broken bike :(

The end has come for the Yellow Giant. He had a really, really bad night last night, and as a result he is completely busted. It's probably going to be wicked expensive to fix so I'm probably just going to buy a whole new bike.......shiiiiiiit

Barcelona

So here I am, back in Amsterdam after 3 days in Barcelona, Spain. And what a trip it was. I really had an absolutely amazing time. I arrived there around noon on Thursday and took a bus into city centre where I met my roommate from school Joe. We spent the afternoon walking around the city, exploring various markets, bars, museums, beaches, and alley ways. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. 60 degrees and sunny is a far cry from 40 and rainy which is what I was greeted with upon my return to Holland. Friday was Joe's birthday, so Thursday night we went out in full force. And it turned out to be a really fun, really wild night. I mean what can you expect when one of your best friends is turning 21? So, after sleeping rather late Friday, we got up, grabbed some food at a nearby Irish pub, and continued exploring the city. There are certainly some pretty cool things to see in Barcelona. The city is beautiful, and I even got to dip my feet in the Mediterranean. It is a very different place than Amsterdam. But it just made me that much more excited for when the weather turns nice here. Friday night in Barcelona, we met up with a big group of people from Ithaca. Some that were studying abroad in BCN and some that were just visiting from other European cities. We ended up at a really popular night club dancing the night away until the sun came up.

Friday's weather was actually quite sub par by Barcelona standards, but it was all forgotten by the time Saturday rolled around. It was gorgeous out. So a bunch of us spent most of the afternoon sitting on the sidewalk outside a cafe, eating, drinking, people watching, and enjoying the weather. It was a perfect way to unwind from the long wild night before. Hours later after grabbing some dinner, we ended up at the apartment of a fellow Ithacan studying in BCN for the semester. We hung out there for a few hours, before taking off and bouncing around to a few bars and cafes where we just hung out and enjoyed the good company. By this time is was around 2 or 3am in Sunday morning, and my flight was due to leave at 6:45 am. So it was time for me to start making moves. We headed back to Joe's apartment (which was incredibly nice, with an unbelievable view of the city), so I could pack my stuff up and hop on a bus that would take me to the airport. Coincidentally, Joe's sister was coming to visit the following day and her plane was set to land at BCN at like 7 am. So Joe figured why not accompany me to the airport and pick his sister up, too. So that is exactly what we did. After enjoying a cup of coffee and an 8 dollar sandwich at some airport food place, Joe and I said our farewells and I headed through security. The plane ride went very smoothly, despite two crying babies on each side of me that didn't enjoy the ride as much as I did. But I was so tired that I basically passed right now, only to wake up and discover I was back in Amsterdam. As soon as I got back to my apartment from the airport, it was about 11 am, and I went right to sleep. I was exhausted. And with good reason, Barcelona is a city that certainly takes a lot of energy to survive in. But despite only being there for 3 days or so, I actually felt like I got a real good taste of Spanish culture. Well, I should say Cataluynian culture. They don't really identify with Spainish culture in Barcelona. They are Cataluynians. It's very different, and one of the defining characteristics of visiting Barcelona. All in all, I had a great time and I am so happy that I finally committed myself to doing that trip. Especially alone. It was really my first time ever planning and executing a major trip all by myself. And I must say, I think I handled it all very well.

Now I get back to Amsterdam, and I have one hell of a week ahead of me. I've spent that last two days (Monay and Tuesday) doing all my work for the week because Wednesday is St. Patrick's Day, and then Thursday and Friday and into the weekend is the start of March Madness and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournement. It is probably one of the best 5 day periods in the entire year. But it doesn't even end there, because Sunday night I am going to Jam in the Dam, which is a 3 night concert event here in Amsterdam featuring some world class jam bands--Umphrey's McGee, Les Claypool, and Yonder Mountain String Band. It's one of the biggest concert events in the city and I am so stoked. This is going to be one hell of a week. And by this time next week it will be my 8th week here, but more importantly it is supposed to get into the 50's. WOOHOOO. What can I say? Life is good in Amsterdam.

Time flies...

Time truly does fly by when you're having fun. But forget cliches, I am almost 6 weeks into my stay here in Amsterdam and I couldn't be happier. I've already begun to wonder how the hell I am ever going to return to normal life in the States. Amsterdam is simply that amazing. There is really nothing not to like about this city. Five and a half weeks here and I feel like a local. Granted, the only things I've learned to say in Dutch are hello, please, and thank you. But it gets me by. I have been pretty busy since you last heard from me over a week ago. The weather has been getting progressively better, though by Amsterdam standards 40 degrees and sunny is a beautiful day. But the sun has been coming out more than ever recently and when the sun comes out, the people come out. So I have been getting out and doing lots of cool stuff. I went to the zoo, I saw the U.S. lose to the Netherlands at Amsterdam Arena, I went on what was nearly a 40 km cycle to a city outside of Amsterdam called Zaandam, I went to the Rijksmuseum, I've explored many of the city parks (and there a TON of them), I went to a hip hop show performed by the rapper Brother Ali, and yesterday I even did a little shopping down in the shopping district. Shopping, I know, totally unlike me. But then again the only thing I bought was a new frying pan and a split a chess set with a couple buddies. But the shopping district in Amsterdam is ridiculous. They have every store you could ever possibly imagine. I even found myself standing in the center of a shopping mall just right off one of the busy shopping district streets. I looked around and turned to my friend and said, "This doesn't even look like Amsterdam. I looks like $@*%$# America." It really amazes me how American culture and fashion has become a fixture is cultures all over the world. The busiest store I saw all day was an "America Today" clothing store. I didn't go in so I don't know what kinds of things they wear in "America Today".

Anyways the zoo was really cool. Though, I have always have very mixed feelings about zoos. There is just something weird to me about standing in the middle of Amsterdam, in Northern Europe in March, looking at lions, polar bears, camels, chimps, etc etc. chillin in what is essentially a massive cage. So as fun as it was to walk around the zoo and see some of the world's coolest animals, it also is a little saddening to see such beautiful creatures locked in cages never to know what it's like to live in the wild.

The football match was SO MUCH fun. Our seats were seriously incredible. We were second row behind the goal. I think the players could actually hear me yelling at them. Unfortunately the U.S. lost but they held there own, and played pretty well. The Dutch won 2-1 but both the Dutch goals were complete garbage and the American goal was actually really nice. Though, most of the people that I went to the game with were lame and rooted for the Dutch, there were a few of us die hard fans, who stayed loyal to the U.S. I am really happy I got the opportunity to go to the game, and I really want to try to attend one more club match before I depart.

The Rijksmuseum was really cool. It is the biggest and most famous museum in Amsterdam. It is home to nearly all of Rembrandt's most famous works of art. And he sure had a lot of them. His stuff is amazing. His most famous piece "Night Watch" is incredible. It is MASSIVE, probably 30 ft x 30 ft and the detail is sensational. Unfortunately the museum is undergoing some serious renovations, so as a result only about a third of the museum is currently open. But they managed to cram all the really good stuff into the section they still have open, so it was definitely a really good museum experience.

Hmm, what else? Well, the Brother Ali concert was AWESOME. He is a fantastic performer and I even got my photo taken with him after the show. OH!!!! That reminds me!! I just found out yesterday that Eric Clapton is coming to Amsterdam and doing a show in late May!! ERIC CLAPTON!!! I am certainly going to try to get tickets to that but we will see. I don't know if I'll have any money left to spend on concerts by late May.

As the weather gets nicer and nicer, you can feel the excitement building in the city. People are just waiting for that first 55 degree sunny day. This place is just going to explode. Not too mention the excitement building already for when the tulips blossom. Amsterdam is a great place to spend time outside. There are soooo many parks in this city. And they are all unique in some way. I've only been to maybe 1/5 of them, but my goal is to explore every park in this city at least once. And I'm sure I will be going on a few more 40 km bike rides. 30 minutes on a bike, and you can be completely outside of anything urban, and in the Dutch countryside with farm fields, windmills, and rural canals. Hell if I wanted to (and had an entire day to kill) I could cycle to the capital Den Haag (The Hague). Who knows? Maybe I'll do that one day. The possibilities are endless here in Amsterdam. And I've got 14 more weeks to do it all.

I think that's all for now.
Peace & Love from Amsterdam

ps - I leave for Barcelona this Thursday! WOOOOOOOOO
pps - Congratulations to my sister, Logan, for finding herself a SICK house out there in Keystone, CO. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous.