Finally here!

I left Cleveland on Friday at 2:50pm, connecting in New Jersey, and arriving in Amsterdam bright and early at 8:45am. Saturday morning. After about an hour delay outside of customs, we grabbed our luggage and were on our way. There are about 50 of us here from CWRU on this Netherlands trip. We boarded a big travel bus and headed out to our hotel in Leidse Square.



We literally dropped our bags and headed out on a tour led by Dean Gilmore to become more acquainted with Amsterdam. At a glance, it is a beautiful Eurpoean city built for people (nothing too big, nothing too small). The streets are narrow, as are the houses which also have very narrow stairways. Things are tight here. Most of the houses have a hook and plank at the top that is used to lift furniture in through the windows becausethey can't fit in through the doors. It is an arts and culture mecca, where in just this short time, I have managed to meet people from everywhere. And, it is very expensive....I paid 1.15 euros for ketchup and someone else paid 8 euros for bottled water. That's like $1.60 and $11.20 respectively.

Some interesting things about Amsterdam....they are referred to as the "Americans of Europe". They have very liberal social policy and are notoriously known as a place where "anything goes". In less that one day I have seen just about everything...from bicycles everywhere (they have the right of way and will hit you),coffee houses (coffee and weed), public urinals (placed out for men to use on the weekends after leaving bars), and sex workers no pictures...sorry!!!).

So far, so good! I got a great night of rest and am ready to take on the city. Today we will be taking a canal boat tour, going to the Anne Frank museum, the Heineken museum, and then shopping (I already saw some great purses). And, in case your wondering, no I haven't, and no I am not bring back any special brownies. More to come...