Amsterdam

It has been a week since Dan and I returned from Amsterdam. Since then I have been working relentlessly on projects, essays, and recruiting. I'd hate to have to do work while travelling so it takes extra effort to get the all the work done while home. You probably want to hear about Amsterdam though.

Before you start making assumptions about what Amsterdam is like, let me tell you differently. Amsterdam is a quaint city. Canals wind through town, bikes and trams roam quietly on every street, and old buildings are crammed into neighborhoods. Our hostel was right next Vondelpark which is basically Amsterdam's "Central Park". We started with the Anne Frank Museum which I found more moving than Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Next we spent some time on hired bikes and cruised around some quiet neighborhoods, some not so quiet neighborhoods, and visited a the city's token Dutch windmill.

Look carefully

I realize the monster known as The Red Light District needs to be addressed. This is what I associated with Amsterdam before I went there. The whole thing is actually hilarious and it's merely tolerated by the Dutch. Yes, there are prostitutes. Yes, there are 'coffee shops'. Yes, there are sketchy Russian drug dealers. And yes, I laugh at everyone who takes the Red Light District seriously. It's part of the experience to gawk and laugh and walk down dark alleys before laughing some more.

Amsterdam

We spent one day travelling outside the city to Haarlem which really isn't that far away. It was much much quieter there. It was also pouring rain that morning. We walked around town to scope things out then walked some more to climb inside a windmill. It turned out to be closed so we got a picture instead.

Haarlem

We then took a train to Zaanse Schans. We are really great with public transportation and took the wrong train. So after trying to fix our error and proceeding to fail miserably, we decided to explore the city we were stranded in, Zaandam. Turns out we found some amazing blueberry muffins at this outdoor market. You could buy six for the price of one airport cafe muffin. Great deal!

Our final day in Amsterdam was spent attempting to be more local. We took an obligatory picture of the 'I amsterdam' sign, with the Texas flag of course. 

Again, look carefully

We spent some time at the Van Gogh exhibit then tracked down the alleged best pancake restaurant in town. To get there, you have to climb the steepest stairs you've ever seen only to find four little tables. The pancakes were really just one giant thick crepe which happened to be delicious. While on the subject of food, the frites were delicious there. They are thick fries that are fried twice and traditionally dipped in mayonnaise. Heineken is Amsterdam's gem so we had a taste. Not surprisingly, it's a lot better in Holland than pretty much anywhere else. In summary, Holland is a quite healthy.

I can't think of much else to report besides establishing our relationship with the customs agent in Edinburgh. After realizing filling up a whole passport will be next to impossible, it has been decided that being best friends with the customs agent (we will call him Freddie) is the next best thing. 

Pannenkoekenhuis

Oh, random thing worth mentioning is this shop in Edinburgh called the Nile Valley. It's an African falafel restaurant that is runner-up to Israeli falafel. Quite the accomplishment by my book. 

Next Friday (15th) begins our first week off of school. (We actually don't have school, we aren't skipping.) Munich. Prague. Skiing the Alps in Austria.