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Travel Journal Photos
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Photo
opp Sometimes I'm loud.
Sometimes I'm soft spoken. When I'm in Holland I eat the pannenkoken. Today is my second day in Amsterdam. Yesterday, as I walked out of the train station, and about 24 hours after realizing someone got to my wallet at the Brussels hostel, I literally became the posterboy for Amsterdam pickpocket awareness... the directions to my Amsterdam hostel were unfollowable, so I saw a guy with a D1 and thought he'd be a trustworthy person to ask. Indeed, he told me where I needed to go, if I'd only pose with my bags for a photo. A few minutes earlier, I used a pay phone at the station to scoop up the last spot at a very nice and nearby hostel. Amsterdam has been cold and rainy. It feels like Michigan--in November. I spent yesterday afternoon inside at the Van Gogh museum, seeing the his largest collection of work in the world. The work was presented chronologically, from his start to his suicide. A nearby giftshop was selling 35mm slides of his work. I bought a 12-set of his 'greatest hits', which have an imminent date with my film scanner when I get home. Today I caught a train to Utrecht, a small university town outside of Amsterdam with canals. I spent some time climbing it's bell tower and chasing after a windmill I spied from the tower. When I got back to Amsterdam, I discretely took some pictures in the Red Light district. I was amused that a few of the windows had signs that said no pictures. I shot from across the canal. The red light district is a great place to sing, "How much is that doggy in the window?" Prior to the Red Light District, my small bladder was bothering me. I saw a sign for a Christian youth hostel and thought they might be my salvation. When I went inside, they asked if I was a guest. When I told them the truth, they told me where I could go... to try the bar across the alley. The day before, they had urinals on every street corner, apparently for the miniature version of the love parade I saw yesterday... a few trucks blaring techno followed by a swarm of of techno-boppers. The last few days, I've been having tomato soup. IT's really popular around here and good medicine for cold weather. Albino asparagus is another food of the moment that I've seen everywhere between here and Germany. Tuesday, is my final interview in Germany and with my first choice for work. It's a multimedia and PR agency that sounds really cool. My dad just faxed them and another company a copy of my sheepskin; this is the first step in getting a German work permit should I need one. After that, I leave the next day for Sweden. |
