In the Beginning...

Vondelpark
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My adventure got off to a great start. I arrived at the airport with almost 3 hours to spare. Spent 1 of those hours wandering around the gates trying to make a decision on snacks and magazines (I went with pretzels, and Time and Cosmo). I sat near the gate, munching and talking on the phone until boarding. As I walked onto the plane and settled in my seat, I immediately noticed something was amiss. Where was my little personal tv? Oh, they must come out of the armrest... nope. Hidden near the oxygen masks? Hmmm... doesnt look like it. Behind the tray table? Negative. I glanced down the aisle and noticed the television screens attached to the ceilings and slowly realized that those were my tv screens. No whatever I want to watch. No anxiuosly checking the flights progress every 15 minutes. For the next 10 hours, my visual enertainment was completely at the mercy of KLM Airlines. I scoffed at this thought and pulled out my ipod as soon as we reached cruising altitude. I was halfway through the latest "This American Life" podcast when something on the screens caught my eye. It was my fave sitcom doctor-surgeon duo JD and Turk, of one of my fave sitcoms Scrubs. For those of you who don't remember, Christina and I accidently discovered Scrubs on our last trip to Europe while enjoying a rainy "laundry day" in our London Flat. I felt like this was a little homage to that trip and sign of good things to come. So I thoroughly enjoyed an episode of Scrubs (in which JD is duped (yet again) by that scheming Janitor into playing a game of jigglyball) with Dutch subtitles flying at 980 mph somewhere over Utah. Nice.

Bikes and Urinoir
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Somehow, I managed to book a seat two rows behind a toddler who appears to have taken up obnoxious intermittent screaming as his new hobby. In an attempt to perfect his vocals he poked his chubby head above the seats every half hour and hyperventilates as he screams at those wonderful ear piercing octaves only children are able to master. It's really quite a sight. And so, about every half hour, I find myself fighting the urge to punch out out all 8 of his teeth in the hopes that the resulting blood loss will knock him out for the remainder of the flight. It wasn't until I got up to use the lavatory that I noticed there were two of them- twins! Suddenly I was thankful only one of them seemed to enjoy screaming so much.

Yes, I ran into a truck...

The Poezenboot
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The plane landed in Amsterdam about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. I threw my stuff in a locker (wasn't done with that Cosmo) and took the train into the city. Despite weather reports predicting scattered showers (which was completely expected for Amsterdam), the sun was shining with just a handful of clouds in the sky. Gorgeous! After renting a bike, I headed west towards the Singel canal (the first canal in Venice) in search of the Poezenboot (cat boat). Years ago a lady along this canal began taking in and caring for stray cats. Eventually her cat collection outgrew her home, so she purchased a houseboat on the canal just to house her kitties. She has since passed, but the Poezenboot is still a haven for strays. It is run completely by volunteers and donations, so I had to stop by show my support. For some reason, I had imagined it to be more like a furnished houseboat, just with cats everywhere. Instead it was more like a pound on the water, with cats in unlocked cages and sparse furiture. There were only a few felines around, and most were pretty skittish. I didn't stay long, but got a few pettings in.

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After visiting the Poezenboot I started riding towards the Vondelpark, a humongous central park near the museumplein. Because the weather was so unusually warm (and it was a saturday) the park was packed with people. People riding bikes, playing football and soccer, celebrating birthdays and tanning. I parked my bike underneath a tree and ate my tuna lunch-to-go. It was delish. When I finished, I rode around the park for awhile in search of a small lake with stepping stones Chris and I had come across two years earlier. No luck. Eventually I started my way back towards Centraal Station. I took different streets going back, and for some reason the ones I took seemed much more congested. In Amsterdam there are said to be more bikes than people, so imagine tons of bikes, some cars and scooters, heaps of pedestrians and a street system with loose traffic rules combined with little Jessica who's a bit unsteady on her bike (the seat needed some adjusting) and not too sure where she's going. Ya, it was quite an event getting back to the station. By the time I turned in my bike, I had nearly fallen off my bike twice and almost ran into multiple people and other bikes. And I ran into a truck. Yes, I ran into a truck on my rented bicycle and nearly fell off, yet again. So embarassing.

Finally made it back to Schipol, physically unscathed but totally exhausted. Met a man named Glen on the train back to the airport. Glen is from Boston where he manages a company that manufactures jet engines. His job takes him to Poland a few times a year. On this particular trip he was taking advantage of a plane delay in Amsterdam and, like myself, was just visiting the city for a few hours. We had drinks near his terminal (he had a beer, I had water- boring, I know) before he ran off to catch his plane. I left shortly after trying to remember where those lockers were. Found them after 20 minutes of wandering and headed to my gate. On my way there I met another gentleman named Regalio. He made a comment to me in Dutch, and unsure of what to say I just smiled politely. This apparently prompted to him to keep talking, alot and in Dutch. Finally I told him I don't speak Dutch. He laughed and responded with, "Oh, you speak English? No problem!" He was a super friendly guy and very interesting to talk to. He was on his way to Surnam to visit family and was currently waiting for a friend to bring him some dogs to take with him. What a nice fella. I finally made it to my gate and on to the plane that would take me to Venice! Hooray!

I arrived in Venice at 10:30 at night. After poicking up my luggage on a carousel designed to look like a roulette game (clever) I hopped in a taxi and headed for my hotel. I stayed in a hotel outside of Venice, close to the airport, just for the night since I knew I'd be tired and therefor not quite ready for the daunting task of getting into the city. My room was nice, but very small. About 14 feet long and 7 feet wide. When I layed acoss the bed width-wise I could easily touch both walls. I also had my very own bathroom, a luxury I enjoyed to the fullest since I knew it would end as soon as I checked into my hostel in the morning.

Tomorrow I'm heading into Venice and I'm ever so excited! Tell you all about it soon...

Thanks for reading! I miss you all!!