amsterdam

went to amsterdam last weekend. basically, friday night was a party in the football stadium with 40000 people dressed in white, for sensation white. pretty much one of the most ridiculous events i have attended, didn't stop till 6 in the morning, at which point i took the train back to central station and slept in a park for several hours. oh yea, the black eyed peas decided to show up to this event at about 2 in the morning - almost forgot that happened. after sleeping in the park i had a herring sandwich, with onions and pickles. i thought i was good, but it gives you terribly bad breath. hit up the albert cuyp market, which is a big street market that had some cool stuff in it. went to the heineken brewery, that was alright - pretty touristy, but you get free beer - in retrospect, i had to pay 15 euro to get in so that point is invalid. kinda had to do it though i guess. ate some pretty good noodles and curry - i thought there was a fairly large asian population there actually, judging from the size of chinatown. wandering around the canals, chinatown, dam square and all the bridges was pretty cool. other amsterdam activities as well obviously.

went on a bike tour in the morning, saw a windmill, ate dutch gouda cheese. saw some dutch cows. took photos of wooden shoes. went through these big parks that were neat. went to the rijksmuseum which i thought was really cool, loved the paintings. rembrandt was kind of a big deal, i have to admit. it's also kinda neat, when you put your face really close to the painting and see the detail...just careful of the security. continued on, to drink some heinekens, naturally, and continue our wanderings. ate fries with mayo, delicious waffles with ice cream.

finally, went on a walking tour in the morning, got an explanation of everything, which was good - turns out that we had already wandered around most of the city already. after that, i got fast food out of a vending machine wall simply for the novelty of it, it was terrible. then took the train about 30 minutes west, to zandvoort aan zee, on the north sea coast. went to the beach, it was actually very nice - nobody there though, it was late afternoon on a monday though. the water was pretty warm, and the sand was definitely there. the sun was out for a bit, but it got somewhat windy and sand got everywhere, particularly on the cheese i had purchased for sandwich making, it added great texture. i quite liked this small town, nice to get away from the crowded streets of amsterdam. sat down and had a delicious dutch pannekoek, a pancake thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake, i think, with apples and cinammon. it was great. stayed for the sunset over the north sea, i thought it was pretty cool cause the sun sets in the west and all. tried to take some photos, they might work out, i'm not sure.

i think i could have done without so much time there - it was definitely pretty cool and all that, but being there for too long was a bit overwhelming just with it being packed with tourists and the crowded big city atmosphere.