Spring Break:Part 2

Ack!  So much has been going on that I have not had sufficient time to write.

So, anyway, spring break was pretty awesome.  I left France to go to the Netherlands.  Amsterdam was one of the most interesting cities I've ever visited.  All the people I met were very friendly and accepting.  In fact, acceptance of others' differences seems to be the national attitude.  They pretty much don't care what you do as long as you don't require that they do it too.  I went on a walking tour of the city and actually learned a lot about the city of Amsterdam and Dutch history in general.  It is such a culture-rich city, and I went to a few museums including a Van Gogh museum holding over 200 of his works and an "underground" Catholic church from the reformation.  Anne Franks house is there, too.  I didn't get to go in, but I did take a picture.

One major struggle I had in Amsterdam was orienting myself.  The city grid is laid out in a semi circle, so if you walk straight along a street you don't always end up going the direction you want to.  It also doesn't help that every street has a canal going down it and all the bridges are green, so essentially everything looks the same.  It was also very bizarre to walk down the streets and smell pot wafting out of every third doorway, and of course the red-light district was fairly scandalous.  We were warned to not take pictures of the girls who display themselves there at risk of being chased down by them and having our cameras smashed.

I couch surfed with my roommate Raquelle for the 3 nights in Amsterdam and then she went on to Prague and I went to Eindhoven to await my flight to Norway the following day.
Eindhoven was good times.  I stayed with a woman named Kim and she had some friends over for dinner.  They were very kind and spoke in English for the most part.  When every they started to speak Dutch I just kind of smiled and nodded and had no idea what was going on.  The guests were appalled that A) I was only in Eindhoven for one night and B) that I had no plans to go out.  So, they took me out for a couple drinks.  Unfortunately it was a Wednesday night, so the Salsa bar and the Karaoke bar were both closed.  I was bummed, so was Ronald.  Alas I did not get to grace them with my mad karaoke skills.  However, we did play truth or dare, which I'm pretty sure I have not done since I was 13.

But, the best part of the night was definitely riding on the back of a bicycle.  Mildly terrifying, but much faster than walking.  Plus, it was a new experience!

Pictured below are poffertjes.  They are both my new favorite food and my new favorite word to say.  Thus, I am determined to find out how to make them so I can eat them and say their name on a fairly regular basis.