Hotel Carillon Haarlem

... It was very enjoyable. <br><br>The next morning I had the best breakfast yet. All hostels offer free breakfast, but this one was by far the best. There was cheese and meat and really good cerals. There were even multiple types of bread. And, to top things off, there were apples and oranges. Awesome. I was so stoked, generally I get bread with peanut butter, so this was a real treat. <br><br>

... through the outdoor marketplace in the center of town under the shadow of the imposing Grote Kirsch. A bit tired from lugging our packs around, we took the first hotel we could bargain down to a reasonable price--which happened to be conveniently located right next to the train station and the bike rental. Of course, this meant that every 10 minutes a train would rumble past, shaking our room, which was only feet from the tracks. This was likely the ...

... merchant dude that was a major patron to the arts and sciences during the 16/1700s [need to check dates]. Very cool exhibits from paleentology to physics, electricity and beatuful paintings. An awesome collection in a very ornate, antique setting. very cool. Next is lunch and my next stop on the European Beer tour. Grolsh this time. I'm starting to acquire a slight taste for this stuff. Heidi orders a ham sandwich, I order a prime rib sandwich and ...

... was taller than Andrew! They started talking, of course, but eventually the guy bought us all a round, so I can't complain too much. Although, I think if it had gone on too much longer Amanda, Lili, and I may have had to just leave him there. We are now back at the hostel bar for the rest of the evening. Leaving for Brussels in the AM (around 6am) so I am definitely trying to take it easy tonight. note: Wok to Walk....so good!

Amsterdam.... I didn´t take too many photo´s and suffice to say I don´t remember a whole lot of every moment spent in Holland. I am torn right now if I should keep this blog pc or I should cross that boundary and capture the realism, if not for your entertainment but for my own nostalgia in my later years. To save face I think I am just going to use euphemisms and street slang throughout this blog - just try to follow along (this works well if you are or were a former ...

... Sheraton of soortgelijke resorts gaan zitten. Alleen dan moeten we nog even de loterij winnen. Jeempig zeg, die zijn duur! Dus eerst nog maar eens verder zoeken bij de B&amp;B's op het eiland. Hopenlijk is er ergens nog een leuke voor niet al te veel geld.

After my Stillman Theater shows in Arnhem I took the opportunity to spend a couple of days in my favourite European city, Amsterdam. I went with my good friend Manuel who works in Malaga, Spain (see photos accompanying blog). Keep an eye out for him if you're ever in downtown Malaga as he has a great pilot character and wonderful show. He doesn't speak much English so it was a much-needed chance for me to practise my Spanish. On previous trips in Amsterdam I'd been ...

... seeing all the girls in windows to what i thought. They're not really windows, more glass doors that they stand in and give you evil eyes trying to tempt you to come in. They all have red lights above them, but if you go there don't go near the ones with blue lights as well as red lights, unless of course, you like she-males. They don't stand there naked, but they wear they skimpiest bikinis you've ever seen ad stand under fluorescent lights so their bodies glow in the dark ...

... a center aisle. Dancing and singing down the middle of this aisle are what appeared to be court jesters dressed in black-face...straight out of an old movie or something. Many of the children in the crowd have also painted their faces black and some were even in full costume. Up above the crowd on the town hall balcony are more black-faced people with microphones saying things in Dutch and getting the crowd excited. Every so ...

... instead discovering a rather large woman sitting on her bed eating a bucket of KFC. This time, we found the hot ones. Prostitution in Amsterdam is completely legal. The prostitutes are actually in a union. They rent out small rooms with big windows to entice passers-by. My theory was that the more attractive women take the lower-rent, less-visible rooms because they are more sought after, and when we walked down a tiny alleyway about the width of my shoulders, the windows on both ...