Amsterdam Part II

The last three days have been a whirlwind, my LA clock has me waking up late, staying up late and not taking cues from the sun (not that there is a sun here!). It doesn't help that our high latitude makes for a 22:00 sunset (10pm).

I love Amsterdam, I think it might just be my new favorite foreign city (replacing Vancouver). With a population of about 800,000 people, it has a vibrant street life with activity on every corner. The buildings are no less than 6 stories tall and are bundled very tight. I learned that in the past home owners didn't pay property tax on depth or height, only width, so the skinniest building in Amsterdam is an astounding 3 meters wide.
 

We have switched accommodations to a Bed & Breakfast in the heart of the city called Eric B & B. Our apartment is on the fourth floor and I dont exaggerate when I say that the stairs are a spiral ladder. We are now staying in the Jordaan area where the Anne Frank house is located. Yesterday we took a tour of the Anne Frank house. Luckily I purchased the tickets before hand on the internet so we avoided an hour line to get in. You would never know from the exterior or interior of the house that 8 people where hiding there for two years. The museum was a powerful and a highly important experience.

After the museum we wandered the streets in search for food. We stumbled across a farmers market, apparently it was Buddaha's birthday so the Chinese cultural groups were putting on a show and selling food. The three of us split a tofu curry dish. We also picked up some delicious fresh bread, sundried tomato and olive tapenade for later. The Hungarian jazz band had invited us to the drummer, Aron's, birthday party in Rapenburg (Eastern Amsterdam) so we decided to join. During the jazz show, Daniel (the saxophonist) kept a running joke that the drummer, Aron, was turning 18. We stopped by the post office and picked up a "Happy 18th Birthday!" card.

After lunch, our tiredness hit us like a brick wall and we napped for a lengthy 5 hours. By the time we woke up it was already time to get ready and leave for the party. We rallied and walked for about 40 minutes across Amsterdam through some really cool areas. The party was at an apartment right on the canal, the hosts were very kind and welcoming. Most of the people there were conservatory students, they were a really cool group. We hung out for a few hours and enjoyed everyone's company. It was awesome to be around Hungarians!

-Shenzi