Ok, sorry for taking so long to update. We?re lacking the motivation to get this thing posted. But here it is, the final chapters in our European adventure. Granted, this all happened a few weeks ago, but it happened nonetheless. So here it is: Amsterdam.

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We took a train from Brussels to Amsterdam, rather than flying. It was cheap and quick. They?re relatively close to each other, and trains run back and forth really regularly. The train wasn?t as nice as some others we?d been on. Sticky floors, and dirty seats, but it did the job.

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When we got to Amsterdam, it was a little hard to find the hostel. There are two ?Flying Pig? hostels in the city, and one is near the train station, and one is not. We were in the one that is not. We asked a guy at the information booth in the train station how we should get there, and got the extremely vague answer ?take a street car?, before being dismissed. Nothing about what streetcar, or where to get off, or anything. So, we headed across the street to the tourist information center and stood in line for ages to find out more details. We got some good information, a map of the city, and headed out.

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The hostel was pretty similar to the others we?d been in. A bar on-site, which doubled as reception, and rooms with bunk beds. There were a few differences though. The first of which is that this bar smelled not only of cigarettes, but of pot. (I think Bill and I are the only young tourists to go to Amsterdam and not even see weed. No interest there. Ugh.) And the second being the style of bunk beds. This hostel advertised ?queen size bunk beds?, where you can book one bed for two people, saving money. They weren?t quite what we consider a queen size, but they were big enough.

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That night we just hung out in the hostel, looking through some tourist brochures we had collected, planning what we would do for the other days. We discovered a section that was all about local restaurants, and we decided to try out the Mexican place that was mentioned. We ate some of the best tacos ever, filled with actual pieces of steak, and yummy melted cheese. The salsa and guacamole were equally delicious, making for a great meal. Funny to think such amazing Mexican was found in the heart of Amsterdam, huh?

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The next day we got up and headed to the local flea market that we had read about. It was huge, taking up an entire street, stretching down both sides, with no cars driving on it. You could buy anything, from fruits and vegetables, to clothes, to shoes, to shampoo and soap. We wandered around for a long time, enjoying some fresh strawberries, and I bought a cheap dress and some leggings. A very ?English? outfit that will probably be a little out of place back in the mountains of NH? oh well. ;)

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For lunch that day we stopped in at a pretty typical Dutch fast food place. Oh man. If you think McDonald?s is bad for you, try this stuff... We ordered ?cheese dogs? and French fries, expecting a hot dog with cheese on it. Nope. It was deep fried cheese, in the shape of a mozzarella stick, but with about 15 tons more grease. Top that off with onions and ketchup, and it made for a messy meal. The fries were just as greasy, and covered in mayonnaise. This is the Dutch way, and I have to say, I really like it. It sounds awful, but it?s delicious!

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The whole time we were in Amsterdam it was very hot and sunny, so we spent the afternoon dozing in the room and relaxing. Then we headed out to try another restaurant for dinner. This time we were going for Ethiopian food. We got a huge platter, covered in different piles of colored, mushy, unrecognizable things. With this we got some squishy bread, shaped like a pancake, to eat everything with. No plates, no silverware. It was delicious! Lots of interesting spices and tastes, and so good! Who knew we?d get to experience a bit of Africa on our European adventure!

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The next day we got up and headed out to rent some bicycles. Amsterdam is a huge bicycling city. We read that 1 in 2 people in the city owns a bike, and it?s easy to believe when you?re walking around. They have bike lanes and lights on every street, and they?re just as common as cars. So we decided to rent a couple of bikes and head out of the city, on a nice ride. We got a map from McBike?s bike shop (no joke, that was the name!), and followed the River Amstel out of the town. We rode along the river, following these beautiful fields and paths. Along the way we saw two windmills, and lots of people out enjoying the sun. It was more like a park set up on either bank of the river than an actual road. Not many cars drove along it. Halfway we stopped to eat, then followed the river back into the city. It was a beautiful day, but we didn?t think to buy sunscreen first. My arms were bright red and burnt afterwards, with a classic ?farmer?s tan? style. Haha

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That night we decided to venture to the Red Light District that we?d heard so much about. We figured we couldn?t see Amsterdam without seeing that part of the city. What a crazy section of town? There are canals everywhere in Amsterdam, and one runs down the center of the main street in that section. Lights hang across the canal, and there are flashing lights and strip joints everywhere. We went and saw a really touristy show, just for the heck of it, then beat it out of there. When we were walking around after the show we were offered drugs a couple of times, and it was a little scary. Definitely not the area of town I wanted to be in. It was a little bizarre having women in red lit windows wave to us and try to get us to come in. (Bill tried to get a couple pictures of them, but everytime he held up a camera, they would move away from the window, out of view. No freebies there!)

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The next day we headed out to see the Anne Frank house and museum. Even though we were both sick of museums by then, this was one that I definitely wanted to see. I can remember reading the diary when I was younger, and I was fascinated with the idea of seeing the actual place where she lived. We spent the morning inside the museum, moving from room to room, seeing where Anne and her family lived for so long in secret. After leaving the eerie place, we went down the street to rent a ?Canal Bike?.

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Canal Bikes are little paddle-boats that you can rent by the hour and just float around the canals. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon, although Bill kept leaving the steering up to me, and I couldn?t quite get the hang of it. We went in circles quite a few times? We paddled from the Anne Frank house back down to where our hostel was, and finished up our day.

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The next day we got up super early to catch the 6:30am shuttle to the airport, and flew off to Geneva.