BoyJake Types from Amsterdam

I arrived in Amsterdam yesterday after an eight-hour flight during which I watched The Da Vinci Code (boring but not nearly as bad as I expected) and slept. I was disappointed to find out that Amsterdam keeps its convention center and its Holiday Inn at the far southern end of town and I couldn't even find myself on any of the tourist maps I brought with me. I mostly worked and slept this first day, waking up to call Anna (Brenda's name is Anna and I don't care if this gives me away - even if anybody I don't want to read this comes across this forum they're going to figure out who I am anyway and Anna dislikes being known as Brenda, so there) -- I miss her terribly and it was good to talk to her as always.

I eventually showered, changed and wandered out, knowing only which way was North and that was the way I wanted to go. I knew I was hungry and the Holiday Inn restaurant looked a little fancy for my mood so I took a brief detour south to the nearby Novotel where I had some mediocre pasta washed down with a mediocre glass of red wine. I headed North and marched past the convention center into a hip little neighborhood with lots of restaurants -- just the sort of area I should have waited to dine in. I photographed a canal and kept walking until I was about three miles from the hotel. My stomach cramped up a bit as the pasta did not agree with me and I decided to head home. As I passed a "Night Store" I remembered that I needed a toothbrush. I picked out a fizzy orange drink of the type that I always enjoy while in Europe and a candy bar. The Night Store kept the toothbrushes behind the counter, displayed in packs of two or six, available in three levels of bristle firmness: soft, medium, and hard. I asked if it would be possible to purchase one medium bristle toothbrush and the proprietor stared at the display. He eventually decided that he would be happy to sell me one hard bristle toothbrush as it was available in a package of six and he had no problem opening a package of six, but all of soft and medium brushes were available only in packages of two. I paid for my hard bristle brush and the other items and returned to my room to sleep.

Today I got up, had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, lingering over a sudoku puzzle before returning to the room to read my email and tie up a few more loose ends at work. My boss arrived this morning and he called after a bit inviting me to go see the city with him. I explained that I wanted to shop for Anna's birthday present and he was fine with that.

The Boss had already figured out how the Tram system around here works, so we hopped on one and rode to the Central Station which is very near Kalverstraat, a big shopping district. We walked all the way down Kalverstraat and I found nothing appropriate for Anna, so we moved onto a canal boat tour. This city is beautiful. I don't know what else to say.

After the boat tour we returned to the hotel. I took a long nap after which I went out for dinner at a nearby pizza place. I was the only one sitting inside as the outside scene consisted of painfully hip Dutch kids with all of their inherent blondeness and cigarettes -- I just didn't feel comfortable out there. I think the family that runs the place are Sicilian transplants, but they all spoke Dutch to each other. When I asked for the bill, the young English-speaking girl that had been waiting on me was not available and her older brother ended up bringing it to me. He set it down on the table and threw a big stream of Dutch my way, ending with the subtle uplift at the end indicating that he was asking a question. I, of course, had no idea what the hell he said and there was a time this would have worried me. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Dutch," I said. "It's okay," he said, nodding and walking away. It's good that it was okay, because I'm not sure how I would have learned Dutch in time to pay the bill properly. I somehow managed.

Now I'm back in my room killing some time until I can set up the Internet cafe. They won't let me in until 11:30 PM and I find that to be particularly savage. Oh well.

Thanks for playing.