More on Amsterdam, and Stephen

So, on one of our first nights in Amsterdam we decided to call it an easy night and just dip down to one of the bars closest to us to settle in for the evening. It just so happened to be an "Irish" Pub (the first of several along the way). Generally we took to Irish Pubs because they carried Bushmills, Brooks' favorite whiskey, and we an easy choice. Anyway, we ran into an American Ex-Pat, by the name of Stephen Clark, and while his personality was a bit dull, he was a wealth of information which, little did we know at that time, would shape our entire trip. He introduced us, more firmly, to the idea of Berlin, and convinced us to limit our time in Munich, told us where to go in A'dam and what to see, and warned us of potential tourist mistakes in other places.

Wes initially met Stephen in the smoking room of this particular bar and introduced Brooks and me to him. Natalie, being the only non-smoker in the group, was holding down our position at the bar. (She got very good at this, something I feel is much overlooked in our giving her shit, she looked out for us more than we realized at the time.) Brooks and I soon left Wes to continue the conversation while we returned for fuller beers. At once, around the corner, we made eye contact with Natalie. She was involved in a conversation with a gentleman who seemed delighted with her company. Her glance may have said otherwise, but we decided to let things progress, as long as no harm was done. Shortly thereafter I decided to sit on the stool next to Nat, turning my back to her, facing Brooks, in order to give her the out, if she so chose, but also to listen in. The out wasn't too long in coming. Nearly as soon as Wes rejoined us she took the time to introduce the three of us to Eric, or whatever. We didn't see him long. He made some polite conversation, but, I suppose when faced with the three of us, decided to head elsewhere. Plus he was wasted. No too long after that, we all joined Stephen in the smoking room, had a few more rounds, then went back to the hostel to sleep it off.

The climb up those stairs is soooo hard when even moderately drunk.

a word about pros

i'm just saying... it's not really worth your time, or money. I guess if i were desperate enough, it'd worked out for me. but, one of my friends was kind enough (?) to pay for the services of one particular girl that was in one of the windows in the red light district. She was pretty attractive and seemed to be my type, but it didn't work out. word of warning to anyone who is even thinking about it... there's no kissing, little touching, and very little else but "fuck". long story short... couldn't make it happen. blamed it on being drunk, which i wasn't really, and ended up having a 50 euro conversation with a Romanian girl with 3 kids. she told me about how she left Romania to find a better life in amsterdam, and some of her friends told her that she could make good money in the sex trade. She's a little disappointed in the money, but she told me that her son is well taken care of and she is happy for him. This made me feel like even more of a shitbag than i already felt, and made the activities even harder to make happen. All told, i was kinda glad that it didn't work, although she told me it was an ill omen that i was her first of the evening and she couldn't "wake me up". I told her it was ok, that she was beautiful (because she was) and not to take it as such. She told me I was very nice and that she hoped the best for me. I hope the best for her too.

ha ha!

i know some of you have been waiting for updates... so here we go.

Day 1: Brussels, not as much fun as we would have liked to have. We got stuck in tourist hell, the atmosphere was much like that of Busch Gardens, Europe, we paid a lot of money for shit food. The best part about Brussels, the Delirium Cafe. The staff was great, the bartender, Chelsea Leslie was hot, and did something i'd never do. I had sampled some of the different beers, and i couldn't remember which one was which. She first smelled it, and brought me the wrong beer. I told her that wasn't it, so she DRANK THE REST OF MY SAMPLE. Then brought me the correct one. I gave her an extra 4 euros for that. (also, i think she may have been a lesbian. apparently, I have a thing for chicks that like chicks, i dunno.)

Day 2: Amsterdam. Hotel, Amstel, and Hash Brownies. That's all I've got to say about that.

Day3: Woke up late, of course. We went to some cafe and had food, people watched and generally had a day of recovery.

Day 4: Van Gogh Museum, which I thought was awesome, found an Irish Pub, rented bikes, rode around a bit, decided we should stay at least one more day. I think the current consensus is to go to Berlin for a few days, and shorten our length of time, to a day for Oktoberfest, in Munich. We came to that conclusion after speaking with some ex-pats, who filled us in on the tourist trap that is Munich for drunktoberfest, and told us Berlin was the way to go.

Day 5: We (and by we, I mean Natalie and I) did laundry and are currently waiting for Brooks and Wes to return with Brooks' bike. He wasn't feeling well yesterday, so we left his rented bike locked up outside the rental place. I can only imagine the confusion on the faces of the employees when they came in the next day to see it still sitting there. I seem to have a bit of time to catch up on this post, as they have the only room key. So here I am in the lobby of the hotel, using their free computer to do this. Also, everyone here speaks English, so don't worry about traveling here. It's super easy to get around, there's public transportation everywhere, trams, buses, taxis, and bicycles. I've never seen so many bikes. I'll have to send you pictures later. It's truly inspiring and amazing. I'll hopefully be writing again soon, hopefully when I''m not standing here for an hour to get shit done.

We leave Sept 21.

Be on the lookout for updates about our trip. We'll be sharing stories, pics, and video from our journey to Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich, Munich, and Prague. Maybe some others, but that's our list for now. Anyhoo, we get back on the 5th of October. Hope you guys enjoy, I know we will.