Netherlands

I've spent 4 days with friends here in the Netherlands and had a great time. I think you will be surprised to hear that I didn't do most people come here for which is to visit a coffee shop.

Day 1 - My friends gave me a tour of Amsterdam. We took a canal tour which was very nice and hand lunch at Vondel Park by some body of water. We then saw the National Monument, De Dam (plaza), Grote Kerk ("Big Church"), and the Royal Palace. I was curious about De Wallen, the Red Light District, so they took us there as well. I was so surprised to see that the women were quite unattractive and overweight or plump.

Day 2 - We visited the Japanese Garden which is only open for 3 months out of the year in Den Haag located inside Clingendael Park. We also had tea with the Queen at her royal palace. Then off to the beach for some sun and fresh hering. I really didn't know what to think of the hering. I had it with bread and raw onion. I was a real guy magnet after having one of these. It was a bit fishy so the onion killed that but then the onion was so strong it over powered your mouth. At night we had a nice BBQ in Bertine's garden.

Day 3 - We visited the horse market. We got a chance to photograph farmers with the wooden shoes! I had fresh stroopwaffel which was awesome. They are soft and really thin big waffels with syrup in the middle. They also sell these at the supermarket but they taste very different. There were different types of horses - big and small, young and old, beautiful and not so beautiful. Then in the afternoon, we headed to Brielse Maas for a picnic lunch and canoe ride. It was challenging canoeing with 3 people but it was nice. We then checked out Brielle which is historic town with an old harbour. Supposidly April Fools Day originated here. If you google it, let me know the result.

Day 4 - I went to Rotterdam to hit the bookstore to find information about my next destination, Belgium. It is a nice city with a harbour as well. There is a unversity there so I mostly heard English spoken here rather than Dutch. I checked out the really cool apartment buildings Kijkkubus. They look like cubes which have been stood up on their point. I can't describe it so check the website. I crossed Erasmusbrug (famous swan bridge) to meet Sandra on the other side who took me to Bertine's house. At night, Bertine made huge white asparagus for dinner since I kept asking about them. They are in season right now. It was so good. We had it with sauce, ham, potatoes and eggs.

Tomorrow I am headed to Antwerp, Belgium for 2 nights. I might check out some of the neighboring cities as well before heading to Calais, France where I will take a ferry to Dover.