Monday, June 15, 2009

Paris!

Hey Everyone!
After spending two and a half days in Amsterdam, I grabbed a train and made my way to Paris. Amsterdam was a lot of fun and a beautiful city. As previously mentioned, I was staying at this bizarre campground about thirty minutes outside of the city. It turned out to be quite nice though. I was able to rent a bike one day ( an orange one, very Dutch) and ride along the country side for a bit. As it turns out, I am not a very confident bike rider nor am I very good at it! There were a few close calls and lots of wobbling and swerving around! I did manage to make it to the next village and have lunch at a cute sidewalk cafe followed by a trip to the market for dinnner supplies. While in the city of Amsterdam, I went to the Van Gogh museum and saw the original Starry Night painting along with a few of his other works such as the Potatoe Eaters and some of his twilight paintings. It was a really neat exhibit. I spent the rest of my day walking through the streets looking at all of the different canals, going to the main park in the city and eating an ice cream cone; checking out the main sites from my tourist info map, and finishing the day off with a tour of the Red Light District. The Red Light district was a very interesting place with lots going on as you might imagine.My tour guide was great and kept our attention by telling fascinating stories and brief tidbits of the history behind the district. It was quite informative and I would highly reccomend it
On my last day in Amsterdam, I ended up touring qround with three other Americans from Illinois. We tried to take a canal boat tour, but they were full, so instead we trucked it on foot making up our own tour. I spent the day carrying my pack around because the lockers at the train station were not working. It was quite interesting making my way through the crowds with it. I felt like a bull in a china shop and was glad to be able to get rid of it for the train ride.
In Paris, I am staying with my friend Thibault and will be doing some sight seeing today and then hanging out with his friends tonight.

Gear Review:
So far everything has been holding up just fine. The more time I spend walking with my pack on, the more I realize the importance of packing it well in the mornings. I have yet to figure out a system that works 100% for me, but am still trying. I do really enjoy the lightness of the Granite Gear Nimbus Meridian pack, and it's easy front zip capabilities.

That's all for now, take care,
Kate

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