Amsterdam fun

Just arrived in Brussels after four beautiful days in what is my favorite European city yet, Amsterdam. The city itself looks a lot like Bruges but is a much bigger version, with much more action going on and more of a big city feel to it. The buildings are again very typically Dutch... tall and thin with interesting detailing at the roof line and with big windows maximizing the canal views. There are again arching bridges over the canals, which are lined with beautiful old boats of all types of design. Perhaps the highlight of my time in this city, besides Simons company in general, was the afternoon we spent on rented bicycles, touring around the city with the hundreds of thousands of other people on their bicycles. Seriously, besides the architectural beauty of the city, the thing that most struck me, and one of the things I loved most about the city and the attitude of the people who live in it, was the use of bicycles. For them they are a priority, and have been for many many generations, and it is therefore sortof part of the national psyche to use a bike as a daily way of getting to points within the city. The bike paths are thorough and well kept and logical and connect litterally everything within the city. There are people of every age peddaling together, grey hair or training wheels, it's all there. I was really quite struck by the Dutch people and their laid back attitude, where they are very practical and sensible, they are also easy going and are not people to interfere with the decisions of others. Besides this, they all speak impecable English and are entirely polite and welcoming to the tourists who swarm their city. All in all, it was a very accessable city for an outsider. I felt a bit of jealousy for people who get to live in such a lovely society and such a clean and practical city. There are, of course, the neighborhoods that Amsterdam is notorious for, along with all the beauty and practicality, but these neighborhoods, as far as I could tell, were about ninety-five percent tourists looking to partake in any of the miriad activities this city allows, but really, I dont think the Dutch people themselves are frequenting the "coffee shops" or red-light district on any sort of a regular basis. My favorite areas were definetly far away from these places, in the more residential neighborhoods, which frequently have little squares with cafes where people were relaxing and spending their afternoon with friends or reading, and just generally enjoying the lovely afternoon from what I could see. All in all, Amsterdam was wonderful and I hope that I'll one day be able to return for perhaps a longer bit of time. I was instantly trying to come up with ideas as to how I could reasonably find employment to stay for a bit of time. We'll see... :-) It was also wonderful to spend a bit of time with my beloved brother and get to experience a foreign place with him, no matter if only for a couple of days. Today I'm in Brussels, where there is a nice older neighborhood center surrounded by a lot of financial/industrial sort of buildings. I'm only here for two days and will spend them washing my laundry and repacking my bag in preparation for Itlay, which I'm totally psyched for. It's amazing that I'll be there in only a couple of days, and mom will be there, and it will be warm and wonderful. It's all great and exciting and fantastic. I feel so lucky to be over here.