chrisg's Tour Diary

We have several days off before we head back to England, and have decided to spend it in Amsterdam. For the first time in over two weeks, we have all split apart while Dan and Adrienne go to stay with Adrienne's aunt, Chris and Mai go to stay in a hotel downtown, and I go to say with my friend Vitali. I will not miss the snoring, or the logistics of getting four people through one bathroom in the space of a half-hour, but still it's a bit weird to be leaving them.

Amsterdam is a beautiful town. So beautiful, in fact, that it verges on looking artificial to me at times. I think this is a result of having grown up in Orange County, where I only saw things this beautiful and maintained at Disneyland. But despite my skepticism, it appears that this is a real city, and real people live on real houseboats on real canals. Real people eat real food in real outdoor cafes. And real people ride real cute little bicycles and ring real little bells when they want you to get out of the way lest they really run you down. It's the perfect place to be taking time off.