Today, we really got to look at Amsterdam. Despite arriving last night and my almost dying of a cold, we were greeted by a yummy dinner made by our Couchsurfing host, Simon. I can’t remember if I wrote that yesterday. The cold medicines were strong within me, young Obi Wan.
Anyways, today we went around Amsterdam like true Amsterdammers. We borrowed bicycles from Simon’s stringmates (the people who live in his dorm building) and peddled around in the nice warm weather.
We started out at the Bloemenmarkt, which is the flower market in the centre of Amsterdam. Maria bought some tulips and it was awesome. Then we walked through the centre of town for a few hours – stopped for lunch in a nice little restaurant; avoided cafes like the plague (too much marijuana smoke!); went through a market in the Jordaan district. It was such a nice day for a walk and we all enjoyed that a lot. We also may have seen the statue of Spinoza. But it was unlabelled. Who knows!
After we sat by a canal for an hour or two and watched the party boats go by, we decided to cycle home. This was where the trouble began. Maria is a new learner on a bicycle (she learned in Israel last year), and I haven’t been on a real bicycle in a long time. Anyways, the cycles didn’t fit us very well since they were borrowed, and my butt was pretty much bruised from the cycle into town, but it worsened on the way out. Maria ended up crashing into Simon at a stop light, which was 2 parts scary, 1 part hilarious. I pulled up on my bicycle that didn’t really have working brakes. No one suffered any injuries, and both bikes were fully functional, but it was a moment we had been dreading all day.
After that excitement, we rode to the supermarket and bought food for dinner (spaghetti with meatsauce and tomato/mozzarella yummies). We rode home with sore butts and knees. 
See you laterrrr!
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