Wednesday, April 21st

Leah just left and I'm hanging out in Amsterdam for two hours before I catch a train to Stuttgart. It's hard to believe that this two week vacation is almost over.

After my last post, Leah, Yoann, and I headed to Amsterdam for a few days...Notable moments:

The Anne Frank house. I remember reading her diary as a kid and it really stuck with me. It was such a horrible point in history, but there were still moments of hope. Anne definitely had hope, right up until the day they were captured...it was a really moving memorial, and to see that bookcase that hid the annex, to see the walls of her room covered with posters....I really enjoyed it.

Pub crawl. Some of us were more victorious than others, let's leave it at that. Also, learned how to say "I'm wasted" in German from a bunch of guys from Frankfort.

The bikes. Amsterdam is a dangerous city. Not only do you have the cars and the people to look out for, there's also the tram and the five bijillion bikes flying at you from every direction. We went on a free walking tour and they told us that every year, twelve thousand bikes are found in the canals. Twelve thousand. Almost every resident has a bike (or two). I've never seen so many bikes in one place in my life.

The debauchery. Pot and prostitutes. It was really weird to be able to walk into a coffeeshop and just say "I'd like a joint please." just like it was a normal, everyday occurrance. Even weirder, marijuana isn't technically legal, just decriminalized and tolerated by the police. The Red Light District was even weirder to me. It was kind of sad to see these girls pretty much naked winking at guys through windows. The girls rent the window rooms for eight hours and do their thing. In some ways, I think it's a good thing to make it so open...the girls have more access to help, they have more rights, but at the same time, the fact that they gave to resort to prostitution is pretty depressing.

Amsterdam is definitely a beautiful city, the parks and the canals are great to just wander through on a sunny day (which is what we did). Also trying to pronounce the street names is great fun!!!!

Leah and I said goodbye to Yoann after that and said HELLLLLLOOOOOO DENMARK!!!! We stayed with my friend Martin from high school (he was an exchange student my senior year) that I hadn't seen in about a year and a half. He lives in Århus, a city right on the sea, and at a population of 250,000, the second biggest city in Denmark. We took a night train up to Kolding where Leah and I successfully managed the Danish railway system and got tickets to Århus. Thankfully people generally speak good English in Denmark and the don't make you feel like a fool for not speaking their language (cough like Paris cough cough). Martin's girlfriend Mia met us in the train station in Århus and we got settled in at their apartment, which was super cute btw. Martin told us that you're never farther than half an hour from the sea in Denmark, and I believe it! It was such a beautiful country, and everyone was so nice and welcoming to Leah and I. Martin's parents own a great restaurant right on the water and they treated us to a DELICIOUS meal there, complete with ocean view. Martin's family also owns a house boat right by the restaurant (they live on it about half the year) so we checked that out. The boat was super nice and HUGE.

Denmark still has a royal family and our first day there was the queen's 70th birthday. She owns a summer cottage in Århus, so we checked that out, wandered through her gardens a little bit, peeked in the windows. She wasn't there, I think she was too busy partying like a rockstar in Copenhagen, but it was cool to see.

Martin's parents also took us out to dinner to try some typical Danish food. Leah and I got this dish that was basically baked bacon with lots of potatoes. It was super good, and not that hard to make according to Martin and his dad (both chefs). Martin's mom insisted I try a Danish apple dessert too, so of course I said yes....we left the restaurant ready to explode! His family was unbelievably nice to us, I couldn't thank them enough. After dinner, Martin and his friends planned a little bar crawl for us that involved lots of dancing and singing Danish on tables (or in my case, shouting random sounds), and resulted in a massive hang over lazy day the day after. It was a lot of fun, Martin's friends definitely know how to party.

We watched probably 4 James Bond movies (all with Roger Moore) over the course of the weekend, it was great. I'd never seen an old Bond movie, and I thought they were hilarious! Martin is a chef, so Saturday he cooked us a really nice meal and he tried to show me how to do it too. I'm going to give it a try, but I'm pretty positive it's not as easy as he made it look...

Martin took us down to the beach at sunset one night and it was beautiful. I could definitely see myself living by the ocean someday....

Leah and I also visited Old Town Denmark (a lot like Old World Wisconsin) and pretended we were back in the old days, played on stilts, pet a horse, and learned about some rare chickens. Pretty sweet. Martin, his friend Jonas, Leah, and I also went mini golfing on a roof. I sucked and came in last. But we saw some of the Danish national soccer team players (they were playing mini golf too and of course I papperazi-ed them) and I do enjoy a good game of putt putt. Another Danish pastime: drinking øl (beer) in parks. Martin and his friends do that a lot I believe, any time, any day of the week. It's a great way to spend the afternoon.

We also went out to the country and met Mia's family. Again, they were so nice to us. We made dinner and the played soccer and jumped on a trampoline with her brother and sister. We even taught them how to play crack the egg on the trampoline (I think Martin really liked that one). Mia's family lives out in the country and they have horses and it was just a really pretty place to be!

Yesterday, Martin drove us to Copenhagen so we could catch our train. It was, of course a really pretty drive because of all the ocean views. We got to take the longest bridge in the world because Denmark is so split up by water. Before the bridge they had to take a ferry to get to Copenhagen.

We had really crappy weather, but the morning was nice and we got to eat in the sunshine before it started pouring! I think Denmark was just sad to see us leave. The little mermaid statue is in China, so we didn't get to see it, but I think Leah made a great Ariel...we saw the queen's palace and Christiana, a big hippie commune where the Red Hot Chili Peppers lived for awhile. The weather was a bit disappointing, but it was still a pretty town.

Martin and Mia were so great, it was a little sad to say bye. I really liked Denmark, even though Danish seems imposible. I do, however, know how to count to ten and say thank you. I can also ask for a boys number and for some ice cream...Leah and I had fun making up what people (like Martin and his friends) were saying when they were rambling off in Danish. Also, their currency, the kroner, was confusing to figure out at first (1 dollar = 5.5ish kroner) but super cool. I will admit though, Denmark is expensive. A sandwich meal can cost over ten american dollars...But, in any case, the people were great and it's a beautiful place. Jeg elsker danemark!

Now I'm on my way to see Hank in Stuttgart, Germany. On the agenda: the zoo and a beer festival! Should be fun!

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