Really not anything too exciting to write about today. I spent about 7 hours on a train going from Copenhagen to Berlin. That's the only problem with going to Denmark, especially Copenhagen, it is just sooo far out of the way. Still worth it though. Oh, I did enjoy how on my train from Copenhagen to Hamburg they loaded our entire train onto a ferry which took us across the Baltic Sea to a port in northern Germany. Just kind of came out of nowhere. I was reading my book when the conductor instructs everyone on board to exit the train for the next half hour. Caught me and some others off guard. Got to Berlin just in time for the World Cup final. Had my Sneijder jersey on and was ready to cheer on my ... read more

Started off the day by biking into town with Anders. I was fortunate enough to be able to use his spare bike. Even though his neighborhood appears so suburban it is only about a 10 minute ride into the city centre. We stopped at a little place in Christianshavn (fairly trendy neighborhood with a bunch of canals running through it) to rent a boat to go exploring. All they had available was this little rowboat which was designed to be operated by one person. We each tried taking turns getting it going but it was pretty pathetic. We were barely moving, much to the enjoyment of the people eating lunch on the waterfront cafes. We ended up each just grabbing an oar and then we began picking up speed. Took a nice tour around the neighborhood ... read more

Set my new record of three runs in a row after completing another lap around Vondellpark, one of my new favorite places. Ended up walking around town with another American I have hung out with a bit in Amsterdam. The streets still needed a little work after the mess that was made last night celebrating, especially the field where everyone was. That looked like a war zone. Also, it seemed like everyone was a bit hungover as many stores did not open till around 11 or 12 which is pretty weird on a Tuesday. Besides the walk around town and an awesome meal at an Italian restaurant (gorgonzola lasagna for 5 euro, steal!) I did not do too much today. I finally decided it was time to start researching volunteer opportunities in South America so I ... read more

Made it into Amsterdam in the early afternoon today and without any hassle found my hostel. I thought this place would be out of the way and kind of lame since it was one of the few ones left with availability. However, it's right on the edge of the downtown area near the big park and the popular square with the famous Iamsterdam sculpture. This place is actually what I needed. Went out for a little walk just to grab some dinner and was just shocked by how many people are on bikes. It's insanity. And there is no discrimination. Every single type of person in the city uses them. Should just get rid of cars once and for all. Went to a Dutch food shop for dinner. I had to when I saw that they ... read more

Bruges is a well preserved town up in Flanders that used to be much more prosperous than it is today and the place gives off that feel quite a good deal. Now it's really just a big tourist destination but as some might put it, the city absorbs it quite well which I agreed with. It kind of reminds of me of Amsterdam Lite (yeh, I am writing this four days late). There are a bunch of small canals that weave through the town with cafes, chocolate and waffle shops and fry stands all over the place. Spent my afternoon there just wandering around with nothing to see in particular yet enjoying everything I saw. I also wanted to make a point of eating all the stuff they say you should eat in Belgium even if ... read more