We’ve been in Amsterdam since last Friday. One of Whit’s best friends from high school, Mike OT, moved here from LA last fall. He works at Boom Chicago, an improv theatre in the popular Leidesplein, in central Amsterdam. He met us at the train station, gave us his keys and directions to his place; and then went to work. In the early evening he came back and hung out for awhile before meeting his boss for dinner. We went to the grocery store in the freezing cold weather and came back to make dinner at his place. Speaking of his place, it’s pretty small: one-room with a bathroom and kitchenette (no oven). Since it’s so small, Mike has been house-sitting and staying with co-workers. Thanks Mike! That night we met him at the theatre for the late show and shared some beers beforehand. The theatre was full for the show, and we got to sit up front with the performers. If you’ve never seen an improv show, you should - especially if it’s a Boom Chicago show. There are about 10 performers from the U.S. who live here and do at least one show a night, six days a week. All the performers are hilarious, and do a great, international show. The show that night was all improvised, and the crowd was pretty into it - so it was really fun to watch. We laughed alot. After the show, we waited for Mike and then went over to the apartment that he’s house-sitting at. He and Whit played on the Wii before we left to go to bed.

The next day, we met up with Mike before had to go to work and went for a nice walk around central Amsterdam. We passed the Anne Frank House, where there was a HUGE line. Next we went to the American Book Center and looked around for a bit. Before dropping Mike at the theatre, we stopped at had frites together. Whit and I are big frites fans, and tried a couple places in Belgium. I have to say that frites in Amsterdam might be favored by the fact that they are served with peanut sauce. I think I’m in heaven. Speaking of food, earlier in the day when we were out exploring, we came across a candy shop and Whit bought some Double-Z. What is Double-Z? Well, if you ask me - it’s the cruelest excuse for candy I’ve ever seen, or tasted. It’s black licorice, but covered in salt. When asked what kind he wanted, Whit asked for double-salty. You can eat one piece at a time, and then be done with it for a day.

That night we saw another show at Boom Chicago - but this one was both scripted and improvised, and is called “Me, Myspace, and iPod.” I thought it was really funny, knowing the phenomenon of U.S. web and tech culture pretty well. After the show we hung out with Mike and some of the other performers at the theatre.

On Monday we visited the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, which was really cool. The building itself is new and modern, with lots of natural lighting. Their collection is impressive, and the layout of the place was well-done. Pieces were set up chronologically, and at each section there was a good explanation of that part of Van Gogh’s life. One of our favorite paintings was the The Sheaf Binder (after Millet). When we were done there we went to meet up with Mike, but he wasn’t done with work with. So, we went to a Belgian Beer bar that he recommended near by which we really liked. When we finally did meet up with Mike, we went to the store to by the makings for nachos, which we were making that night for him and some of the other performers. One batch got a little burned, but they were good nonetheless. We played Catch Phrase for awhile before getting on the tram to go home.

The next day we relaxed at Mike’s place for most of the day, since he was busy with rehearsals and shows. We went for a walk in an area we hadn’t explored yet, but cut it short when we started getting hailed on. The weather has been cold (in the low-forties), windy, and stormy for most of the time we’ve been here, with the occasional sunny half-hour after a storm goes through. Despite the cold weather, people here ride bikes everywhere. There are easily double the amount of bikes on the road than cars; it’s pretty awesome. There are also public urinals on the streets, haven’t gotten used to that yet (they also had those in London). In the afternoon we attempted another walk, and got rained on again. Instead of suffering through the walk home we stopped at a nice cafe called the Cafe de Tuin, in Mike’s neighborhood. We really liked the ambiance of this place, which is one of Amsterdam’s “brown cafes.”

Today is our last day in Amsterdam, and we just met up with Mike for coffee before he went to work. Later we’ll meet up again, and may go to the show at Boom Chicago tonight. Then, tomorrow morning we’re off to the airport - heading for Copenhagen - which will be the most northern point of our travels.

Before sign-off, congratulations to my brother Spencer for his recent engagement, and the news that he and his fiance are having twins!! (No, this is not the same Spencer we visited in New Zealand).

Love to all,

clairenwhit