Amsterdam

Amsterdam is small and beautiful. The old artistic buildings and the classic canals compliment each other perfectly. I went to the Van Gogh museum my first day in town, and the Anne Frank house my second day. The best part of the city is that if you ever run out of things to do (some would quicker than others in a place like this), relaxing on a bench by a canal is always a nice way to spend a few hours. That's what I did the majority of my last day, and drew a little boat that was sitting across the water from me.

Nijmegen

I took the train into Nijmegen, Holland Thursday afternoon to visit friends from the volunteer program in Nepal. Three of them met me at the rail station and the rest joined us a little later for a classic Nepali Dal Bhat Thanksgiving dinner. The next day my friend lent me her bike so I could explore a little bit outside the city and meander around some pleasant farmland. It was so great being around this group of people for a few days, nothing but positive memories and reminiscing from our time in Nepal, plus a new aspect in being able to hang out and have a blast in the place that is their norm.

Brussels

(tried to post this a few days ago, have been in been in the Netherlands for a few days and got into Berlin this morning)

Waffles.... Check
Chocolate..... Check
Beer.... Double Check

So I walked around Brussels for a few days. Went to a few lack luster museums, hung out at a skate part for part of an afternoon, then visited the outside of the European Union Parliament building, that was nice. Mainly enjoyed the sunshine and sitting in parks and coming across old cathedrals that kept popping up out of nowhere. The sun was out the whole time, which is more than I could say for London. The city was nice, unfortunately it has a lot to compete with being surrounded by Paris, London, and Amsterdam, so it tends to get a bad rap.

Greenwich

My last full day was spent wandering, quite aimlessly at times, around Greenwich. The sky was mostly clear, which compared to its normal gray did an exceedingly good job at lighting up the old buildings of the city. There is much more open space here, between the University and the Maritime Museum and the park surrounding the observatory. It was my favorite place I'd visited all week. The sun never gets too high even in the middle of the day at this time of year, so even noon offers pleasant shadows. The prime meridian passes through here, so opting out of the five pound charge to stand over their crafted line, we had a fun time figuring out where it passed on our side of the fence.

London

It's been a week so far here in London. The days filled with walking around town seeing the different sights, most by now more than once. Have met up with a few friends from home or from past travels, and have met a few new ones here and there. It seems the longer you're in one place the more people you meet and then the more reason you have to stay even longer. That said, a ticket is bought for Brussels leaving Friday morning. A few museums and a lazy afternoon in Hyde park, and hopefully a last beer with a few friends is all that's planned before then. Have had a few sunny days but mostly cloudy, the weather turned a bit worse today as a cold wind came through. I'll be heading further north before I settle anywhere south so I'll be in for more of the same.