Woke up at 8am to get ready for the flight to Amsterdam. Breakfast at the buffet downstairs at the hotel at 9:30, a taxi to the airport at 10. The big train crash the day before had closed one of the main expressways, so our driver took us on a more scenic route with plenty of time to spare. The flight to Amsterdam turned out to be only 45 minutes long.

Arrived in Amsterdam at 2:30pm. Very beautiful and clean airport, with a train station downstairs. The Dutch love design and attention to detail, as can be seen in any piece of signage or information display around you. A 20-minute train ride had us at our final destination.

The hotel was a short distance from Centraal Station, so we decided to walk.

Our first Amsterdam canal.

Our first Amsterdam canal... continued.

The little alley where our apartments were located.

The place we're staying in is really more of an apartment complex than a hotel. We each have our own unit, one above the other. Each apartment has a living room, kitchen, shower room, toilet room, and one large and one small bedroom. They're very comfortable and spacious, with lots of natural light (when there is any) and tasteful furnishings. We feel like we're staying over at someone's house.

Living room.

Kitchen.

The larger of the two bedrooms.

After settling in, we decided to head out for dinner at a restaurant called Getto. Matt had a lovely mixed green salad and roast potatoes served with emu meatloaf and horseradish sauce, and Randy was a bit less daring with coconut chicken. Afterwards we walked around through the center of Amsterdam, admiring the architecture (and the cute boys everywhere).

We were accosted several times by people selling drugs on the street. Most left us alone if ignored, but a few were terribly persistent, even after multiple no's. It's really true what they say about Amsterdam and the drug scene... it's everywhere, and if it's not legal, it's semi-legal (meaning the cops don't bother you). Neither one of us are into that scene, but if you are, well... you'd be one of the many people puffing away on the streets. We smelled hash and pot within ten minutes of arriving in the city, and then repeatedly on public transit and in restaurants and shops.

Our apartments are on Warmoesstraat, which we hadn't really realized was one of A'dam's seediest streets. But even with its many sex shops and cinemas it still felt more "colorful" than sleazy owing to the generally clean-cut pedestrians and all of the friendly little shops and restaurants. Sex is obviously not a big hangup for the city's population.

Around 8pm, Randy decided he needed some rest, so he headed upstairs to watch a movie on his PowerBook and get some much-needed sleep. Matt, on the other hand, was feeling restless. A quick look in the city's helpful gay tourist newspaper told Matt about an underwear party at "The Cockring," one of A'dam's more reknown gay bars. Dress code was strictly enforced.

The Cockring wasn't quite as rough as the name might imply, though Matt had shown up early in the night. Three dimly lit floors held several bars, two dance floors, and an upstairs dark room. Pretty soon after arriving Matt was found by an adorable British guy and, um... introductions were made. They soon left to go back to Matt's apartment where further introductions were made in earnest. Randy commented the next morning that he wasn't quite sure how Matt and his new friend had managed to pick up the bed about 3 feet and drop it every few seconds, because that's exactly what it sounded like they were up to!