amsterdam

Tag!

bell tower of some sort

Yana, me and Martin on a canal

So, here in Holland, we have had a very cold couple of days. Yesterday, after our overnight flight, we spent the day out and about. We found our hostel...a pretty convenient location considering the price. The downside was (or rather the upside) that it was up a very steep flight of stairs and I was carrying my oversized bag deemed "big red." It was a struggle.
Anyway. Amsterdam is a very weird place. It is just strange and I don't think there's any other way to describe it. There are sex shops all over, 'creep shows,' pot is legal...it just attracts a strange crowd. Yesterday we had the weird experience of the infamous coffeshops. Suffice to say getting lost in a completely Dutch place was a rather scary experience.

We met friends in the hostel, after an awkward exchange between myself and Martin regarding a stift/pen and a nice breakfast, we spent the day with him and Yana, both students in Bavaria. We're pictured on the way above standing on a frozen canal. It was freezing, but we braved the streets/canals of Amsterdam and discovered areas that Shaina and I probably would never have visited. These included the optical illusion museum (below) and that weird shaped building NEMO (left, me blowing a bubble). Science discovery type stuff. Pretty neato. Above there on the right you can see me at the Neue Kerk, the New Church (probably not spelled right) holding a Jewish cooking book. They had a cool Judaism exhibit going on.

Well, this is where I'll leave you because it is time to enjoy the evening. Wine and beer!