Bob in Europe

Amsterdam last night

I'll just do the narrative for now, and fill in my observations later in the day...

Finished up class at our normal 5:30, shuttle back to hotel, met the group (9 out of 16 in the class) in the lobby for a night out in Amsterdam. Took the shuttle to the airport, then purchased a 7 Euro ticket on the local train (Sneltraain) to the downtown station.

Unfortunatly, we got on the wrong train, which was made funnier because we were relying on one member of the group that is Dutch and quite familiar with Amsterdam. We had to exit the train at the next station and return to Schipol, then get on the correct train. Again, the public transportation is so convenient, although a little pricey here.

We took a long walk looking for a restaraunt. Amsterdam is an interesting combination of old buildings with nice architecture, a large canal system, and a seedy underbelly of pubs, shops, sex shops, and the famous coffee houses. This much without even walking through the red light district, which I plan to do tonight. I would relate Amsterdam to a Bourbon Street that was allowed to grow unfettered and include light drugs and prostitution.

Unfortunetly, the group decided to stop in a very touristy Venezualan steak place, where the menu was actually in Spanish. Ironic that I just returned from vacation where I was ordering in Spanish, fly across the Atlantic to northern Europe, and do the same thing. The food was good, though, and the main intent to get to know the folks in class was definitely met.

Afterwords, we took shop in an Irish pub to drink Guiness and watch the England/Spain futball match. The pub was packed, and it made for a really good time watching the sport with Europeans who love the game. The atmosphere allowed Guiness to grow on me as well.

The last shuttle between the airport and the hotel was at 12:10am, so we took a street car back to Central Staation, hopped backed on the train, and returned to the airport just in time to catch the shuttle. Returning to the hotel, we had another round of drinks, with the discussion revolving around my visit to Paris this weekend. I've found when Europeans hear that I only have 1 day in Paris, they are not afraid of offering up opinions on how to spend the day. Almost no one has the same advice, and it ranges from drinking Cafe au late all day and watching people to taking a train to Versailles. Everyone agrees, though, that Paris is one of the finest cities in the world.

The 1:30am bedtime made for another rude wakeup, but no worries here mate.

posted by Bob @ 10:47 PM