Cologne, Amsterdam, and Brussles

Rather than writing in detail about things I failed to keep up with, i am just going to outline what we did in each place we were--it is all a whirlwind anyway.

Cologne:

We arrived in the afternoon just to discover that the three days of the year we chose to visit the city just happened to be the 3 of a certain festival gathering large groups of diversity. The city was a big party, and for reasons outside the festival we decided to travel one day we were there. We chose two small towns along the Rhine River for our first day of adventures. They were Bacharach and St. Goar, both with little churches with steaples (sp?) and both with castles on hills. The weather was rather rainy and cold, but it was a great experience nonetheless. The hills were untouched by tourists--there were still orchards and old towers and houses...I could imagine what it would hve been like to live there centuries ago.

Our second day was spent around Cologne. We got up early to make it in time for the closing of the chocolate and world olympic museums with the hopes that we could see the river of chocolate we had heard rumor of. However, we were met with sheer disappointment when we found out that the ONE day of the week that we chose to visit them was the ONE day of the week they happen to be closed. Our luck was wonderful--not. We made the best of the day though and walked around the city and spent the afternoon at some beautiful gardens on the outskirts of the main city area. It was really beautiful :)

One of the best surprises was a small taste of home we found in the center of Cologne: Starbucks!!! I usually don't splurge on those things, but it just hit the spot for the litte things in life and the little tastes of home :)

In order to make it to Amsterdam and have a full day there, we decided to leave very early on Tuesday morning..

Amsterdam:

Well, all the rumors about the city are true...compeltely true. We got off the train and trucked down the street with all our gear on. We got to the door of our hostel (Hostel Cosmos) to find stairs that were about 6 inches wide and at an angle approaching 90 degrees it seemed (i.e. they were REALLY steep). While checking in, we smelled something funny and loooked over to see the custodian smoking. Not a cigarette mind you--pot...yup...it is legalized in Amsterdam if you weren't aware. Thankfully the only place people were allowed to smoke was in the lobby...however not thankfully, our room was the single room right off reception so guess what we smelled our entire stay??

We spent the majority of the morning and into the early afternoon at a kids museum called NEMO. It had nothing to do with the movie but resembled OMSI in Portland, Oregon--like a science and industry discovery center for kids with lots of hands-on exhibits. The sight of 4 20-year-olds playing with 5-year-old kids was pretty funny...I think we even pushed them out of line at times...accidentally of course. After NEMO we went to the Heineken experience and our good friend Todd had the biggest smile on his face I have ever seen. I now know more about beer than I ever thought that I would want to know...I probably couldn't tell you much though. The museum was very cool actually--really high tech and the 3 free drinks Mary and I got were immediately passed on to Todd and Peter, who both enjoyed them greatly I believe.

The Heineken Expereince was followed by a humble dinner of tuna and bread with an apple on the side :) We had heard that there was a Bulldog Bar in Amsterdam, so after our tummy's had settled, we headed off to find it. When we got there, it was pretty cool to see all the bartenders and souvenir stores packed with Bulldog stuff. We all decided that were they to open one in Florence, they would make a killing there :) Our luck caught up with us again at the bar: Mary and I were standing by the bar talking with Peter and Todd while one of the workers was taking clear plastic rods off the ceiling (I think they were being used for some sort of display). Well, some were jagged on the ends--and Mary just happen to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. He lost grip of one of them and it fell right on her ankle, immediately breaking the skin and so her ankle started bleeding. Well, being the optimistic and laidback person she is, she told them she would be fine (as her face got redder and redder and eyes started watering because it hurt so bad). I suggested that we take a seat at a nearby table. Well, right after (and I am talking not even 20 seconds later) we sat down, another plastic rod fell. This time I was the victim. It hit me on the back and a man we think was the owner came running over to the table we had taken refuge at and gave me a hug. It was a rather happenchance experience to say the least. A little advice: watch out for falling plastic rods--they hurt.

When nighttime came, we had to do what every tourist does: walk through the red light district. I actually wasn't as repulsed as I thought I would be. Although the thought of women selling themselves made me eternally sad, all the women were completley covered (some almost fully clothed), which made the experience with two guys a whole lot more comfortable. The district was only 2 blocks long--thank goodness. We headed to bed immediately afterward because again, we had an early morning ahead of us.

Morning came and it was time to head to Brussels so we could catch our flight to Dublin. When we went to check out, however, we found the receptionist passed out on the couch. So much for the coffee and muffin we were supposed to get. :(

Brussels:

We only spent the day in Brussels. There were three things we did: walked, ate belgian waffles, and went to a supermarket. Then we rode a train and a bus to the airport where we caught our flight to Dublin, which brings me to today....