Belfast to Amsterdam! Ah the Ridiculousness!!

Hey Everyone-
We made it to Belgium (Bruges, Belgium to be exact) and we have had some pretty fun days! We were in Belfast for a day (because we forgot to book our plane tickets to Amsterdam, remember- referencing Ashley's email explaining the adventure) We arrived on a bus and immediately found the University (which is we CSP-ers do)- had some coffees and smoothies then walked around a bit. Walked through the Botanical Gardens, which my parents would have LOVED (Ashley took a ton of pictures for you!!!), to the river (not exciting), ate dinner at McDonalds (I know...believe me) and then found a pub that was highlighted in one of our travel books that we brought with us. The Pub was beautiful with stained glass and mahogany booths which had doors you could shut if you wanted privacy- it was amazing. The beers were cheap and the patrons were interesting. We ended up talking to a couple of Belfastians, one in particular who was really interested in giving us tips on where to go and where not to go and criticized the places we chose -whatever dude- BUT...it was really fun talking about our adventures and getting tips (it seems he'd been everywhere)...it was just a pleasant and chill night which is really nice after busy days of touring and traveling.

Then to Amsterdam! We arrived into Amsterdam around noon and checked into the Hotel Slotania then we headed for downtown. We had lunch then went to the Sex Museum- that's right folks, the sex museum. When in Amsterdam, eh? So for 3 Euro, you too can see as many pornographic images as your little heart desires. This place was chalked full with them!! A fairly large place of about 3 stories and 3 wings of pornographic pictures from mid-1800's to present day (who knew handlebar mustaches had a purpose?), movie clips, cartoons, sculptures, pin-up calanders, dirty talk telephones, and, our personal favorite, the penis bench (it's basically two giant penises with a bench between them- classy.)

(From that, I don't even know how to transition into this so....) And then we walked to the Ann Frank house. It was the house that the Frank family and friends hid away from the Nazis after fleeing to Amsterdam. We walked into the house where they showed and explained that the front of the house was Otto Frank's business (which he put in his friend's name so they wouldn't cause suspision) and then in the back at the top of the house is where the Fank family and friends lived in silence- hidden away from the world. This is where Ann wrote in her famous diary until information was given to the Nazi's about their whereabouts and the family was sent to seperate concentration camps. It was really moving and well worth our time!

At this time it was getting dark so we headed toward the red light district of Amsterdam- what an experience....it was crazy. Of course everything smelled like marijuana in this area (because it's legalized) and it seemed to be where anybody whose anybody goes on a Saturday night. All kinds of people walked up and down the canal streets and through the alley ways- young and old alike- couples walking through holding hands as if they were on a romantic stroll among the hundreds of cannabis bars, pubs, sex shops, sex shows and.....the prostitutes. It was like nothing I had anticipated- basically the buildings had glass windows with red lights above them displaying the scandally-clad prostitutes inside. They would tap on the glass at the men passing by trying to get their attention. There were curtains in each room so when the curtains were closed in the window, they were with a customer. While there were some glass windows higher up on the buildings, many of the prostitutes displayed were on the ground floor so if there was someone interested, they could open the glass window (which was actually a door) to allow the customer in...they are basically in your face- right there in front of you. Really---it was completely unreal. Oh, and I must mention the public urinals- like a phone booth but without walls and peeing is not only allowed, but expected--right there on the sidewalks.
........As we were walking to the bus stop to leave the red light district, it started to down-pour rain on us- we asked a man who worked for public transportation on where to catch our bus and he pointed to a hotel. We waited in that bus stop getting completely drenched as three of our buses passed us- I ran to a different bus to ask where we were supposed to be and the driver pointed to another building....so we ran to the other building (turned out to be the bus terminal) and went inside. By this time, we were so soaked with rain it was hard not to be irritated. We asked a lady who worked there where we to go for our bus and she pointed out of the doors and stated- "turn left, walk down the sidewalk, look for the bus stop over the second bridge"--what??!!?? It was ridiculous. It's hard enough not knowing where you are in such a city but to make things more difficult, it was raining too hard to get orientated and people don't know how to give directions. We made it ok- but sheesh.

The next morning we took a canal ride in Amsterdam which was really cool. I didn't realize how many canals there actually were- it was great! We have lots of video.

--And...for the parents reading this, it must be said that we acted like good girls we are on this trip :)