Amsterdam

Unfortunately, I really only had one day to spend here while I was feeling good. It was great to see Saskia on Monday night, but I forgot to take any pictures to prove it. We went to a great authentic place called Moeders. I asked why the walls were covered with framed pictures of people, and they said, well, it's peoples' mothers. And that's how I figured out what 'moeders' means in Dutch. I tried having a beer and had to leave 2/3 of it on the table..

Tuesday I woke up feeling great so went out for my first big meal in days. At the hostel owner's recommendation I found Bazar and had a delicious spread of breads and cheese spreads and sausage and yogurt and fruit and a pancake and an egg...

I went to the Rijksmuseum, and found out that Dutch culture isn't only sex and drugs. It turns out they have a whole history of art and sailing and world conquest! (I think mostly for slaves) It's mostly about Rembrandt and Vermeer, but the Vermeer rooms were replaced with someone I had never heard of.

That night I met another guy while playing Mario 3 on NES. We went out for dinner - a rare thing to get to eat in a real restaurant with someone else - and for drinks after. We shared a passion for beer and spent the whole night talking about our favorite labels!

We shared some space cake and in the aftermath lost each other. Having no idea what his name was or how to reach him, and since I left early the next morning, that was pretty much the end of it.

Flower market at night. You can buy cannibus seeds everywhere

 

I'm on a train. On a boat.



Wednesday was a day of travel. Door to door was about 13 hours to Copenhagen (11 hours moving), but on the train it just doesn't seem bad at all. I even fell asleep, completely on accident, on the crowded leg for more than 3 hours. It gave me time to finish another book, too - Homer's the Odessey. Also cool: at one point the train boards a ferry.

I got a late start today in Copenhagen because I have an entire floor to myself and slept in, then did laundry. It's pretty cold here, and a lot of stuff is closed (like Tivoli Gardens), but it seems like a really cool place. Plus I heard the weather is way worse in Boston!

Yesterday was the half way point of this European journey, but it feels like ages since I was in London!