Exploring Holland...

Hi All!!

On Friday Harry dropped me off at my hostel in Amsterdam.  Even though I have been traveling solo for almost 4 months now I have to admit that it was nice to have my friend take me there and walk me to the door (and of course help with the heavy bags!). 

In Amsterdam I met up with a girl, Erin from Australia, whom I met in Barcelona.  We had two good nights in Amsterdam.  It is a crazy little city!!  During the day it is very charming with all of the canals and candy cane house-like buildings.  It's weird though because walking through Amsterdam's streets I sort of felt like I was in a movie set, it didn't seem real.  Even though the buildings are of an old fashioned style they look so new.  One of the things that I found most bizaar about Amsterdam was that the buildings were so squished together they were leaning, either to one side or forwards.  It is like the builders didn't use levels... strange.  For a party city I found it to be quite clean compared to cities in Portugal or Spain.  However the dutch are very germanic and the entire country is pretty much spotless!  Amsterdam was also seemingly really quiet for a "party" city.  It was funny to walk around and enjoy the random groups of people laughing boisterously obviously enjoying some of Amsterdam''s "goodies".  At night Amsterdam lit up with all of the neon lights, for me it was a very sterile play ground for adults.  All in all I enjoyed it but to be honest found it a bit of a strange environment. 

Yesterday Erin and I headed to Rotterdam.  It was nice to get away from the crowded and crazy Amsterdam and chill out in the quiet city.  It was a Sunday night so there wasn't a whole lot going on but we managed to find a small bar that had cheap beer and live music!

Today we are in Utrecht.  It's very cool so far with a young vibe to it!  Lots of students and a beautiful cathedral, the tallest in Holland.  We didn't do a whole lot today but are hoping to hit the city hard tomorrow.  Wednesday I am off to London and Sunday I fly to Thailand!!  It hasn't really sunk in yet!!  I feel like I am almost on auto-pilot!!  But I am really looking forward to getting back in the sun and exploring the beautiful beaches that Thailand is so well known for!!

That's all for now...