Since my last post I have travelled from London to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Barcelona. Amsterdam was a lot of fun. It ended up being really really expensive for me though. We spent the first night in a nice Hotel near the airport which was made nicer by the fact that our room was upgraded. The first night we just went into town to walk around and get a feel for the city. We were all really tired from the day of travelling (especially because I was lugging around a 50+ pound duffle bag) so we called it an early night. The next morning we moved from our hotel to our hostel (still lugging my massive bag). The hostel we stayed at was called Flying Pig Beach Hostel. It was really an awesome place. During the warm months it is really really busy because it is right on the Atlantic so everybody comes to surf and windsurf. When we were there is was frigidly cold and snowing so there weren't a lot of beach goers there. We went to the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, Leiden (a cool city outside of town, but still not as far as our hostel), and visited the infamous Red Light District. It was a very fun vacation and the Dutch were extremely friendly people, all of whom knew English which made it a lot easier.
We woke up at 6 a.m. in Amsterdam on Weds. and were out the door by 6:30 to catch a bus. Again, I lugged my bag across the city to the airport and then across Barcelona to our hostel. Our hostel is literally right on the beach in Barcelona. It is beautiful, but not particularly warm, so it is just slightly less enjoyable. Barcelona has been very nice so far. I spent too much money in Amsterdam and now I have to be very cheap as a result. I don't really have very many plans for Barcelona other than relaxing on or around the beach and going into the city center a couple of times. Today, everybody else decided to go to the Olympic Park but I am coming down with a cold and really didn't feel well enough to go. It has been alright though...I just threw on my iPod and started walking around near the Hostel. Now I am sitting in the bar looking out at the ocean and the palm trees and listening to more music. What a change of pace from the perpetual hustle and bustle of London!
It is strange not being in London anymore and to be frank, I miss it. I got really comfortable in Earl's Court and greater London and grew to like it a lot. It will be interesting to see how Florence will compare. I think the language barrier might put an unfair bias on London being my favorite but I am going to do my best to appreciate Florence and all of the places I am visiting for that matter because I know that each one of them has many qualities. It is hard to beat the diversity of London but if more of these nice beaches and palm trees keep popping up London might find itself some competition!
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