Safe in Amsterdam

I haven't written in 4 days and for this I apoligize. Internet time is pretty scarce here, I'm in Amsterdam and the waiting line to use the two working computers at this hostel is pretty fierce.

Anyway, we just arrived here the night before last. The ride up from Paris took a long time because we had to stand in a ridiculously long line at Gare du Nord in Paris and by the time we'd got our train tickets to Brussells, the earlier train had already left and we had to wait another hour and a half before the next one. We hopped over to McDonalds for a cup of coffee and a warm place to stand. I've decided to never again travel in the winter time; summer only. Ýou can't do anything outside for more than an hour before you stop feeling your legs and have to go inside, and going inside involves buying stuff, so you end up drinking a LOT of espressos (usually the cheapest thing on the menu) and hanging out in metro stations. I take that all back, it's not that bad. It's just kind of funny.

Anyway, Paris was great. On our last day we were going to go to Rouen and Caen, but the trains didn't work out and Maddie felt sick. So I got to spend the day exploring Paris alone; I went to the islands in the river (Sunday in the Park?) and saw Sunday mass in Notre Dame. Then I walked up past Town Hall (where there was an ice rink and people were skating to American Idiot by Green Day, which made me laugh. Then I also saw the Montmartre area, where Picasso's studio and the Moulin Rouge are. Later I saw the Opera Garnier and tried to walk back to Place 'dÍtalie, where our hostel was, but that was too far so I gave up.

Ack, I gotta get off the computer. Suffice it to say, we're in Amsterdam and it's a lot of fun. Our hostel is full of cool people, and there's a lot to see in this place. I think today we'll go to the Van Gogh museum. Cheers!