Antwerpen

We went to Antwerp last weekend, just for an overnight trip. It was similar to Brugge, although less pretty, in my opinion. After the 3 hour bus ride, we were pretty tired so we only went to a bar--supposedly Antwerp has a lot of great night clubs, which was why we decided to stay overnight. I had heard of some club called Red and Blue, which is, according to Lonely Planet, one of the biggest and best clubs in this part of Europe. Turns out it's actually a gay club in the red light district (although most clubs in Antwerp are in that area). Anyhow, we went to a small pub called Pelican Bar. Unlike in Amsterdam, smoking is allowed in all of the bars, so it was difficult to breath, and we all came out reeking of cigarette smoke.

The next day, we went to see the palace, a nice square, and the cathedral. After shopping, I got a waffle dipped in chocolate from a street stand, which was amazing--the night before I had a "Brussels-style" waffle, which I didn't like because it was crispy and a little too greasy. I like soft waffles. Our map recommended a restaurant called...I don't remember now, but the description was Grandma's Kitchen, so I had gotten confused and thought it was called Grandma's Kitchen, and asked people where that restaurant was. It turned out that our map actually had it in the wrong location, but eventually we found it and ate some Belgian food. I probably should have ordered something Belgian, but I was really hungry and felt like eating barbecue, so I got ribs. However, my friends ordered some interesting dishes. One was a meatloaf with cherry sauce.

Of course, the chocolate in Belgium was amazing. there were so many chocolate stores, and all were very cheap. We each bought bags of Guylian seashells (fresh made ones) for 4.50 euro...and ate all the bags within two days.

Bicycles

I bought a bicycle today. Before coming here I was pretty insistent that I would not buy a bike, mainly because I imagined Amsterdam to be covered with snow and ice during this time. While I used to ride a bike for fun as a kid, as an adult I just assumed I'd wipe out while turning a corner. And then get hit by a car.

Anyhow, upon arriving in Amsterdam, I realized that there really aren't that many cars in the city at all. What would freak me out about biking in New York is the fact that I'd be cycling alongside many cars, but here there are special bike lanes, so there's less of a concern that I'd be run over if I happened to fall. So, we went to a second hand bike store. I was told to get a children's bike, since I'm short--it turns out that is very true. It was very difficult to find a bike that fit me. Most of the bikes here do not have hand brakes (at least the ones that I saw), and using a foot brake on a bike that is so tall that my feet don't touch the ground is just a recipe for disaster, since I'd have to work on braking while moving fast enough to catch myself before my bike tips over. I ended up buying a bike that uses a hand brake, although it seems to have trouble going uphill--luckily Amsterdam is mostly flat, except for some bridges.

Bike theft is a big problem here. Apparently it's very common for bikes to be stolen, and then resold on the street for 10-15 euros. We had considered buying a bike from a "junkie," as they are called, but we didn't want to support that system. I actually find that Amsterdam is even prettier on a bike, because you can sort of sit back and watch the scenery as you glide along. I did almost hit a car today while doing that, so I suppose I should ride more carefully instead of staring at my surroundings.

Rain and Flowers

It's been raining a lot here...almost every single day actually. My Dutch friends told me that it rains all the time in Holland, but no one wears rain boots. I guess that's because the rain here is a lot gentler than the rain in New York. It doesn't rain that often on the east coast, but when it does rain, it's a torrential downpour--like I could take a shower just by stepping outside (a really cold and windy shower, I suppose). Not only would I be absolutely drenched (umbrellas aren't great since the wind blows the water so that it will hit you from the side as opposed to from directly above), there would be enormous puddles all over the place--rainboots are a necessity. Here (in Holland), the rain is really more like a mist, so it's hard to get that wet, even without an umbrella. Would I rather take my rain in several small doses, or one big hit? I do love to see blue sky, so I would think I'd rather just be completely miserable for a day than sort of displeased with the weather for several days. Maybe I'll get used to it though.

Today, we went to a flower market. Apparently Holland has the world's biggest flower auction, where 1/3 of the world's flowers are bought and sold. I remember that tulips are famous here, but there are lots of other plants that seem to bloom even larger here than they do in the states--namely amarylis (spelling?) and orchids. Maybe it's that constant mist that does it.

I was worried that I would be completely deprived of good food here. Thankfully, I live near a huge Chinatown, so I was able to buy all the ingredients I needed. There are a lot of asian restaurants too, and I have found one place that sells bubble tea (but really bad bubble tea).

Houseboat

I arrived in Amsterdam two nights ago, after a flight that was delayed for 2 hours because of a bomb threat. The people who own the house boat that we are renting sent a car to pick us up, which greatly reduced the amount of confusion (and work) that we would have to deal with--each of us had 3 enormous suitcases.

Our boat was built in 1901. There are a lot of houseboats in the canals, but ours is one of the few that actually look like boats--many of the others are just floating squares, and rather ugly. All of our windows are portholes, and there is a lot of sunlight coming in from the skylights in the ceiling. Granted, what is somewhat creepy is that anyone on the street can look into our boat and see us, since the skylights have no curtains. We'll be asking our landlord for a better lock, since apparently our door doesn't actually lock properly, and we are somewhat close to the red light district. Being close to an area full of drugs and prostitutes technically means there are lots of police in the area since it is highly regulated, but also that there's a lot of drunk/high/horny men wandering around. Anyhow, once we get a better lock that shouldn't be a problem.

My room is very cozy. We don't have a lot of space, but we're in a very good location. The ends of the boat are quite cold, but we have a good heating system. All the water however, drains into canal. We've been instructed not to dump anything hazardous...but our toilets flush into the canal, which is pretty gross. I guess all houseboats do that? Thus, it's a pretty bad idea to jump into or swim in these canals.

The area is really beautiful. When we wake up in the morning, we can see ducks and swans outside our windows, bridges over the canals and really cute buildings. I don't know if the lights are up year rounds, but right now many of the streets have blue and white Christmas lights up; it makes me think of the nutcracker actually, since the architecture is older, and the holidays are still on my mind.

Yesterday, we went to a pancake house. Pancakes here are amazing. I decided to be adventurous, and got bacon/apple pancakes. I didn't particularly like it, but their sweet pancakes are amazing. I haven't yet figured how to make them, so for breakfast we eat these cookie like things called stroopwaffels--two wafers with buttery, vanilla caramel inside. Eating out is more expensive here than it is in New York, so we'll be cooking a lot more often.