Amsterdam!

Today is April 8^th. Man, has the time flown quicker than a hummingbird’s wings beat. This is getting to be ridiculous how fast this year is going. And it’s been over a month since I’ve attempted to do this blog thing I started last year. To try and get back on a regular schedule, and a more frequent schedule, I’m going to divide March’s travels up over the course of several entries. That way there can be more pictures too!

Life at the moment is kind of crazy. I have 24 days until I go to Vienna for the European Geosciences Union General Assembly. I’ll be there for a week, presenting the work I’ve been doing with the geology department in Bologna over the course of this year. And right after that is exam time, so I’m starting to get worried about the amount of work I need to do that I haven’t done all year! Oppps.

The first major trip we did in March was to Amsterdam. We flew into Brussels, since that is where the cheap airline, Ryanair, flies. After a few trains and bad instructions from the bus driver, we finally made it to our hostel, around 2am. We crashed, and the next morning hit up a grocery store to make lunch before hitting the town. We walked a lot in the morning, with a nice, bitter cold, north wind chilling us to the bones. In the afternoon we decided to go into the Anne Frank house. The house that Anne Frank lived in was actually bigger than I thought. It wasn’t huge by any means, but when I was younger reading her diary, I just pictured a tiny, tiny apartment.

During the night, we walked the Red Light District. That was a shocking experience. Everyone tells you about the women in the windows, but seeing it for your self is something else. And see the guys who might actually be taking of the services were even more interesting. The following day we walked by it again, to see the difference in cliental and women. The difference in the women was very noticeable. At night, the women were thin, young (almost too young) and beautiful. During the day, the women were not quite as thin, older, and less beautiful. I guess the women that would get more business work the night shifts.

Other things that I enjoyed about the trip, was the food and the beer. Italian food is great, but after a while, I can get tired of pasta. I ate falafel twice, and had Belgium fries twice as well. It was nice to mix it up for a few days.

Well, that’s Amsterdam in a nutshell. Next up, Sicily!

Rembrandt house

Awesome bike garage