I rented a bike! (2 bikes actually)

Well I'm sitting in Amsterdam which has less beautiful architecture than Paris or Brugge in Belgium but I like the vibe alot more!! After a great weekend relaxing with Leen Christophe and their adorable daughter Silou, Leen took me to Brugge on Monday. A word to the wise, Monday does not seem like a good day to sight see in Europe!! Many things were closed. It is a medieval city and all of th buildings and streets have been relatively preserved to look medieval. Leen's mom is a teacher and so she took me around by bike in the afternoon. Saw a lot of beautiful buildings and churches and enjoyed being in a smaller city. Then took a train to Amsterdam (actually 3 trains but that's neither here nor there) and after 6 hours of traveling enjoyed that I met a girl from Arizona and we got drinks and a "muffin" at a coffee shop. Today we went to the Van Gough museum and then I rented a bike and rode around Amsterdam a bit. There are bike lanes and bike stop lights and bikes literally everywhere!! I feel pretty safe riding around and it's a great way to see the city!! This evening I think I am going to do a tour of the red light district, see what there is to see!! I'm here until Friday, then I'm going to visit my friends Verena and Maragrete (who I met working in a hostel in NewZealand) then Bjorn (who I met at the university when I studied abroad) and Elise (who I went to hog school with). Thank goodness for good friends in Germany!! That should be about a week to 10 days and then I am off to Italy!! As nice as all of my trip had been I'm getting more and more excited for Italy (though I hear English is very uncommon, which has not been the case at all here!!) miss all of you and am also excited to be back in md evens if it's hot!!