Indrapoera Haarlem

... in. We had to wait<br>about 10 minutes for our room to be readied and then we left the<br>hotel to take the car back to the rental office. The GPS took us<br>right to the Avis office and we left the car sticking out into the<br>bike lane and almost in the street as the parking in front of the<br>office was completely taken. The office was not open and no one was<br>around so I locked it up and dropped the keys in the drop box, hoping<br>that it would ...

... the rates were so reasonable, however the trains bothered us not even a little. We both swore that they must have stopped running the moment we went to bed, because we did not hear them until we rose the next morning. Ah, the joy of having learned to fall asleep in midtown Los Angeles. We could sleep next to a 747 throttling up for takeoff. The next day, we took it easy, returning to the downtown and picking up a gigantic cone of frites (french fries ...

... and Judy split a Brownie. No wonder they forget stuff - they are sorely undernourished. The food comes to the table. Heidi's sandwich looks nice, my Prime rib looks.... raw not just under cooked, but purple raw. I bite in and it's very salty. I decide it's pickled. YIKES. I order another beer. After lunch we go to a shopping mall that has on observation deck that has a terrific view of Haarlem. We sit and chat, enjoyning the view for a time. Very nice ...

... on and off all day today, so that just making it even easier to want to stay in. We did head out for a bit to see the Rijksmuseum and I am hoping to go to the Anne Frank house after dinner. As for last night, we found out that Radiohead was playing a show in a park here and thanks to a face value ticket from our dorm-mate Mike, and another scalped at the gate, we got in to see a show ...

... head.) Now Amsterdam, as all of you know is known for it´s legalization (or `blind eye´) to marijuana, hallucinogens, Heineken, and with the worlds famous Red Light District - Prostitution. This place isn´t all about site seeing, it is about culture, to take you out of your shell and experience a different way of life. Amsterdam truly is a magical place, I got off the train and headed outside - bright, sunny, gorgeous. I look around to see everyone on bikes, a canal ...

The World's Biggest Book It is also, according to the museum brochure, the world's most expensive book. No, it's not the Gutenberg Bible. Nor the collected works of J.K. Rowling. WARNING: a digression is coming on. Did you know the recent international speed reading champion finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in a little over 47 minutes? End of digression. Give up? It's the five oversize books that together comprise The Birds of America by the painter and ...

... the Van Gogh musuem and other major attractions and this time I just completely relaxed, hung out with some living statue friends and other performers, watched buskers at the Leidseplein, went to bake in the sun and substance of Vondel Park and savoured the fine local and international cuisine. My one regret it that I didn't visit Madame Tussaud's world famous wax museum. I promise I'll go next time, and will blog photos and stories too... (http://www.stillman.info)

... nearly lost a few of the boys to them but we managed to rescue them because we were promised better entertainment where we were going. We were going to... a sex show. It was pretty entertaining. The MC knew that we (a group of contiki people) were there so he was constantly talking us up. There were 6 acts that we saw. Only 3 of them were actually sexual acts and even they were hilarious. It was choreographed so they were dancing and doing all these funky moves throughout and we ...

... the people on the balcony would start counting down from ten and when they reached zero all the children in the crowd would chant, "SINTERKLASS!" While this was happening, the black-faced jesters continued to dance, juggle and sing their up and down the aisle, handing out quarter-sized cookies to the children in the crowd: none of whom ate the cookies. After an hour or so filled with a mini-parade, a marching band, countless ...

... confirmed my belief. Beautiful blondes were twirling their bangs and winking. Sultry brunettes were shaking their hips. We walked past them, and then turned around and walked past them again. Sorry, it's not a very good idea to take pictures in the Red Light District. It's amazing how some countries can be so prudish about sex, while others are so open. The Netherlands definitely falls into the later category. Laruen even showed us a safe sex guidebook they give to children in ...