Amsterdaaaaaaaaamn

Oh hello there!

First things first, here is the pictures from Bruges. Look at them! No pictures from Amsterdam yet, but they are coming too!



Today, as you may have gathered from my extra clever title, we are in Amsterdam. We were very sad to leave Belgium, as everyone there really loved it, but our trip is not one wherein we get to spend enough time in any place. On the upside, we are being followed by sunshine. Every day, I check the weather, and it says it's going to rain that day. Then, sometimes it rains while we are in transit, but as soon as we arrive where we have to go outside, the rain dissipates and the sun shines.

In Amsterdam, we have been taking things pretty slow. We're pretty exhausted from zooming all over the place, and also from climbing the 366 extremely steep stairs we climbed to get to the Belfry in Bruges yesterday. We walked to our hotel room, after determining it would be easier than taking public transit (most things are). We had a nice walk along the harbor, and then along a canal. Mom and I only argued about every 200 m about where we were going (I had a map, so I was pretty sure I was right).

Our hotel is a bit of a step down after the grandeur of our hotel in Brussels. It is a "pension" which means "hostel," so we have three metal bunk beds. On the upside, one is close enough to a plug that I can charge while I sit (our London hotel had a plug suspended in the air away from any bed, so I could not actually charge my iPad there, as it could not sit on any surface except the sink, which struck me as a bad plan. Anyways, the hallways smell like pot, but our room doesn't. The stairs are ludicrously steep, but the WiFi works, so I am not complaining. Much.

We wandered around a bit, and found a world famous flea market, which did not sell any fleas (hahahaha), but which did sell a bunch of knick knacks that I prevented Darcy from purchasing, largely by having all the Euros. There were some very nice houses along all of the very nice canals, which were not stinky or gross, which we thought they might be.

I realize I am not using as many superlatives today as I was yesterday. It's hard to say if it's because I'm so tired today, if I'm full up on quaint, or if Amsterdam is just not as good as Brussels and Bruges, but I'm not quite as thrilled as I was yesterday by the towering spires and cute little houses. I am hoping that the future will hold some new sorts of things for me to be excited about, because London was waaaaaay different from anything we've seen so far on the continent, so hopefully other countries will yield some new things.

We took a canal tour, which was quite fun. There is a Chinese restaurant boat at the Harbor that is an exact replica of one in Hong Kong (which I have also seen!). In China, it holds 700 people. When they filled it up here, it started to sink, because whoever built it forgot that things don't float as well in fresh water as they do in salt water, and also that Dutch people are a little larger on average than Chinese. So, now only 450 people are allowed in.

All of the houses in central Amsterdam were built on wooden pilings, which was a very poor idea, as the pilings are driven into water. Water has been known, on occasion, to rot wood, and so many houses in Amsterdam are leaning over quite significantly. Not sure if they fall over, but I didn't see any places where houses should have been and instead was a pile of bricks, so maybe not.

On the way home, we walked through a market district, which was busy, and then through the edge of the red light district, in which we found many a "coffee shop" and "sex store." Dad didn't understand why we were giggling when we saw a "coffee shop" for most of the day, and once he figured it out, he immediately went into the nearest one. It turns out that on one side of the menu is normal type food and on the other side is all the special stuff, which is not terribly expensive. It's not as cheap as say Tylenol, but it's not much. I should also say that shortly after he went in, Dad left before anyone could convince him to stay.

Another thing about the Continent is that it is difficult to drink things here. I typically order water in a restaraunt, and since England, it has become the most expensive drink ordered, more expensive than juice, pop or beer. It typically costs between $4 and $5 CAD for a tiny little 400 ml bottle. Also they don't give it to me out of a tap. Also it is not endless. So, we are thirsty a lot. Eventually, I just bought a big bottle of water.

Anyhow, that's it for today. Enjoy the pictures!