Amsterdamsel

Oh, Amsterdam the city of Hedonism. People go there to indulge on there every whim and the city caters to you.

The people are friendly, the vibe is calm and everything is covered in whipped cream.

I had pancakes for dinner. Twice.

It is an unbelievable city situated around a maze of canals and cobble stone roads and the most difficult about the city is walking.

Huge bike lanes criss-cross with roads filled with scooters and a few cars and tram tracks and at any given moment any of these vehichles will vear onto the sidewalks. The amount of bikes in the city is unreal, there is an average of 3 bikes per people in the city, and they always have the right of way.

Amsterdam is an amazing city, it is small enough to easily get around and navigate and it is filled with interesting arcitecture and beautiful bridges. Everything about the city is backwards in the best possible way. It's a little mecca of delight in the center of the Nothinglands.

The first night, we got to our beautiful hostel, dropped off our things and set out to explore the city by moonlight. The next day, we went across the street to the Van Gogh Museum and wandered around there for while before grabbing lunch and heading the world famous red light district that we explored and went to a museum.

The next day, we went to the Anne Frank House which was terribly sad, but a very interesting place.

That afternoon we took a tour of the Heineken Brewery.

On our final day, we just wandered the city street like a bunch of beaten down vagabounds trying to soak up every last minute of the purely unique Amsterdam experience.

It was one of my favorite cities I've visited and I can't wait to go back.

Things That Surprise Me About Madrid: Volume I

1. No one here speaks english. I guess this shouldn´t be surprising seeing as I am in EUROPE. However, being an American, I assumed everyone should know it. The outcome of my six years spent doodling in the margins of my papers during spanish class resulted in me not picking up that much of the language. I only really know "¡Si Se Puede" (Thanks, Obama) however, seeing as that may result in more trouble than good, I have become very good at nodding my head politley and pointing. I do think that, being immersed in the language, I´ll pick up some of it quickly, like a toddler. I should be fluent in three years. But, I am becomming very good at saying "Uno cafe solo," which brings me to my next point.

2. The coffee. Smallest cups ever. You can barely hold them. However, they contain a caffiene content that puts a Venti Red Eye to shame. They also don't seem to wake me up, just shake violently for a few hours.I have been experimenting with cafes all over the city, where people do spend all of their time, drinking coffee and smoking like characters in Mad Men. They come in and out of the cafes with lighted cigarettes, flicking the ash on the floor (throwing your trash on the floor is apparently a sign that you liked the place...?) and drinking these comically small cups of coffee while yelling across the room at their compadres. Lively bunch.

3.Etiquitte. One is not supposed to yawn in public or eat or drink whilst walking through the streets. This is proving to be a problem for me as I am always tired and hungry and wandering through the streets.

4. The drivers. They will hit you. They will hit you and you will go flying through the blue skys of the city and land in a heap at the foot of the Don Quiote statue. No matter how small the roads are (and some of them are SMALL) they carreen down the streets and through crowded sqaures, only stopping sometimes when the light turns red. Moreover, most of the sidewalks are the same level as the streets, only divided by some dopey metal poles every few yards. When an angry Maderilino gets impaitent on the street, pedestrains beware. They fly down the sidewalks barely dodging barking dogs and angry (but impecably dressed) natives. I wouldnt put it past them to fly through the open doors of the big stores along Gran Via if it was a shortcut.