Amsterdam...Again..*grins*

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I'm going to cheat on the date here a little bit..and my actual location. I'm technically in Paris but I'm going to write about Brussels and Amsterdam first because I didn't get a chance to while I was there. I figured I'd catch everyone up a little bit.

Last Tuesday my Dad and Margaret met Brent and I in Brussels. He had to be there all week for a business meeting and we all managed to cross paths at the same time. It was great to see them and update them on my trip with a few more animated stories about Romania. I tried oysters for the first and last time. If you enjoy falling off your boogie board and eating the beach on your way down than I highly recommend giving them a try. It's great because it doesn't come with the twisted wrist that comes with crashing into the beach. If you're like me and you DON'T like to eat the beach than I don't recommend them. But, at least now I can say I tried them.

On Wednesday we took the train to Brugges, a medieval town outside of Brussels. We didn't have much time since Brent needed to catch a train to Amsterdam that afternoon but we managed to walk a little bit of the town and had a nice lunch on a sundrenched cobblestone square. After returning to Brussels and seeing Brent off on what turned out to be the wrong train I went to dinner with Dad and a handful of business managers. I will note here that although Brent ended up on the wrong train I did manage to put him on a path that sat him next to the Feb 2006 Holland Playmate. "You are welcome, Brent!" Sorry Chris, I'll see what I can find for you when I get home.

Thursday morning I caught a train to Amsterdam to meet up with Brent and his coworker who had already checked into a sweet hostel in a central location. I should include that the 'sweetness' came from the cloud of definitely not tobacco smoke that hung in the air most hours of the day. Smoking or non-smoking all those who entered were going to experience Amsterdam for what nearly all young visitors are there. We managed to escape the haze long enough to ride bikes around the city and walk through the Heineken Museum..okay walk QUICKLY through the museum to reach the free beers at the end and of course the free souvenier bottle opener. We had great weather which made the city much more fun than it was a month ago when I was there in the rain for 3 days. We ended up staying an extra night and coming to Paris later on Saturday evening just in time to catch the France vs. Brazil game. VERY well played by France as I'm sure everyone knows by now.

I'm still kind of cheating with the dates here so I'm going to start another blog for the last few days instead of putting it all down here.

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