Amsterdam, The Netherlands

In order to get to our European tour we spent X-mas day in an airplane!!! We where like Merry X-mas now grab your stuff and let's go to the train station. Actually this was the longest X-mas day ever since we left Japan on the 25th and arrived in England around 9pm the same day!!! So we actually had 1.5 days of X-mas!! Crazy huh? I was kind of bummed because it was our first X-mas away from home. We had spent X-mas eve with friends at an Irish bar a few block away. The bar had some live music (like the soundtrack from Braveheart) and I was thinking that this is truly a first for me, where are the guitars, sticks, maracas and "panderetas"? Where are the "trovadores" (typical singers) and everyone singing along (mostly out of tune) traditional Puerto Rican songs? I was somewhat sad but the excitement of our upcoming trip made me feel better.

Once we arrived in London we realized that everything was closed!!! There was no public transportation!!! We had forgotten that it was still Christmas day!!! So we just chilled at the hotel bar that night. The next day we went to the tour's meeting spot and realized that we had already seen all this people the day before in the same bar we where in, apparently there was absolutely nothing open. We where soon off to Amsterdam in the motor coach that would be home for the next 2 weeks.

Once we arrived in Amsterdam (Dec. 26, 2006), we went on a boat cruise around the city canals. There where lots of little floating houses around the canal (which people where having X-mas parties in) which remeinded me of "La Parguera" in Puerto Rico.

The best part was that it was open bar.

So we proceeded to meet a few a people by sharing some "cheers". The funniest thing was that there where 3 Japanese guys sitting in a corner. That would soon change since one of the girls from South Africa asked Orlando how to say cheers in Japanese which is "Kompai". She proceeded to get them some drinks and started saying Kompai and proceeded to drink up. The issue is that she kept doing it!!! I went over and introduced myself and after about 10 minutes ran out of Japanese phrases but I don't think they cared because by that time they where all really drunk, but I still participate in the Kompai moments.

After everyone was "happy" from the cruise we went to the red light district of Amsterdam. In all honesty I did not know what to expect. It was basically "coffee shops", "ladies of the night" behind glass windows, bars and pizza parlors in succession. For the record we did not go into any of the shops, we just stared at the decadence it that place. You are not supposed to take pictures but here I am in front of a "coffee shop":

The next day we walked around Amsterdam. The city looked completely different during the day!!! It actually has some pretty cool sights. Here is a good view of the city, and Orlando looks nice too:


Here is Orlando in Dam Square the middle of the city.

Here I am inside a huge Dutch wooden clog:

I followed my friend Miriam's advice (she studied history and has been all over Europe) and visited Ann Frank's House. It was quite impressive to see how they lived in such a small place. You could go up to all the rooms and see the infamous book case that covered the entrance to the rear annex. They managed to stay alive thanks to the Mr. Frank's coworkers who gave them food and supplies. To the right you can see a picture of Anne Frank's house.

Afterwards we went to see the Van Gogh Museum. They had a pretty impressive collection of paintings and memorabilia from his life. In general Amsterdam had a little bit of everything to offer.