Hotel Imperial Amsterdam

... of Bicycles (there are more bicycles then people in Amsterdam) it was a no brainer that we all rent bikes. I let Chris and Adamo do the serious bike riding since I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was 14 but we all had a lot of fun riding around the city. The best part was bringing the bikes back in the middle of a mental rainstorm and getting lost about 10 times. Amsterdam is the most confusing place in the world. Their roads all cross and stop and you can never keep track of ...

... the time just like someone else we know.

Next Day

Well another lazy morning and we are about to head of around in the car for some sight seeing and I will let you know what happens today when we get back so bye for now and I will be tapping away with my fat fingers on the keyboard soon.

We have just got home after a drive through Amsterdam we went up and down the narrow streets and dodged all the mad bike riders it no mean feat ...

... to go and take photos of the city. There were also lots of sad goodbyes to be said, and all my friends from the Pumphouse threw me and Doug a spectacular going away party and gave us far, far too much… You guys (if you’re reading this) are absolutely amazing. While I might not have liked the work too much, you all made it worth coming in. Thank you all heaps!
When all was said and done, we managed to wipe away the tears and jump on our flight to Amsterdam, on my ...

... A total of about three miles--we are getting pretty good a "hoofing" it at a pretty fast clip. One interesting note about Amsterdam--there are 10 million bicycles registered and they have right away. Be sure to ask your student about some of our experiences with bicycles.

As of right now we should be back in Kanas around 5:00. See you then! (I will start the calling tree when we are ready to leave Atlanta.

Je Mata, Linda

So I was picked up by George and her dad at bout 11am... and we headed to the airport.
We arrived in Amsterdam about 3pm and caught the train into the city.
Settled into our hotel and went to check out Dam Square.

By the time we got out of the hotel it was about 6pm so we went for a walk up to the hash museum - which had a massive growing room which could get you high from the fumes!
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands amygz

... nightlife. It was a Saturday night. I consider what I saw in the bar district and in the Red Light District "tame" considering my other life experiences. Mardi Gras in New Orleans last February was a lot more "extreme" considering what society considers "normal" behaviour. All that hype about Amsterdam! I returned to my room and met my roommates. They were chatting on their computer to Erika's mom back home...in Calgary! Rich and Erika left ...

... was a prohibition on Catholic churches. The Protestants would however give a little leeway if the church didn't look like a church! We went on a candlelight Canal tour served ...

Once again trying to navigate the lovely Italian train system.... We had to get to the Pisa airport from Florence at the latest by 8:45. We left for the Santa Maria Novella train station at 5:30, we wanted to catch a 6:15 train to get to Pisa by 8, with plenty of time to get to the airport. When we had boarded and settled in a train, however, and asked someone, to reassure ourselves if we were on the right train to Pisa, they told us it was the slow train and ...

... and we'll get to that "someday"! Somewhere along the way creating a record of our every trip took back seat to day to day life So, for the first time in quite some time, here's a general update on how life in Amsterdam is going. We had a beautiful spring this year with lots of visitors. Queen's day was lovely and May was beautiful as well. Chris' mom and many friends were here for Queen's Day and we had a blast drinking champagne on the stoop. Then in June ...

... windows lit up with red lights. The girls were standing in each window - pretending to be on mobile phones, some in nurse or cop costumes, some were gorgeous ... and some were not. Most of the windows had a toilet and a bed - and if the curtains are closed, it means the girl is "busy". So Weird. We turned into an alley and some of the ...