Amsterdam/Brussels Weekend

Amsterdam is indeed as insane as its reputation. John and I went 2 guys from our program and met up with a girl from Columbia and some of her friends who are studying in Barcelona. Nothing about the city really makes sense. Coffee shops are everywhere--these are just a cover for places where people walk in, walk to the bar, buy marijuana, and sit down anywhere and smoke. Thats definitely the first thing you notice--a lot of people in the city are definitely under some sort of influence, most of which are tourists, as we learned that only a small percentage of actual residents use drugs. The city is pretty cool though, there are canals everywhere (as you'll see in a majority of my pictures), and it just has a different feel to it. The infamous Red Light District is another place that just wouldn't be anywhere else--girls literally stand in windows for blocks and blocks and guys (all creepy) pick one and walk in and they pull a curtain closed. Its mind boggling 1) that this practice exists anywhere, 2) that there are girls that would do this so blatantly (though they apparently make good money) and 3) that there are guys that would do this so blatantly. Apparently some people have no shame.

We were there for 2 full days (more than enough time), saw the Van Gogh Museum--really cool--Anne Frank house, and took a tour of the city to see a lot of the city, which was definitely worthwhile. Definitely glad I saw it and experienced it, but I'm pretty certain after being there that once is definitely enough.

We left around 7 for Brussels and I was definitely exhausted. Slept part of the train ride, but definitely not enough. When we (Me, John, and our friend from school, Ashley) we found our hotel--a Best Western, much better than a hostel!--and went out to this cool part of town with a lot of bars. The bars were actually pretty crowded, so it was good to get out and see that. We woke up early the next morning, got our free continental breakfast (meat, cheese, and bread, like apparently everywhere in Europe) and headed out to see the few big sights there are to see in the city since we only had a few hours before our flight back to Prague. Brussels was really cool, it would've been nice to have a few more hours. There isn't a ton to see, but the stuff there is pretty interesting. Its the capital of the EU so there are some big buildings for that, and a cool park, etc. Eventually we found this bar called Delirium that we had read about; it has at least 2004 beers available for sale at all times! Needless to say we experienced some of their good ones in the short time we had, and that was amazing...it is my favorite bar so far. Just compiling the number of beers into the menu (which was about 2 inches thick) must have taken a while.

Anyway, it was a great weekend to say the least. Again, having to be in cities that are on the Euro is tough, so it was nice to come back to Prague again...it is great here. I went for my first run today (finally...) as it was absolutely gorgeous--in the low 60s and bright sun/blue sky. Couldn't ask for much more. I'm here in Prague for the next 2 weekends and then its spring break (already!) when we'll be heading to Italy to go to Venice, Florence, and Rome, hopefully with a couple day trips to smaller towns from one or 2 of them. Should be a great time!