Where's the Red Light District Again?

Emily and I are now safely in Amsterdam after some hectic train rides. We met a group of 5 from Alabama that actually go to Bama in our hostel in Munich. They were all catching the 3am train to Amsterdam too, so we all hung out while we killed time waiting for the train. It was really quite funny because they're all from Mobile and know Jamey the guy I worked in lab with. One of the guys is his cousin. How random is that?

Once we got on our train we tried to sleep, but it just didn't happen. They never shut off the lights, and people were getting on and off at different stops. We had to change trains at the border, and it was so full we didn't get seats. We ended up standing for 2 hours. We crashed at our hotel and then wandered the city for a while.

Our hotel is near the airport, so we're a little outside of the city but it's nice having a big shower and bed. The hostel we're staying at tomorrow is on a side street from the red light district. We're not too happy about that situation, but it's a Christian hostel so we're going on faith.

Amsterdam is really pretty. It's too interesting to even describe. There are "coffee" shops on every corner, and the most eclectic groups of people everywhere. The first day we wandered around the city and this morning, we had no idea where the red light distict was. We thought that at any minute we would be right in the center of all of the madness. We found it later today, and it was needless to say: interesting.

We went to the Anne Frank house this morning as well. Mom we sent you a video or something, so don't delete anything from the Anne Frank house. It was really cool, I'll have to actually read the book when I get home. We've been doing a lot of walking around the city and just sightseeing stuff for free.

Tomorrow we're going to take a paddleboat tour thingy. It's basically a paddle boat on the canals that run through Amsterdam. I'm pretty excited about that. We're also probably going to the Van Gogh museum if it's not too expensive.

I really want some wooden shoes, but I don't think I can fit them in my backpack. I don't know what emily and I have purchased or done, but we can barely fit everything into our packs now. Maybe we're just getting lazy with our packing, but we have no idea what is going on. Comparatively though, we have a lot less stuff than other people we've seen. There was two girls on the train to Amsterdam that have like 6 bags together, one which weighed 75lbs.

We have two more nights in Amsterdam and then we're headed to Brugge. We're super excited because we've only heard really good things about it. Nana and Grampy, isnt' that the place you said was so pretty in Belgium? We're going to rent bikes sometime in Belgium and ride around ringing our bells at anyone in our way!

Oh, I'm buying a big sack in London and I'm going to fill it with English candy. I'm taking requests for Hilton Head, so let me know if you want anything! ;)

Mom and Dad, I'm going to try to call home tonight at like 3-4 your time.

Love you all!
-H