Van der Valk Hotel Rotterdam Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel

... RIK SMITS! Anyway, as I was saying, we hit up this guys' bar for a while and then our way to Paradisa Club. When we got there, the crowd was a little sparse, but that didn't stop us from fistpumping our faces off. We enjoyed ourselves for a solid while, rocking out, some of us in skinny ties, some of us not. I felt extremely "euro" and tried to use my 'snor' as somewhat of a pickup line on obviously taller-than-me Dutch girls. I'd just about all of ...

... the figures though. On my way home, I stopped at the bush doctor coffee shop and it was very busy so I got a house blend and went on to my hotel. Next, I had to find a grocery store so I went the opposite way of the center. i stumbled across a very residential neighborhood and found it equally fascinating as the center. I finally found a grocery store (right around the corner from my hotel but closed). I decided to go for a ...

... was a close friend to me on the trip as well. Anyway, in Amsterdam we all went on a canal cruise for dinner and then got the option to go to the Red Light District to "have some fun" that night. A girl named Kamy and I decided to head back to the hotel after dinner, because we were both exhausted. The next day Sam and I went to the Anne Frank museum, which was one of the highlights of the tour for me. It was very moving being in her home, and seeing her actual diary and remembering ...

... waiting for the train to pull out, some of the other Fulbright scholars from Amsterdam got on (they had gone out to dinner together after the party). So we got to ride back with them and Charlie got to meet them for the first time. Saturday -- We decided to take a bike ride through the Amsterdamse Bos because it was a very nice day (and we were told that this would probably be the last nice weekend). As we were riding in through the entrance we usually go in through there were ...

... adventure of sorts - our "luxury minibus" was slightly large for the narrow roads, but the driver handled it extremely well, and led the tour simultaneously with the mic next to the wheel. I think I would like to visit Holland again someday. The only hard part is the language! There were canals everywhere, which I really liked. The whole country is essentially flat, but with the canals to break it up, it's pleasant instead of ...

... down the middle flanked on both sides by brothels in the red light district with women coercing males walking by does not seem out of place. It seems totally natural to take in the Van Gogh museum (very impressive!) in the morning followed by ones favorite form of cannabis at the local coffee shop. I am in clean clothes as the bag has been delivered, and we are off to Berlin one of the next two days...

... be proud!) We loved going to church with Humphrey and was quite blown away with offering...sugar cane, chickens, bannans..felt like Old Testament!! Kenyas praise and worship very openly and was an overwhelming service. On Wednesday we headed to Nairobi and we went and saw the baby elephants. Then we went to the giraffes and Kesley, Grace, Abby, Reba, Mcgee, and lotsof the others french kissed a giraffe. There tongues ...

... compared to what you can get in many places, but this is Amsterdam. The Pulitzer Hotel is located in a central location for quickly navigating around the city center and spending any part of your Amsterdam stay experiencing life in the main canal district is a privilege. The fact that we had 9 nights on points and did not pay $3,000 for the hotel stay makes me less critical of the hotel value. We had incredible value for our cost.

(Den Haag, Friday, December 15, 2006)-My pal Aaron Cole picked me up in the car Friday afternoon and we drove over to Den Haag to see the Sonic Youths at sort of a mini-ATP festival event in a concert hall in the middle of town. Using our vernacular resources, as Bill Lynn would say, we hung around outside the stage door for a few minutes until we got someone to run a message in to Thurston & Kim that we were waiting outside. Once inside we were steered into the ...

... touristy' thing per day. There's something to be said for the city that it's managed to maintain some of its personality and charm in the face of all the commercialism and tourism, even if some of that personality and charm is clearly exaggerated to live up to its reputation. That first day of walking around I had a few hours to kill before meeting up with my friend Willemine (from the West Coast road trip) for a little dinner party. All I did was take two small sections near ...