Day One: Amsterdam

I had such a terrible first day T_T I hate to start my blog off complaining but...

First of all, both flights got delayed, each by 1.5 hours. So, when I got to Philadelphia my flight was boarding but I was starving so I stopped by an Italian cafe, bought a pasta and then made a mad dash to my gate. But then that flight was ALSO delayed by 1.5 hours!!!

On the plane everyone was speaking in dutch, and I giggled because I thought it sounded funny. HAHAHAHAHA. It is a very cute language. But I don't think people thought it was cute that I giggled at it O_O Anyhow, I was still feeling pretty good about traveling and was super excited, felt super prepared, but two unexpected things occurred.

1.) My 20 pound backpack was a LOT heavier than I thought it was...in high school I used to carry bags like that all the time, but now I am old! I was dying after like...20 minutes

2.) I completely forgot that I have NO sense of direction

Upon arriving in Amsterdam I got completely and hopelessly lost, and it took me 2 hours to finally get to the right place--all that while carrying my 20 pound back pack and looking like a snail. Finally I get to Amsterdam Central and I put my enormous back pack in a locker. I get out, and right then it starts to rain, and I remember that I left my umbrella in the locker T_T

Anyhow, the nice thing is that the people here are very kind! I talked to quite a few nice people on the airplace coming to Amsterdam, this very entertaining group of very old men who told me that Amsterdam has a very nice sex museum, hahaha. Also, I met a nice girl who showed me how to get to train station in the airport. I thought we were the same age, but she's actually in high school...after she left I got completely lost. But I asked some random strangers and they were very kind and showed me how to get onto the bus. But then I got onto the wrong bus. So I met a very nice couple that showed me the right bus, so I ended up getting a nice tour of...all of Amsterdam it seems, because the locals on the bus pointed out some of the sights for me. All of these strangers were very kind and even gave me their phone numbers in case I got lost again :D :D :D

And apparently my credit cards aren't working...because Amsterdam doesn't accept American Express...and I think Visa is blocking my transactions because they don't know that I am in Europe...and the lockers for luggage didn't accept cash so I had to run across the station to this place where I exchange cash for a card, but that's boring stuff.

Amsterdam is a very pretty city! Even normal buildings like the train station or the hotel look like they could be a cathedral! There are also a lot of nice shopping places, and ALL three of my favorite soap shops are here (Lush, Sabon, the Soap Company)!! I thought about taking a canal tour but it is raining now, so I am just relaxing and passing time with my favorite activity--eating! I will report more on that late :D