Kimmy InAMSTERDAM

The next morning, we got up and headed back into the city centre. We strolled up to the Old Town section that had small, winding streets with tons of green ivy, staircases, small restaurants, and cafes. We checked out an old cathedral and an art/history museum that was impressive in size, but sort of a disappointment inside. From there we headed back towards the Rhone River, I went off and do my own thing for the afternoon. I hiked up to the "international hill" to check out the UN building. I was surprised when I got there to see that there was a gathering of Catalans rallying for their independence from Spain. Everyone was decked out in their flag and colors with signs saying "Catalan: The Next European State." I obviously wasn't able to get into the UN building, but I got some cool pictures of all the flags leading up to the building. I also saw the Red Cross Museum. I thought the museum really well done and focused around the overall humanitarianism of the past, present and future. I made my way back towards the city centre by walking through the botanical gardens and park along the river. Once I got back into the city, I walked along the big "designer" road with all the fancy shops (like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci - a little out of my window shopping price range) and back into part of Old Town. Geneva was pretty much what I had expected - a nice, picturesque city set against the Swiss and French mountains.

The next morning, we slept in with plans to go to the train station, store our bags and head to Annecy, France for the day. After much confusion on how to by tickets and where to go, we learned that Annecy wasn't an easy place to get to so we ditched that plan and went to an automated machine to buy train tickets to Lyon, France. We had all day because we weren't planning on going to the airport until around midnight. So bought roundtrip tickets for 10 Swiss Francs (around $10) and jumped on the train. After two hours, we reached Lyon without a hitch. We grabbed some lunch at a French version of Panera and headed up to the beautiful Notre Dame de Fourviere cathedral. Rather than hiking up the huge hill, we took the metro. The last leg of the ride was a small metro car that literally scaled the hill. It seriously felt like Matterhorn at Disneyland. The cathedral was absolutely beautiful, inside and out. It might have been my favorite one I've seen in Europe yet simply because the color scheme and adornments were soft, almost pastelle-like. Next to the cathedral was a great lookout that gave 180 degree views of the city. Next, we walked down the paths through the hillside gardens to reach the old town. Again, Lyon's narrow streets gave way to long staircases, small alleys and opened up into squares. It was absolutely beautiful. After walking around a bit, we stopped at an Irish pub and sat outside on the street. Luckily, it was "happy hour" and pints were cheap. We killed some time by hanging out and playing cards. I also called my mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day, she was pretty surprised and it sounds like she had a pretty good day planned with the family. Made me a bit homesick that I couldn't be there with everyone too.

That night, we ran back to the main central station in Lyon to catch the last train back to Geneva. Once upon the train, we realized that we were actually holding metro/tram tickets for Geneva and not actually legitimate train tickets (thank you Geneva station info people for all your help). With some mild evasion from the ticket checkers, we got away with it and made it back to Geneva with an hour to kill before our train to the airport, we hit up a close by bar. There, they had all the bar's own personal beer on tap. We got a free glass of peach beer. Yummy.

We got to the airport around 12:30 for our 6am flight because of both saving money on a hostel room and we wouldn't had made it in time with the metro system. Also, the volcano in Iceland was acting up and flights were being cancelled in Portugal, Spain, parts of Italy and France with threats of affecting Switzerland airports. After a crappy nights rest and watching flights to France and Belgium be cancelled, we got on our flight and got back around 8am. From there, it was straight from the airport back to bed to go back to sleep.

Overall, it was a good weekend. It's starting to get to be crunch time with school here. The Dutch system is set up so they majority of the work is put off until the end of the term with final pages and exams. With all the work ahead of me, looks like I won't be traveling again until Kara and I head to Scandinavia in early June.

To back it up a little, the night before Queen's Day is also celebrated too and dubbed "Queen's Night." The Dutch must have needed an additional reason to party. In Amsterdam, it's a big music/club night. So we went to an open-air (and free) concert at Waterlooplein by some random DJ. The music was just about to get going.... when it started to pour. That wasn't about to stop anyone, so we just went on dancing for a good while. I headed home because I wanted to be ready to start again in the am. I later realized that would not be the case.

The next morning I woke up feeling Queen's Night hard. I spent the majority of the morning watching people walk along the canals going bargin-hunting from my bed perch. Other cool thing about Koninginnedag is that anyone is allowed to sell anything on the streets on this one day. It's a city-wide garage sale with people staking out their spots days before by chalking a big "bezet" (Dutch for occupied or saved) over all the prime junk-sale property. People were selling everything imaginable - clothes, books, boots, appliances, face painting, beer, and even charging people 1 euro to come use the toilet in their homes. Little tykes dominated in the entertainment and sweets department. I saw a few little ones trying to make a few euro by playing their guitars or violins. I also bought some poffertjes (little mini pancakes) off a group of kids for a euro. Goedkoop.

Later in the afternoon, my friends headed over to my place due to the location... the Prinsengracht canal where most of the action would be because it is the most popular for boats/people. We opened up my window and watched boats pass of varying states of crazy. Some had themes, others had good music blasting, but the best was one with Queen B's face plastered as the figurehead on the bow of the boat. We spent some time walking around, getting food, and checking out the street DJs on every block. The best picture of the day goes to my new friend and his owner chilling a bar, both were dressed in orange with the little pup wearing a crown on his head. Adorable. We also went to a carnival that was put on in Dam Square. I wasn't game for going on a ride, but I had to get a meter-long bratworst for the road. We spent the rest of the afternoon and night walking around and checking out the sights. By nightfall, the streets were gradually getting quieter and it was becoming more and more apparent that the city was completed trashed. Definite sign of a good party. There were rumors of the sanitation workers going on strike the day after Queen's Day, but for the sake of Amsterdam, they were up and cleaning at the crack of the dawn. By the time I woke up, I could not believe how well cleaned Prinsengracht was. It was like there weren't 1 million people having a damn good time just a little bit ago.

All in all, it was a great day filled with much orange, beer and good friends. Glad I was here to experience it all. Definitely not about to forget about Koninginneday 2010 in Amsterdam anytime soon.