yay masterdam finally......oops

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well hwey everyone! hows it going??

things are way better here..i look like a plague victim with all the spots adn dots and crud all over me....but the itching has stopped..which is all that matters.

finally able to go out and see some stuff..we biked all around amsterdam and saw the sights....bought a sightseeing card for cheep...and did a canal cruise...a bus trip to some windmills where we saw a demo of shoe making, cheese making and got to crawl all around a windmill in a living history outdoor type museum..it was awesome.....went to the albert cruyp market....and saw the our lord in the attick church...back in the 1500's when catholicism was outlawed..thjis one wealthy merchant took matters into his own hands and built a church in his attick..it was realy nice....theyre renovating it..but we still saw hwo cool it was and the rest of the house was untouched...so nice....

they even had 2 real pilgrims badges from this place....which i think was for another place down the street since that place no longer exists...of course we got pictures real close of those little things....

they were for the miracle in amsterdam as it was called...i guess some sick dying man vomited up a wafer (ya cant make thsi stuff up folks) and they threw it in the fire...it wasnt destroyed..so they put it in a church to venerate it but it went missing and materialzed in the guys house...so they kept it there and made it a pilgrimage site for peopel to see the miracle of that.....kinda cool..kinda gross...

went to go see teh anne franke house..the line was...wow....so we took pics outside...(the real door to the place is now maked) and around the corner was a nice statue commemorating her...we also rode our bikes around the neighborhood thanks to grizz....it was really beautiful and really gave us a sense of the places she saw and walked (and rode her bike through) on a daily basis..thast something other tourists really miss...we got to experience that..so pretty cool.....we also saw just a few houses down the church that sounds the bells that she heard daily from the attick...such a pretty area for such horrible things to happen.

eating cheap...staying in the camping place...its a nice 5 minute bike ride from behind central station..where we catch a free ferry across teh inlet.....5 minutes and were at the camping place...if it wasnt for the bikes we would not have been able to stay there adn get teh cheap camping price....so thankful for those bikes....cheap grocery store on teh way..very nice..not touristy..quiet..adn thsi camping palce has free hot showers and free hot water to wash dishes in....woot!!

and we have been sitting in the bar/grocery store they have tehre wastching the soccor games..nursing our water or a cheap generic coke.....grizz has a heineken once ina while....brewed here..so its cheap and good.....oh yeah we went to the heineken experience as well......nice....cheesy..but 3 free beers a piece...so yay!! i dont drink so much so i saved one of my tokens on my wrist band for teddy..when he gets here..he can have 1 extra beer for free....

so watching the games really helped..it got me out of the tent...and they hand out free snacks to watch the games by...and one night gave out free hamburgers..and another free fries...very cool....and they have really helped su out..i guess cuz they know about my bedbug attack...so they have been extra helpful and kind to us....we got fed up with our camp burner thingy..it was just not working well at all...so i told grizz to throw it away and see what the ycoudl do for us at teh store..as they sold camp stoves that were of better quality..maybe they coudl make us a deal......they sold us one for 12 euro.adn threw in 2 cans of fuel adn a wooden spoon....and it cooks awesome now!!! and we can use it in the states!! so i went to the store and bought some actual food to cook...omg we ate a hot meal otehr than cheese and sausage finally......awesome..and i made sure to have veggies...at the store it was so cheap!!

salad with herbed dressing....sweet adn sour chicken with veggies in the sauce..and bread.....
breakfast of orange juice...omelette with sausage and veggies...
lunch with bread and jame and peanut butter...

tonight we will dine on spaghetti with white sauce made from milk and butter in it and bread.

so after all thsi running around we figure we better get cracking on finding a way to get to the ferry to get to england....the info place gives us the website...and directs us to the library..open till 10pm..and free internet...( hard to find..our camping palce has none...and thats why i havent been updating as much lately..oh eyah snd the bedbugs made me sleep the past couple days as well)

anyway....so ...the price isnt going to be so bad...but i totally blwew it on the budget....and even with us trying to do it all cheap...well were mostly out of money now....sadly were gona have to wait here until grizz's wonderful caring awesome brother (will hopefully) lend us some money...and however long that will take to get into my account..and then we can get to london.....see some free meuseums ( thankfully they are free in england) and then on to our friends we met in prague (hopefully) who will put us up a few days..take su round to see bath and stonehenge and avebury.....then onto ireland....

maybe we will have to sell our bikes early but i hope not...with the bikes we can get round ireland a little more for free..and then sell em before we leave....

man i hate borrowing money from people.....but i guess grizz has had to borrow some before and of course he has paid it back....time to go look for a job when we get back so i can help pay it back as well...

so thats where were at kids.....might hear from me a little more in the next few days as teh library will be the thing we can do that is close, and comfortable and air-conditioned and free.....until we can see whats up and get to england......maybe i need to go stand in one of those windows in the red light district.....lolz.....????

so if you would like to help.....send your checks to our home address made out to marsha howlett... care of teddy....

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Comments

[Kim]

hugs
Wow I have been reading these every time you posted, feeling like I am there with you guys, and just now noticed how to reply! Hugs!! We miss you guys!!!! when are you coming back? I hope you guys dont have to come home early! Sorry we cant help, with Michael in school and Pennsic we have nothing to spare. p.s. oooooo dont go to the red light district, you may think the bed bugs are nothing compared to what you could find there :P