All in all, Amsterdam was amazing. The weather was beautiful (except for a 3 hour stint on Wednesday where it rained cats and dogs, then cleared up), much warmer than London.

The first day was cloudy, so we thought we’d cover the museums we wanted to see, first. We went to the Rijksmuseum, which is like the national museum of art from the Golden Age. I really enjoyed it, and I liked seeing all the Rembrandts. Two giant doll houses, replete with real silverware (as in, silver silver), real linens, real porcelain, were on display. Apparently it had been a symbol of wealth for ladies to curate these enormous doll houses and furnish them, just as they would their normal sized home. Certainly not for playing.

The Van Gogh Museum was interesting, but I’m not the biggest Van Gogh fan and there were fewer of his supremely famous paintings there than I expected. It was interesting to see his development as a painter, but my favorite part may have been the gift shop. I cringe with shame to say it, but I think it’s true. There were a few of his greats, including one of the sunflower ones, and the bedroom.

We also walked through the flower market area, and later that evening we had a quick dinner and went to grab drinks with more Dutch friends we had dug with.

Our second day we spent in a very different way—we rented bicycles and rode to pick up my friend Job, who is a native Amsterdamian (or however one would name that), and he took us over hill and over dale, to Vondelpark and Vesterpark, where we ate a delicious lunch. We continued back to the city center to get gelato with Dutch waffles, ice-cream sandwich style. We rode through the Red Light District to get there, so we got our exposure to the ladies of the night (even though it was daytime). They looked really sad and bored. From there, we rode to a cool little bar on the water, and had a nice rest and a drink. I maybe fell asleep for awhile on the grass next to the harbor while Lauren and Job talked about beer. From there, we cycled to another bar—this one was a windmill—and eventually made our way through rush hour Amsterdam traffic to return our bikes. I wouldn’t be able to estimate the number of miles we cycled, but it may have been the most I’ve ever ridden before in one day.

The amazing thing was how easy to navigate Amsterdam was; we had to meet Job at his apartment, and with a map and directions from Marijn, we made it there in 30 minutes. There are bike lanes, and SO many bicyclists around that the real danger is not being able to dodge a speedy cyclist rather than getting hit by a tram (although a few times we did get honked at as we tried to follow Job, who was nonchalantly riding ahead of us with no hands, seemingly oblivious to the fact that we were going down one way streets or narrowly missing cars).

That evening, we convened in Marijn & Tijmen’s beautiful garden, where we ate homemade pancakes, Dutch-style. They reminded me a lot of crepes; we ate them both with a traditional sugar syrup (yes, really. The ingredients are: sugar) and powdered sugar and some with melted gouda cheese. DELICIOUS.

Because the skies don’t fade in the north until about 11pm in the summer time, we headed out to a really awesome bar/restaurant place in the same neighborhood Marijn and Tijmen live in, which is the northern part of Amsterdam, over the river. Apparently this area is not as “hip” to live in as southern Amsterdam, but we found it to be just right for us: easy to get to the center, but super relaxing. The bar they took us to was what seemed to be the hippest place I had been on our whole trip, something called Northern Lights. There was a small outdoor stage, in front of which was sand and a fire pit. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was on a beach in California. Just around that, though, was a grassy outdoor eating area with a ramada. The building itself looked like it had been an old storage place before its renovation. The walls were of a heavy duty plastic-looking material, and one side was entirely window. Seeing as it was a Tuesday evening, we had the entire upstairs to ourselves. We shot some pool, Lauren and I danced a bit when some old jazz came on, and enjoyed our last evening in Amsterdam very much.

Lauren’s flight left quite early on Wednesday, so we said our goodbyes and Marijn and I spent the day together. We went to eat real Dutch apple pie (YUM! WOW!) and we walked to Tijmen’s work, where I got to check out some sweet finds from their recent excavation (he’s an archaeologist). The weather had flipped a switch, because that morning it was beautiful and then it was a horrid downpour, and finally cleared up again in the early afternoon. Basically all I did that morning was eat. The pie, then we went to lunch with Job, Job’s girlfriend, & Tijmen, and I had this enormous melt with goat cheese and arugula and a number of other yummy ingredients. I wish I could remember them now, because I had thought about trying to replicate it at home. Alas. Eventually I had to catch my flight. I departed Amsterdam with such wonderful memories. I am so grateful I got to spend time with such incredible friends, who are not only Good People in the utmost sense but also excellent hosts.

-After getting up at 4 in the morning and making it to your bus stop on time, make a prideful comment about the good luck you’ve had traveling so far

-Immediately retract statement, knowing that you have just cursed yourself for the rest of the day

-Joke about pouring libations on said early morning bus

-Purchase tickets for your train (the more expensive ones, of course, since you want to be sure to arrive to your flight on time)

What happens when you piss him off:

-He spills hot tea on your friend on the train, in a forced libation (note: do NOT joke about this as being a forced libation; also, do NOT believe that Apollo has forgiven you. He has not.)

-He makes it so that you happen to be on the train that gets delayed due to a fatality on the tracks up ahead*

-He gives you the option: take a risk on a cab, or take a risk on the train. You choose cab.

-He makes you fork out the equivalent of approximately $110 on said cab.

-He teases you by allowing you to arrive at the airport just in time to catch your flight; the caveat is that your friend cannot check her luggage owing to its size, and she must buy a whole new ticket for the next flight to Amsterdam

At this point, Apollo may have started feeling bad for me, because at that point, when Lauren had to stay and I felt so bad and I was exhausted and stressed, I just lost it. I was sobbing going through security, but of course, in my total disorientation, I didn’t take out my liquids bag, so although my gate is closing in a matter of minutes, Apollo gets one last dig in there to teach me patience: the security guy has to search my carry-on.

To be fair, all of the British people I encountered during this experience were incredibly kind to me; most gave me sympathetic and/or encouraging looks, and one nice lady next to whom I sat on the bus to the airplane chatted with me and definitely helped me calm down. Her best comment was, “Well, you and your friend are healthy and safe, and that is all that matters. At my age, you learn that accepting change is everything.” She is right, of course. I wouldn’t say, either, that I’m generally a traveler who can’t accept this type of change. That’s part of the adventure of travel, it’s definitely all an exercise in going with the flow.

I was also fortunate to have a great flight to Amsterdam, during which I ended up sitting next to a young man who happened to be one of my boyfriend’s close high school friends. Seriously, what are the odds of that happening?! Can someone do the math on that!?

That afternoon I met Lauren at the airport, and we very seriously poured a libation of wine into Marijn and Tijmen’s garden for Apollo. I think they thought we were joking. I assure you, we were not.

After more than a year away from some of my favorite places in the world, and the roads not yet traveled beckoning, I’m off again to Europe! This time it will be seven exciting weeks, both with others and venturing alone.

First leg: Tucson to London, where my dear friend Lauren and I will explore museum after museum, eat fish & chips, try to mind the gap, walk up the Tower of London, pose like the idiot tourists we are at Madame Tussaud’s, and watch frickin SHAKESPEARE at the frickin GLOBE Theatre! Huzzah!

Second leg: London to Amsterdam, to meet up with some divine Dutch buddies. Only a few days there, unfortunately, but we’ll perhaps see the city by boat, eat some cheese, visit some more museums, etc.

We’ll part ways there, and I’ll be off to Italia to bask in all things Romani e Orvietani and perhaps a few other side trips.

July also promises a week to me in Greece–mainland and islands–to soak in with my honey, who has thus far told me he wouldn’t let me get mugged in Piraeus at nighttime. Good deal.

So, check in once in awhile, I’ll try to update as much as possible! A presto, ragazzi!