My First Visitors

My first visitors have come and gone. I can't tell you how good it was to be standing in the middle of Centraal Station and look up to see the faces of friends. Anna and Travis arrived on Sunday afternoon. Amsterdam was their last stop on their 2-week tour of Europe. They started in London, then stopped in Paris, then on to Bruges, and finally, to Amsterdam. After several rounds of hugging, we made our way down to their hotel in the Leidseplein area, and then took a stroll through Vondelpark on the way to my apartment. It was kind of the same route that I've been running, and it turned out too be a very long walk! Amazing how much quicker it feels when you are running! They were good sports though!! We had a nice dinner at my favorite neighborhood restaurant, and then called it a night. They were pretty exhausted from all of their travels, and I've been sick pretty much since I've been here and it really hit me this weekend, so I was ready for bed by 9. (yes, lame, I know).

Monday, while I was at work, they checked out quite a few of the museums that Amsterdam has to offer, and then that evening we met for a dinner outside (the weather was AMAZING!) and then a show at Boom Chicago (a comedy club run by a group of Americans). It was kind of a "Who's Line Is It?" kind of show, and definitely had its funny moments.

Last night, we had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant (Indonesian food is quite popular here - Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony, and a lot of Indonesians moved here when the country became independent). After that, we did the most interesting thing I've done in Amsterdam by far - we took a guided tour of the Red Light District. I love these kinds of tours - you always learn the history of a city that isn't published in books. For example... This is the city crest of Amsterdam:

Three crosses make up the center of the crest, which dates back to the late 1200s. They are Saint Andrew crosses (Amsterdam was mainly Catholic back then), and they protect the city against floods (water), fire and disease (the plague). In the Middle Ages, those were the biggest dangers in any city. Anyways, Amsterdam was the first major city to really export pornographic films (hmmm... why does this not surprise me?!?). So, when the films would arrive in their canisters, they would arrive at their destination with the city crest on them. The recipients of the canisters would proudly exclaim, "The XXX films have arrived!". And the rest, my friends, is history! :)

Anna and Travis left this morning, and I think that they were more than ready to get home to their cute little 2-year-old, Merrick. What an amazing few weeks they had though! :)

Anna and I outside at Leidseplein

The World Travellers!