banana split

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OK, again so much to tell! I have had trouble finding email access this week which is my pathetic excuse for not reporting from Amsterdam. Had an absolutely epic train trip from Stockholm, which got horrible in Copenhagen when a grumpy, know-it-all, old lady (not me) pushed her way into the couchette that my new German friend Julianna and I were giddy to have to ourselves. She sat down and, after a few minutes,

informed Julianna that all Germans are rude and she always has trouble with skinheads, so we have to make sure to lock the door every time we move, and then told me that I wasn't really

going to be getting a graduate degree in law because the school is only 3 years long. She was awful, so we proceeded directly to the bar and drank yummy wheat beers until the situation was so funny we couldn't stand it (or really stand up) and went back to sleep. It was a rough morning, getting up at 5 is never easy, but then I got to ride on eof the new ICE trains into Amsterdam. Posh leather seats and a tv on teh seat back in front of me. It was all German TV, though. So I got there and immediately threw my bag in storage... it was really creepy at the lockers with all these signs saying to be careful of pickpockets. There were tons of ragged people sort of staggering around, and I saw an almost fight outside, but they calmed down just in time.

I started walking, and eventually made it to the Van Gogh museum. Amsterdam is a crazy city. The views down the shady, tree-lined canals are lovely and so peaceful. The buildings are beautiful with tall, brick fascades and pretty paint and leaded glass windows. And then a huge crowd will cross the street, or a zonked out bum will stagger by, or a bunch of backpackers

with telltale bloodshot eyes will materialize out of nowhere. Van Gogh museum was really impressive. I wanted to touch all the paintings because of all those glops of paint. I had coffee (only coffee) and wandered back to the station in the rain; because there was no room at the inn, I had to stay in Delft, about an hour outside of

the city. I met my friend Andrew there, he is an Aussie who works in Germany and travels and causes trouble on the weekends, we met in Salzburg when he and his friend Chris helped my pathetic quiz night team by coming up with the name of the guy who came in second place in some car race. Anyway, we went back to Amsterdam Saturday and headed straight for Anne Frank's house.

It was absolutely gut-wrenching. I can't believe I ducked through the sliding bookshelf or that I was standing in her actual room. They still have the pictures she cut out of her movie magazines and put on the walls. The Nazis took all of the furniture. It was a decent display, mostly empty rooms with videos, but just

being there was unbelievable. At the end, they have her actual diary. I had to go sit across the street and to calm down afterwards. Unreal. From there, we went to check out the famous red light district. Oh my God. Scary. The girls stand behind glass doors in underwear and high heels, some talk on their cell phones, all look incredibly bored as people parade past. There are actually red lights on the buildings above the doors. We saw only one person actually go inside, he was being encouraged by his huge group of friends on the street. Saw one guy walking out of one of the alleys all sweaty and could only guess what he had been up to. Checked out the sex museum and were hounded by the guys promoting live sex shows... 'Come on, it is a family show!' and wondered about the one called the banana bar (yuck!) but decided we'd rather spend the money on beers at one on the cafes.

My first comment on crossing the bridge to the other side was 'where's the Lysol?' More later, I'm tired of typing! Love, ET