Hotel Mimosa Scheveningen

Well, the trip has finally started! After getting up way too early (nerves I guess) and repacking my backpack twice, I traveled to Schiphol. I tried to get a seat with enough room for my legs, but unfortunately those seats were already reserved. (So why does it say on the China Airlines website that those seats cannot be reserved?) Here we (a friend of mine who's also going to Bangkok and I) enjoyed a last meal on Dutch soil (a nice tosti) and afterward we boarded the Boeing 747 to Bangkok.

... Enfin, het paspoort wordt afgegeven en de man van de marechaussee vraagt of ik was geboren in 's Gravehage. Uhhhh, niet maar in Groningen he...dus hij kijkt nog eens op zijn scherm en fronst zijn wenkbrauwen. O, o, nu zul je zien dat er in dat nieuwe paspoort een fout zit en ik toch voor iemand anders wordt gezien. Hij drukt op een paar toetsen en ? Het blijkt toch wel toch te kloppen, ik vroeg of het allemaal wel klopt. Het was opeens toch ...

... when they were playing and took a big fall in Amsterdam. Then to round things off, Chris and Marie had to go home and we had tears in the car from both Jess and Millie! However, Monday was a new day, and Jess and Millie have now started waving to every plane that goes overhead, and shout 'hello Chris and Mer'! We had another quiet day as it rained for most of the day. Unfortunately, we are now heading home a couple of weeks early. We knew that at anytime we'd have to go home due ...

Ate que as coisas, como sempre, deram certo. Cheguei em Amsterdam em paz. :) No final da duvida de ontem, resolvi abstrair o "perigo" e dormir no aeroporto. Abri meu saco de dormir, e tirei um cochilo. Nao foi o melhor do mundo, mas deu para aproveitar algumas horas de sono. Quando acordava no meio da noite via que mais e mais gente estava fazendo o mesmo que eu. Enfim, eu nao era o unico pobre que estava no local ...

... then went on my way. What an ordeal that was!! So after being lost some more and driving around aimlessly, the four of us made it to the airport and dropped the car off. From there we headed to the Weiss-N-Camp but first made a stop to find Jason because at that point his train was arriving at Haupbanhof. No luck. So, this camping place was cool because they kept the Oktoberfest party going ...

... it is. Although you could really avoid the Coffee shops and Red Light district if you wanted to. We did however take a stroll down the Red Light district which upon walking through seemed like a normal well lit street with bars and places to go....except for millions of red lit windows which girls were standing in. I really didnt know it was like that there, but people literally 'Window Shop' for girls. Crazy! Anyway we walked out ...

... getting up and going to our favorite cafe overlooking a fountain with dancing water. We order coffee that is served with delicious chocolate truffles. Matthew does some work, we eat, check email and so on. Elijah and I learned to bring something to read while Matthew works. We can end up sitting here quite a while.l gotta go for now...battery is going to go dead on the laptop soon. Love to all. Debbie

... and a beer. I'm pretty sure I know why the strong beer hasn't caught on at home - it's not exactly your easy-drinking beer. Think of just adding a shot of vodka to a beer, and you're pretty close. Sick! It's a bit rainy here in Amsterdam so we are probably going to have a museum day, but the forecast is good for the next few days. Not much else to add at this point...but it's all winding down already!

... and quiet day in Amsterdam and I had to go back to Rivierenbuurt to get my bag and move to my new host. I relaxed shortly at Stef, watched email and then left and I still have a bike for tommorrow :D It as great so far being with Stef and Esly for the week end I really managed to do a lot that I would normally have not had the chance to. I reached the place but the way to enter has been silly, Alex was still at job and I didnt get any answer ...

... prettig met hen bij te praten en ik zou later wel iets vinden om te eten. 's Avonds gingen we in groepjes naar Den Haag voor Koninginnnenach'. De stad was mooi verlicht, overal liepen duizenden mensen te lachen, drinken en weed te roken (dit is Nederland natuurlijk). Rockgroepen op elke hoek, poffertjeskraampjes, kermisattracties : het leek wel of iedereen iets te vieren had. In al die drukte was het niet moeilijk om ...