like they say it is, though. You can't walk more than a block without coming across one of the cities 400 "coffee shops" selling - you guessed it - marijuana in all shapes sizes and colors. Every street corner, instead of a guy smoking a cigarette, he'll just be smoking a joint. It's amazing. As is the redlight district, where they really do have red lights to let patrons know which booth is free or in use.

I hadn't been here more than an hour yesterday morning when I was eating my breakfast of brie and a baguette and a random guy off the street asked me "Did I see you wandering around with the lonely planet guide earlier?" Of course it had been me looking for a hostel, so he introduced himself and I have been hanging out with Frazier from Toronto ever since :) I love that bright blue book!

We went on a walking tour this morning, followed by a tour of the Heineken Brewry and a quick visit to the Van Gogh museum. I think I'm going to skip going inside Anne Frank's house and opt for the old walkby.

Again, just a 2 night stop so I'm off tomorrow morning. I'm still debaing whether to go to Brussels as my last stop, or just spending another full day in Paris... Oh, the choices I'm faced with!