Amsterdam ROCKS!

Ok folks, Amsterdam is SUPER cool!!!

Had never really heard much about it before other than it's legal to smoke pot there and there are prostitutes everywhere, but I was VERY impressed with it today! BTW, there really IS a "Prostitution Training Center" that I saw on a city map today. That killed me! HA!

The day started off pretty cruddy though with freezing cold temps (compared to Texas!!!) and an annoying rain. Stuart was nice enough to give up his jacket for the day though so I was able to layer up with my fleece, pashmina scarf, and his jacket. However, by the time I took the hour train ride or so to Amsterdam the rain had stopped and the sun started to come out so I immediately perked up of course! :-)

Here are a few random observations of Amsterdam:

• EVERYONE SMOKES!!! Well not everyone, but a ton of people nevertheless. Coming from the Austin area where it's illegal to smoke in public places now, it was quite a change.
• There are bicycles all over the place and they're not afraid to honk at you if you're "in the way." ;-)
• The buildings are just beautiful - they're seriously so different (architecturally) from ANYTHING you see in the States that I had a couple of "tourist moments" where I was just walking down the street with my head completely back looking up at the buildings and not watching where I was going - HA!
• The tram system there is fantastic - although the little cards that you "punch" are a little archaic.
• They have some of the best clothing stores EVER! Very trendy, but a bit on the pricey side of course...
• The pigeons there are VICIOUS!!! I had my 3 Euro lunch out on a bench thanks to my tuna pack that I brought along with me (thanks Gina!) and did a couple of dives myself when pigeons got a bit too close - I bet I looked like the biggest nerd ever! HA!

I also took a tour of the Heineken Brewery, which I didn't think was going to be that big of a deal. Well it was VERY impressive and I had no clue that Heineken is as huge as it is worldwide.

When you start the tour they take you through the foundings of the company and how beer is made and then they take you on several "virtual experiences" where you get on these things that move. They had one where you *pretended* to be a Heineken bottle being filled with beer and this little platform thing bounced back and forth and then they had one where you got up into this mock wagon thing and *pretended* you were in one of the Heineken horse drawn wagons. That one was so bumpy they even provided seat belts - it was HILARIOUS! This one lady opted out of that part of the tour b/c she said she's too prone to motion sickness to ruin the tour. HA!

At the end of the tour though, they give you a free glass of Heineken and a free gift. I was pretty impressed!

Random fact from the tour: Did you know that after Prohibition in the U.S., Heineken was the first beer to be reintroduced back into the country? The first shipment arrived only three days after the end of Prohibition.

Anyway, so I'm back here at my usual coffee shop in Den Haag updating all of you and killing time before Stuart gets home. They're playing John Mayer on the radio though and it's great!

I hope all of you are well. Tomorrow is when Stuart and I fly to Barcelona for a few days and we'll post more pics this wknd. I miss you all!!!