D...I am kind of itchy...

Writing from Amsterdam...let me back track you to yesterday for a glimpse of our last day in Brugge.

Danielle and I decided to rise early and rent bikes for the day so that we could take an hour bike ride to the beach. We were told the ride went along the canal and through a really cute small coastal town, Damme. On our wobbly, rusty little bicycles we biked for 2 hours through the countryside of Belgium playing "HEY COW" as we went. Cows, sheep, goats--they were our little travel companions for the ride---Indiana is just always so close by when I travel. Hahaha. None the less we made it to the beach and had an absolute blast! Plus the bike ride home we seemed to be able to follow the map a bit more and we made it home in an hour!

Before we were going to leave for Amsterdam we were determined to visit the best Belgium chocolate shops. I am not even into chocolate but everybody said it was a must. Let me just say I think it was my first time having REAL chocolate. Our hostel keeper reccomended the abosulte best place--they cater chocolate for most of the royalty in Europe. Neuhaus was the shop (they have a store in NY and you better bet I will be checking in LA when I get home) and it was completely unreal. I paid 1 euro (about 1.25 us dollars) for a piece of chocalte about the size of a quarter it was completely worth it. As we headed for the train station I also sprung for a Belgium waffle with strawberries on it---I was kind of skeptic of this Belgium dessert because i don't really enjoy waffles but it was AMAZING! Oh...the sweet bug definitely bit me in Belgium!

Then off on the train we headed to Amsterdam--a four hour journey (with some delays on the train). Through this journey I began to realize that more than a sweet bug bit me--that little bedmite from Brussels must have had a good meal before Danielle killed him because I have about 10 bites across my body. Danielle has been laughing as we walk Amsterdam and I itch non-stop. The funny thing is that when I was little and had my allergy tests the only thing I was allergic to was bedmites and I remember my mom had to buy special plastic covers for the mattresses to ensure that I didn't get any allergy attacks--well too bad Barbie didn't come on the trip because the plastic liners were not packed in my bag. I will be researching how to say "I need anti-itch cream" in Dutch this evening.

Amsterdam has been unreal though--a true culture shock coming from the quiet little sleeping town of Brugge. Everything they say about Amsterdam is true yet everything they say won't prepare you for seeing the real thing. We began our morning with a tour of the Anne Frank house. It was very shocking to tour the home and live within Anne's diary and her time in hiding from the Nazi's. The visit to this museum is something I will never forget--studying Anne in school didn't even begin to compare to the experience of learning firsthand her experiences. Then we walked across town to tour the Heineken brewing facility. They had an interactive 4-D movie which was really fun. I am signing off to let Danille use the little computer that our hostel allows us to borrow. This evening we are doing a pub/club tour for 20 euro which should provide us with a fun time. Tomorrow we are off to Berlin and will be staying with my college roommate from my freshman. I have not seen her in three years since she moved to Berlin! We are very excited to have our own personal tour guide for Berlin! Until I post again, lots of love!