Hello from Holland!

Where the air is clear and there are many canals! I got up at 4:30 am on May 19th to catch my flight from Glasgow airport to Amsterdam.

I met Torie and Amy on the train (two lovely American girls from Chicago and Minnesota) and we went for lunch, walked around Amsterdam. We went to an...interesting museum and walked in the Red Light District - it's not as huge as I thought it would be. Makes me really sad to think of the girls there. As you probably know, Amsterdam is well known for it's easy access to drugs. Which is why I came here. Kidding!!
If you come to Amsterdam and want to go to a coffee shop/cafe, it pretty much means you want to smoke up. The smell of weed is in the air quite frequently. That being said, people have a bias that there are prostitutes on every corner. Not true. It's actually a gorgeous city...one of my favorites so far!

Stepping off the train, the air was much warmer and humid than the air in Ireland/UK. It was so sunny out! The buildings are very cool and all have character, each with a bit of tilt to it. And they are so narrow! I honestly didn't realize there were so many canals here. You can do canal tours. One of the provinces here was even covered in water and they cleared it all out! Also, the bike parking spaces here are INSANE. 1000's of bikes in one place. I could hardly believe it. People take their biking very seriously here too, and are very aggressive and ring their little bells and glare at you angrily. I'm sorry!! I keep walking in the bike lane because it looks like a sidewalk.

We met up with my friend Yoram, from Utrecht. He showed us around Amsterdam and we tried White beer and had a lovely meal. He is so kind and generous!

On the 20th I walked around Amsterdam. I was meant to meet up with Amy and Tori but it didn't work out. I decided to go to the I Amsterdam letters and ran into them there! So, we went for Bitterballen and a drink. My first bite I had dipped wayy too far into the spicy mustard sauce...it was awful! But the balls themselves were delish! I still don't really know what's in them...

The next day Yoram showed me around his city, Utrecht. He let me borrow one of his bikes for the true Dutch experience...winding around on the cobblestone streets overlooking the old canal. So pretty! He even gave me a ride on the back of his pedalbike...WITH my huge backpack on. I don't know how he did it. I am impressed to this second. For supper we went to a cute little eatery on the canal terrace and cheese fondued. Holland is not only famous for drugs, canals, tulips, bikes and windmills...but also for it's cheese! I went into a cheese shop and sampled so many different cheeses! Yum. My favorite is one with herbs.

My final day in Amsterdam I went to the Anne Frank House - I cannot believe they were able to hide there for so long! The horrors of the past. It really broke my heart when I went there, but I'm glad I did. I also went to a diamond museum, Van Gogh museum (it was cool to see his paintings change as he reached a mentally darker state) and went on a canal cruise! I will be coming back to Holland someday!!

Today I took the early train to Brussels. Spent a few hours there walking around...had Belgian Waffle and sampled some delish chocolate! Then I randomly decided to hop the train to Brugge. SO glad I did! It's so or gorgeous there...referred to as the Venice of northern Europe! Orange roofs, cobblestone streets, canals, romantic churches...I walked around the full hour and a half with my backpack on and had to sprint to reach the train at the end because I got lost!

After a five hour train ride with 4 changeovers, I am in Paris! From my first hour here, I don't like it! But I am meeting up with friends, so it can only get better!

Til next time...

Leaf (love)

Larae