Ode to Darrren

I haven't written in a few days because I was in Amsterdam for two days, and then I needed 2 days to decompress from Amsterdam.

It was a great trip...despite the fact that the girls and I missed our 8 a.m. Saturday morning flight. Let's just say thank god our airline agent was originally from the West Indies and NOT an unforgiving Parisian. And thank god for the X chromosome that allows females to shed tears on cue and convince said airline agent to book another flight for free despite the nontransferable, nonrefundable tickets.

Needless to say, we arrived in Amsterdam slightly later than expected but not too worse for the wear. The trip started with us checking into our lovely Christian hostel. Then we walked around the town. Amsterdam is beautiful! Well, except for some of the not so attractive half-naked chicks hanging out in the store windows... But look the other way, and swans in the canal! So we walked around, went to the open-air market, bought some Dutch gouda, met an American who married a Dutch girl, saw the debauchery, ate some frites (well...ate a lot of things...), and finally settled at a pub entitled the "Smallest Pub in Town" for an aperatif at 6pm.

Unbeknownst to us, we would stay at that pub (minus a dinner break) until almost 2 a.m., hanging with our favorite bartender, Sara; the cutest/sweetest Dannish boy, Stephen, who said we were "the nicest and most beautiful people he has ever met".... I wonder what people are like in Denmark?; my Liverpool-native but Amsterdam-living local drunk boyfriend, Darrren, who in his drunken stuper gave us all roses for Valentine's Day - thanks Darrren; the pilots; the old dancing matchmaker man; and more.

In the morning, we were treated to french toast and a Jesus montage film. The afternoon was filled with some very productive sightseeing. We went to the Van Gogh museum which was hosting an exhibit featuring the original Starry Night painting - it was amazing and very moving! And then we went to the house where Anne Frank hid and wrote her diary - also very moving. Then, thrilled by cuisine that was slightly more varied than baguette, fromage and jambon, we ate dinner at an Argentinian restaurant. For a small city, Amsterdam has greatly varied cuisine and a lot to do!

Luckily we made our flight home - by 5 minutes. And now I'm back in Paris...already planning my next trip!