Amsterdammit!

I head off to A'Dam and know this. My first rule is whenever I go somewhere I must always have a place to stay!!!!!! But I decide Miss Thang should be more spontaneous and just GO! I see backpackers do it all of the time. I am on the train enjoying the beautiful view and it dawns on me........IT IS EASTER WEEKEND!!!!! SHEISA(i don't know how it is spelled, but it is SHIT in German!) My worse fears are confirmed as I go to the tourist information looking for a room.

I find a room but the hotel is out in the BOONDOCKS!!! in a business complex no doubt (how bout that for view?) away from anything Dutch. On the up side, they give me a King bed for the price of a single on the Exec. Floor. OOOOOH! This is the kind of place you stay when you don't want to go anywhere else. NIIICCCEEEE I stay there the whole time as when the weekend is over they drop the rates to a ridiculously lower price, I just have to move down the hall.

Seeing Black travelers always catch my attention, but this time I saw them getting off a tour bus, so I thought, hmmmmm Black tourists! Hmmm some very handsome and buff, Black men TOURISTS. I smile in passing but not my usual OH MY GOD!! HELLO BLACK PEOPLE greeting. I find out a few days later, that was Brian McKnight and Boyz to Men. This place was the only place big enough to accommodate them and their entourage! And guess whose floor they stayed on?

I visit my friends I met in Koh Tao, it's so weird to see everybody fully dressed because we lived in tank tops and flip flops the whole time. I have been in excruciating pain with my left knee for some reason, but suck it up hanging out with my friend Loy. Loyenda is this beautiful soul who is from Angola, lived all over the place and speaks about 5 languages. He also had polio as a child which left him with limited use of his lower body. The man has trekked in Tibet, so I really have no complaints! Loy is also an artist/musician/creative genius and his work and music is inspiring.

With so many cities having red light districts, I don't understand why Amsterdams is so popular. I guess that and the fact that you can openly smoke pot. It is an incredibly cool city with loads going on. I love that everyone rides these old PeeWee Herman looking bikes, nothing fancy at all, no Treks, Mongoose, 22 gear setups, just a simple two wheel bicycle. I guess it is why you don't buy expensive flip flops in Thailand, someone will eventually walk off in them