XXX IS Amsterdam
It's true, XXX is Amsterdam - and not even in the cheeky Vegas way...no, as it turns out, three black X's are the symbol for Amsterdam and have been for quite some time. ANYWAY:
The Diets (sp? or what we call the Dutch) are super duper nice. Everyone EVERYWHERE. The train ride was good - they fed and watered us to make sure we didn't die and for whatever reason, we were upgraded to first class. Trains are the way to go IMHO - fast, clean, comfortable, and they don't make me anxious with thoughts of certain death should something go wrong (probably just a horrible injury resulting in a scars that eclipse the ''cool" stage). ANYWAY:
Train ride got us into town round 14:00 (it's all 24 hour in Europe, baby) and that gave us a ton of time to check out the sites. We got a number of recommendations from our last group leader and were able to follow up on just about all of them. For Brian and Julissa (who leave before we get back), there's a pub called the Wildman which is fantastic (have the Trippel on draught), a place that makes specialty soups called the 'Soupkitchen', and you HAVE to find a pancake house. The pancakes are like crepes and they pile in some yummy stuff. Word on the street is a good coffeehouse/bar/cafe to visit is called the Greenhouse effect though I wouldn't know on that one. ANYWAY:
The place is something that has to be experienced to believe. I'm amazed at the prevalence of English - we haven't met anyone who does NOT speak it thus far. To give you an example, we visited a shop called Hajenius (Brian, you will like) which is a bit stuffy looking by all accounts and we were ready to walk back out rather than bother the sales staff in suits and ties with our questions, but the guy we met was extremely nice and when we apologized for not knowing any simple words in Dutch, he said "Don't learn it, it's a useless language." Quite the opposite from the French. ANYWAY:
We did the Anne Frank Huis which kind of makes your soul hurt, but is important to remember. We also hit up the cafe that Werner suggested and I must say it had us in stitches. Drove by the Boom Chicago - I'm hoping we'll make it there for lunch, not sure we'll make it for the comedy show they put on. We also walked the district with a certain hue of light (had some good Schwarma there, too) and were surprised by how safe and comfortable we felt. Some dood fell into the canal due to copious amounts of mushrooms, but other than that, drama free. Tomorrow we take a cruise on the river and visit a diamond place, the Rikjumuseum (sp, I'm sure), and the Van Gogh museum. We'll try and do some shopping on the way. No pictures for a while, sadly. Interweb is pricier in this hotel than anywhere else thus far, and I can't convince myself to shell out $26 for 24 hours. Especially since I'm using a interweb connection device in the lobby of the joint for free (just no ability to connect to our camera). ANYWAY:
Cheers!
The Diets (sp? or what we call the Dutch) are super duper nice. Everyone EVERYWHERE. The train ride was good - they fed and watered us to make sure we didn't die and for whatever reason, we were upgraded to first class. Trains are the way to go IMHO - fast, clean, comfortable, and they don't make me anxious with thoughts of certain death should something go wrong (probably just a horrible injury resulting in a scars that eclipse the ''cool" stage). ANYWAY:
Train ride got us into town round 14:00 (it's all 24 hour in Europe, baby) and that gave us a ton of time to check out the sites. We got a number of recommendations from our last group leader and were able to follow up on just about all of them. For Brian and Julissa (who leave before we get back), there's a pub called the Wildman which is fantastic (have the Trippel on draught), a place that makes specialty soups called the 'Soupkitchen', and you HAVE to find a pancake house. The pancakes are like crepes and they pile in some yummy stuff. Word on the street is a good coffeehouse/bar/cafe to visit is called the Greenhouse effect though I wouldn't know on that one. ANYWAY:
The place is something that has to be experienced to believe. I'm amazed at the prevalence of English - we haven't met anyone who does NOT speak it thus far. To give you an example, we visited a shop called Hajenius (Brian, you will like) which is a bit stuffy looking by all accounts and we were ready to walk back out rather than bother the sales staff in suits and ties with our questions, but the guy we met was extremely nice and when we apologized for not knowing any simple words in Dutch, he said "Don't learn it, it's a useless language." Quite the opposite from the French. ANYWAY:
We did the Anne Frank Huis which kind of makes your soul hurt, but is important to remember. We also hit up the cafe that Werner suggested and I must say it had us in stitches. Drove by the Boom Chicago - I'm hoping we'll make it there for lunch, not sure we'll make it for the comedy show they put on. We also walked the district with a certain hue of light (had some good Schwarma there, too) and were surprised by how safe and comfortable we felt. Some dood fell into the canal due to copious amounts of mushrooms, but other than that, drama free. Tomorrow we take a cruise on the river and visit a diamond place, the Rikjumuseum (sp, I'm sure), and the Van Gogh museum. We'll try and do some shopping on the way. No pictures for a while, sadly. Interweb is pricier in this hotel than anywhere else thus far, and I can't convince myself to shell out $26 for 24 hours. Especially since I'm using a interweb connection device in the lobby of the joint for free (just no ability to connect to our camera). ANYWAY:
Cheers!
posted by Rickster from the Bus @ 7:59 PM
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