I just returned home from Europe about 24 hours ago.  For those of you that had no idea that I was in Europe, I was in Amsterdam for four days and then went to Munich for three days of Oktoberfest.  I’ll save Munich and Oktoberfest for my next blog entry.  I was wanting to write last week but a couple of occurances kept me from doing so.   First was my awful jetlag.  I’ve never experienced it like I did this last trip.  I literally slept until noon the first few days because my body refused to adjust.  By the time I woke up, I didn’t have time for anything other than getting ready and heading out for convention happenings.  I was there for an industry convention (webmaster side of the biz) so I wasn’t really able to set my own schedule.  So even though my internet connection was fine in Amsterdam, I just didn’t have time to write.  Then when I got to Munich, the internet connection there was awful!  I couldn’t get anything to load online…couldn’t even check my email.  So here I am…back at home and ready to share my thoughts and adventures.

This was my first trip to Amsterdam.  I’ve been to Europe a few times but never made it to The Netherlands, so I was excited to be experiencing the city for the first time.  I left Sacramento at about 10am and didn’t get to Amsterdam until 9am the next day…due to the time difference, of course.  After settling into my hotel room I desperately needed to take a nap.  I slept for a few hours and then got ready to head out.  I went to dinner with a group of friends and then headed to a couple of bars for some drinks.  Then we ended the night at a small bar called The Cave…a bar that only plays rock and metal.  This is where I discovered my new favorite drink in Amsterdam.  I was ordering Vodka Tonics but unfortunately they don’t have limes in most bars in Amsterdam…so I wasn’t too keen on drinking them.  A friend handed me his drink and said to have a taste.  Oh what a glorious taste it was!  Hahahah!  Bitter Lemon…good stuff!  So the rest of the trip I pretty much drank Vodka Bitter Lemons when I wasn’t having a Heineken!

Since I didn’t wake up until noon the next day, I missed breakfast.  So off I went to lunch with a friend who is originally from Amsterdam.  I have to say that I truly prefer to be in a city with natives…you learn so much more about the city and the way of life.  This was my first time staying in a hotel in Europe…I’ve always stayed with friends or family.  So having my friend there to show me around and teach me a little about the city was fantastic.  He took me to one of his favorite lunch spots in the New Market and I had a great time.  I ate a few traditional Dutch foods…bitterballen and something that resembled raw sausage slices.

After lunch we proceeded to walk around the area.  My friend took me to visit Febo (http://www.febodelekkerste.nl/) which is pretty much a giant wall vending machine that you can buy fried food at.  But don’t worry…it’s not old food or anything…you can see the workers in the kitchen behind the wall and you see when they replace the food.

After walking around the city a bit, I went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner.  Went to dinner that night and ordered prawns…and almost had a heart attack when they set my plate down in front of me.  I wasn’t expecting them to be whole still…I can’t eat prawns when I can see their eyes and legs!  Thankfully they took the plate back and removed everything but the meat.  Afterwards I went to a party at Rain nightclub and called it a night after that.

The next day I slept until almost noon again…damn jetlag!  Went to breakfast/lunch…luckily I went to a place that serves continental breakfast all day…cheese, bread, meat, etc.   Then went back to the hotel and met up with Aria.  Aria and I went on a trek to find french fries (because you know how much I love french fries!) and we walked around a little and I headed back.  We went to a hip hop themed party at Mansion and I can’t even describe to you how much fun the trip to the club was!  We all were carted across the city in tuk tuks…which are like motorcycle rickshaws.  And we convinced the drivers to race!  Luckily our driver stepped it up and we won!  Hehehe!

Once there at the club we drank, ate tons of appetizers and watched some hip hop dancers and breakdancers get to work.  Afterwards we went to a bar in the Red Light District called Bar Second Chance.  We met a really cool bartender there named Ireen that I instantly bonded with because she lived in Venice, California for a year back when I lived in Santa Monica (right on the Venice border)…we never met in Cali but we instantly bonded.  She showed me how to make a penis out of a dishtowel!  After that we headed to another bar, San Francisco, and then headed home.

Thankfully on Saturday Aria and I were able to actually make it to the Van Gogh Museum.  We really wanted to see something famous and historical (other than the Red Light District…hahaha) and were extremely happy that we fit it in.  It was amazing to see his different styles.  Not having taken any art or art history classes, I didn’t know much about Van Gogh other than Starry Nights and him cutting off his own ear.  But I learned a lot about his work as well as his life through the exhibit.  After the museum, we headed to my hotel room to do a chat for our sites.  That night I didn’t feel like going out to the party that was going on so I went out to dinner with my boyfriend and then walked around the city a bit.  It was nice to have a night to ourselves and since he’s been to Amsterdam a few times, he knew his way around and took me to see some really cool areas.  And of course we had to walk through the Red Light District because you have to experience it on a Saturday night.  The place was packed!

The next morning we were off to Munich and I’m going to save that for the next blog entry…

xo

j