Holland

My favorite travel companion and I spent five days in The Netherlands late last month. It's impossible to visit this country and not be absolutely intrigued by the passive and peaceful temperament of the people who live there.

Not willing to spend more money than we needed to, we decided to stay outside of the city center in a neighborhood called De Pijp. This neighborhood used be called Area YY when socialism was in control. However, last century (already) rents were high and owners were forced to rent extra rooms to students and artists, giving the neighborhood it's Bohemian character.

Now that I've lived in Europe for a few months, I've become a huge fan of shopping for my groceries solely at markets. I feel it's the best way in the world to get food: it's less expensive than the shops, you're helping the income of people who sit in the cold all day with their products, and you know you're getting fresh and minimally handled goods. We stayed right by the Albert Cuypmarkt, which is the largest daily market in the entire country.

Not surprisingly, the weather was mostly overcast during our stay. I think it just added to the "Amsterdam" effect.

I found it interesting that there were just as many men walking babies as there were women - I don't feel like I've noticed this in other cities before.

That night, we went walking around downtown. We drank some Belgian beer called Jupiler at a bar called Cafe Van Daele and I bought hot almonds off a street vendor. It was a great start to an awesome weekend in an entirely new part of the world for both of us.