The Wild midWest

I haven’t been updating this; and my mom (who is sitting across from me as I type) has been bugging me to keep it up. Since I’m dying from god-knows-what that I picked up in Turkey, I’d like to take this time to update it all.

This pic is from the cheese-clog farm we went to in Amsterdam. I shelled out far too many Euros to bike from Amsterdam to the suburbs to be herded into a glorified souvenir shop. However, the trip was on a beautiful day, with great company, so I can’t complain all that much. 

Amsterdam was a cool town. It has this gritty feel to it. The canals are gorgeous and th architecture is as well, but you can’t help but feel the undertones of the European Sin City. The Red Light District itself was a departure; but the night we spent at the Excalibur Harley Davidson Bar in its very heart was one of the best times of Europe so far. 

The tram ride to Excalibur was quite the adventure. We hopped on the tram just outside the International Budget Hostel (and yes, it was as wonderful as its name implies) and soon the entire thing was filled up. At points, my feet were off the ground like some kind of mobile mosh pit. I somehow got into a conversation with an Irishman over what brought us to Amsterdam (although the reasons are fairly obvious). When we asked him for directions to a bar my friend had recommended, he told me he was “too high and too drunk to figure that out.” He was about 50 years old. 

In short, loved it.