Okay.......................................................



god, okay; AMSTERDAM as you might imagine, was wild.

However, I do not hold A'dam, as the locals abbreviate it, responsible for any or all of my actions. And this is going to be brief kids, because this place is expensive and the key board is way too different, as you might imagine.

I am no longer in A'dam, and no one will be receiving any postcards from said city: i spent way too much money there, and not much of the result is tangible. We did stay in the red light district---not directly in, but just on the corner---at a hostel called the Heart of Amsterdam. It was awesome--they loved me in Amsterdam. So I managed to get there and then called Becca and EJ, who supposedly were just 2 hours behind me, to see where they were and when they wanted to start on Amster--fun.

My famous luck strikes again: they missed their train. After confirming with them multiple times the time they were to lave, & etc., they'd missed it. I listened to the voicemail message EJ had left for me and laughed. There wasn't much else to do, so i went and ate dinner at a great spot called the Highlander that I very much advocate frequenting if you're ever in that city: great prices, good if somewhat ambitious food (chef gets a little carried away with his entrées at times, i take it), extremely friendly and indeed flamboyant staff, AND some hot scottish guy asked for my number. I can't guarantee that last bit for you but the rest of it should be dead on. So i eat, i visit the Grasshopper café, i go to get becca and EJ, and their train arrives approximately 1.5 hrs from the time I get to the station, according to the ticket person. Back to the hotel, try desperately to stay awake until 2 o'clock (why not give directions and just go to bed? well, lots of reasons; the first being they'd already missed thier damn train, I didn't trust them to find the hotel until 4 AM).

I pulled it off, went and got them, and more stories will ensue--after all, I'm in Paris now, and as the fam would say, that's a different story altogether. Point being; I'm alive, and i love this trip.