The Saturday Before Queensday

Seriously, why is the formatting on Blogger not working? I miss paragraphs. The past couple of days have been spent riding around Amsterdam on my bike. On Wednesday, I toured the city, got lost, found my way back and had dinner with Holly and Tomek. I did end up in the Red Light District while lost, something I'm sure you've been wanting to ask since I got to Amsterdam. It was quite surprising as I didn't realize the mannequin in the window was actually a human being. I jumped back at this, looked around, saw more women in windows and realized I was nowhere near where I needed to go. Yesterday I went to the Van Gogh Museum. Of course, it was amazing! Unfortunately, it is a major tourist spot so i had the combined woes of paying too much to get in, fighting through crowds and doing my best to ignore American tourists reading plaques out loud to their friends. Eventually, I got hungry and had to cut my tour shory. I did get to observe some of his best works, learn a little more about the man and see some pieces from other prevelant artists during his time. That's what I love about museums dedicated to a single artist- you really get to see the progression of the person not just in terms of their artwork but also in terms of their personal development. I had the same realization in the Picasso Museum when I was in Barcelona. You really become connected to these people, realizing you have common experience across temporal and geographical boundaries. Holly and I decided to go out yesterday night and check out the Queen's Day Carnival in the city center. We rode a ferris wheel and I was able to take some amazing shots of Amsterdam from above. It really is a beautiful city. Later on, we explored more of the city, then came home before going out with Thomek to grab a drink at a bar in a warehouse district. I'm not sure why, but there was a bonfire and a very drunk Dutchman kept yelling something to the crowd and adding objects to the fire. I came home smelling like sausage. Today the three of us went out for pannekeoken. Mine had apples, liqeur, walnuts and cinnamon. Holly got one with goat cheese, pinenuts, spinach and pumpkin seeds. Thomek got strawberries and sour cream. I'm telling you all this to make you extremely envious. We went to the house boat museum after that, then worked out way past the hoardes in Centrum to get back to the apartment. I am exhausted. Luckily, we're having a quiet evening at home. Holly is making soup out of herbs she foraged in a city park. Cannot wait to taste it. Until next time! Today's Mission: Forage some food!