New favorite word.

Stroopwaffel.

That's what I had today for breakfast. Right after a very soft bun with Real Amsterdam Herring. I've eaten a lot of herring in the last 25 years, it being a staple of Jewish cuisine. But this was, hands-down, the best herring I've ever had. Not nearly as salty as anything I'd eaten before; tender and flavorful. It almost tastes raw, except it's lightly cured. Mmm.

Amsterdam highlights:

- Bike rental becomes really fun when mother nature throws three-minute downpours on you several times a day. I've already gotten soaked once, and am certain it'll happen again.

- Random wandering yesterday, while waiting for moominmolly to get off work and get her bootie into town, resulted in my stumbling upon a fondue place. So that's where we went for dinner. That was very yay.

- The herring and stroopwaffel were got this morning at a weekly streetmarket between Molly's house and the bus station. Too bad that market isn't around tomorrow, as I would have loved to buy some of their chanterelles and other wild mushrooms, and yummy cheese and stuff for dinner. Surely, though, we won't go hungry in this city.

- The canals are fun. The bike trails around them aren't as obvious as I thought they'd be. Which makes wandering all that much more fun, of course.

- Especially after London, the beer here is enh. But it's great for sitting in a main square and people-watching.

- Random road picked for wandering yesterday straight out of the train station led me straight into the Red Light district. Of course.

- Molly r0x0rz. She now has material proof of his.

- Dutch is very cool. I won't learn any of it here, though, because people really do break into excellent English if they smell a foreigner. I've had people greet me in English before I'd opened my mouth. I also witnessed locals randomly breaking into English when talking amongst themselves. It's sad, really, to watch a language die like this, but I've no illusions.

- It is pouring again. As I am dry now, this is good - I can wait out the rain and then have at least an hour of not-rain. Ooh, there it goes. See it subside. Now it's pouring. This is *as I type*, and I type pretty quickly. See? It's almost over now. By the time you get out your umbrella, you're already soaked, and it's already over.

More later. Now I go bike around some more.

New favorite word.

Stroopwaffel.

That's what I had today for breakfast. Right after a very soft bun with Real Amsterdam Herring. I've eaten a lot of herring in the last 25 years, it being a staple of Jewish cuisine. But this was, hands-down, the best herring I've ever had. Not nearly as salty as anything I'd eaten before; tender and flavorful. It almost tastes raw, except it's lightly cured. Mmm.

Amsterdam highlights:

- Bike rental becomes really fun when mother nature throws three-minute downpours on you several times a day. I've already gotten soaked once, and am certain it'll happen again.

- Random wandering yesterday, while waiting for moominmolly to get off work and get her bootie into town, resulted in my stumbling upon a fondue place. So that's where we went for dinner. That was very yay.

- The herring and stroopwaffel were got this morning at a weekly streetmarket between Molly's house and the bus station. Too bad that market isn't around tomorrow, as I would have loved to buy some of their chanterelles and other wild mushrooms, and yummy cheese and stuff for dinner. Surely, though, we won't go hungry in this city.

- The canals are fun. The bike trails around them aren't as obvious as I thought they'd be. Which makes wandering all that much more fun, of course.

- Especially after London, the beer here is enh. But it's great for sitting in a main square and people-watching.

- Random road picked for wandering yesterday straight out of the train station led me straight into the Red Light district. Of course.

- Molly r0x0rz. She now has material proof of his.

- Dutch is very cool. I won't learn any of it here, though, because people really do break into excellent English if they smell a foreigner. I've had people greet me in English before I'd opened my mouth. I also witnessed locals randomly breaking into English when talking amongst themselves. It's sad, really, to watch a language die like this, but I've no illusions.

- It is pouring again. As I am dry now, this is good - I can wait out the rain and then have at least an hour of not-rain. Ooh, there it goes. See it subside. Now it's pouring. This is *as I type*, and I type pretty quickly. See? It's almost over now. By the time you get out your umbrella, you're already soaked, and it's already over.

More later. Now I go bike around some more.