So today I got a chance to do something I think very few American's will ever do. I went beyond Amsterdam, in a country where many think Amsterdam is the country. Today Eva took me to the town where she grew up. So this is a small town of about 12,000 ( hey! sounds like newport!) and it is really different than Amsterdam or even Utrecht.

We took the train in the morning here and crossed most of the country, about 1 & a half hours, and her dad met us at the train station. From there he took us home and we went for a run and bike ride around the city and the countryside. It was great to get a work out and see a part of this country that I would have never seen on my own. After this we went back to the house where Eva's aunt, uncle and 2 grandmothers were. I got to meet everyone. Only her parent's spoke english but they were really kind and translated for the grandmothers.

Eva told me that both her grandmothers had never been to Amsterdam. I was really surprised at this. So many American's only know Holland as Amsterdam and these 80 something year old women had never even been there or spoke english. It was awesome to spend some time with them and see what life in this country is about outside all the stereotypes.

So we are going to take the train back to Utrecht from here in about an hour and then tomorrow I stay in Amsterdam before taking the train to Berlin tuesday morning. Hope all is well, just had some spare time to use the computer and thought I would write a quick note.

E