Hello from Holland!

We booked it out of Brussels as fast as we possibly could. As we were writing the last blog, Hall broke out in an allergic reaction and there were no pharmacies open any longer. Luckily, this time there was no need to go to the hospital. Just escaped from the rain in Cafe Georgette and rode it out. To make matters stranger, when we came back to our hostel on the metro we could barely breathe as we climbed 3 flights of escalators due to some sort of gas explosion in the underground. Needless to say it was closed the next day and we had to find an alternative route to the train station. Although it was scary at the time, we are still here to laugh about it now.

Good news is.... Amsterdam is treating us much better. In fact, we have been debating whether we love this city more than all the others. We love our hostel. When you walk in, there is a very steep stairwell (perhaps it should be called a ladder) which is fun to climb up at night after a long day. It is very amsterdam-esque. A city full of canals, narrow buildings, bikes, candy with your bill and streets lined with rose petals what is there not to fall in love with? The first day we decided to head to Anne Frank's house, to see the Secret Annex for ourselves, as both of us just finished reading the book. It was meant to be, as June 12 just happened to be the 80th anniversary of her birth and were greeted with a free Polaroid style postcard (don't be expecting this one in the mail we are keeping it for ourselves)! In the afternoon we decided to check out the Red Light District, before it actually got dark. We never actually saw much scandal, but the looks we got from guys in the daytime scared us from ever venturing there at night (so far). That night, we found refuge in Leidesplein under the heaters in the square where we happened to run into a couple familiar faces, Suki and Kelley! What are the chances you will run into friends from Nashville on the other side of the world? Needless to say we enjoyed the company! The next day we enjoyed some Heinekens at "The Heineken Experience" (The former brewery). This is probably the most "tourist-y" thing we have done on the whole trip (next to the London Eye), but it was silly and fun. Today we enjoyed the Van Gogh museum, where we viewed chronologically the paintings last 10 years of his life, enjoying: The Potato Eaters, The Bedroom, Sunflowers, Almond Blossom, and Irises. We have found an area called 9 Straats where we have spent a lot of time walking through the canals, window shopping and enjoying amazing meals.

We still have 2 nights in Amsterdam! Thank you so much for all the comments. They make us very happy!

See you in Berlin! Love, Hall and Liz