Our first real stop in Europe was Amsterdam (we stopped by Heathrow for a few hours). Here's a picture of me at the airport, tired from the long flight!
Amsterdam was an EXPERIENCE, to say the least! The instant we drove up to Dam Square..I fell inlove with the place! Amsterdam is obviously quite famous for it's liberal take on drugs and prostitution, but many people don't actually know how beautiful it is. It was one of the prettiest and cleanest cities I went to in Europe. There are a million canals, bikes, wide array of food, and friendly people everywhere. Nearly everyone in Amsterdam speaks English, so it was fairly easy to communicate with people.
Our very first day in Amsterdam, we were given a few hours of free time to explore the city. We took the city head-on and just aimlessly walked around. We took pictures at Dam Square, and then wandered off into one of the many narrow streets.
I didn't feel like I was going to Europe even while I was on the plane headed to Heathrow (our layover). I didn't feel like I was going to Europe even when I was already at the airport in Amsterdam, but I finally felt like I'd arrived when I saw the old buildings in Amsterdam. They looked simultaneously historic and modern all at once, and I felt that I was living in the middle of such a rich and interesting culture. This is where Anne Frank wrote her famous diary (yes, we got to tour the house), where marijuana and mushrooms are legal, where prostitution is legal, where there are a million well kept canals, and where bikes outnumber cars (yes, we rented Dutch bikes). It's a wonderfully interesting mix of chaos and order. While contemplating the city's beauty and culture, a woman in her underwear appeared in a window. We'd stumbled into the red light district! There was no warning, no signs, it was just THERE. We learned, over the course of a few days, that the hotter women come out at night. The gross pregnant looking women were out by day just talking on their cell phones, and looked totally unappealing.
OK, so Amsterdam is a little scandalous, but it's also very beautiful at night! Lookie:
Some random stuff:
- Because their stairs are so narrow, people have to move their furniture in through their windows. Almost every building has a little hook attached to the top, in the event that you have to move in the old way: by rope.
- Buildings are typically slightly tilted forward. This is to prevent furniture from rubbing against/hitting the building when it's being hoisted up.
- Frites are HUGE in Amsterdam. There are different flavored toppings that go with it. Dan had garlic mayo topping on his frites. It sounds gross, but they were fricken delicious! - These are the male porto-potties in Amsterdam. I saw a man peeing like this one night. It took me a while to figure out what he was doing, but eventually realized that he was relieving himself. It was gross at first, but think about how much SPACE these things save! Instead of four big porto-potties, you have one.
- This was taken at a diamond factory in Amsterdam. I am wearing a ring with 120 facets. Apparently, Amsterdam has a patent on this type of diamond cutting. It's beautiful and just makes it blindingly sparkly.
- Everyone's been asking if I tried absinthe while I was there. I didn't, but a few friends did. Here's how the bartender was prepping it:
I'm skipping Amsterdam again. I figure I'd just do that last..since it has all the sexy pictures in it. haha.
A few things I learned in Greece:
- Yasu (hello/goodbye-singular)/ Yassas (hello/goodbye- plural)..can also be used for CHEERS! - Efkharraisto (Thank you)..not sure if I spelled this correctly. - Paragalo (welcome)..also not sure if I spelled this correctly. - A hand to the face is basically the same as giving the middle finger. BOTH hands in the face is a double insult. - "Greek" actually means slave, apparently. The country should be referred to as Ellas, which is what it was originally referred to.
We took an overnight boat cruise from Italy to Petras, Greece. We were sitting at the dock for quite some time due to an unfortunate bus driver strike that was going on (there was also one in Amsterdam). The Europeans like to strike! We finally headed on a bus to a beach. The water was so amazingly blue. There were flat rocks everywhere, and I finally got to skip stones for the first time ever! There was this girl that Dan and I referred to as "Boobs McGee" because she constantly talked about how she recently had her gross boobs done. She decided it was a good idea to take her top off at the beach, and that nearly ruined it for me. Luckily, she was not directly in view, regardless of how huge she was. Aaaannnyway...
From the beach, we headed to Delphi. The people were so warm and welcoming there. I just loved it! It was a small town, on top of a mountain. We had the greatest view for breakfast in Delphi! We took a tour around the Temple of Apollo, where our tour guide (my favorite of all the guides we had in Europe) really educated us about the history and background of Delphi and the Temple. This is also where Dan raced a guy named Pedro (from our bus) at the stadium. Being in the stadium was TOTALLY not allowed, as evidenced by a screaming Greek lady moments later. We also encountered a guy that looked like a George Michael/Fabio hybrid. He was the son of the hotel owner of the hotel we were staying at. He made douche-bag statements like, "At age 10 I was top model," and, "Fabio, famous in your country, yes?" It was funny, and weird at the same time. He said, "Watch me tomorrow, I have big photoshoot with Christina Aguilera," but the funny thing was that we saw him the following day riding behind some guy's motorcycle. It was quite amusing. Last, but not least, was the UNFORGETTABLE FOOOOOOD!! You have not had a proper gyro if you haven't had one in Greece: Pork, onions, yogurt of some kind, seasoning, fries...Oooh MAN!
Next, we headed to Athens. This city grew from a population of 20 thousand residents to nearly 5 million residents. The place is ridiculously crowded! As you can imagine, houses are piled up, and the city is incredibly dense. Still, it didn't have that "I'm angry cause it's crowded" sentiment that places like New York have. The people were great, as if Athens were as small a town as Delphi. The first night in Athens, we decided to go out for some dinner. We ended up being pulled up to dance with some Greek people at a restaurant with live music. The locals were entertained, and took pictures of the crazy Americans who didn't know what the hell they were doing. The following day, we went up to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. It was much prettier lit up at night, but up close the scaffolding uglied it! We went, yet again, to have delicious gyros afterward. On our way to the designated meeting place, we stopped by a bakery where a man sang "ThaAaannk YoooUUu VerrRRRy mmUUUUuch" and "Yasu..YassAaaaas". My personal favorite was the song, "This one verRRry gooOOOd....this one verRrryy expenssiiiivve." The rest of the day was spent wishing I didn't have to go home. We hung out with our favorite people on the trip for dinner one last time in Europe, exchanged contact information, promised each other we would have a reunion in Vegas in December, and said goodnight and goodbye. The next day, we headed for home. =(
OK, so Amsterdam is a little scandalous, but it's also very beautiful at night! Lookie:
