Europe

Tuesday morning I got dressed, put on my scarf and jacket, threw my hair up in a somewhat sloppy, yet somewhat stylish looking ponytail and went out. My mission was clear: Bring back bread and juice. I smelled a wonderful little store on the street corner. "Bonjour. deux croissants et jus. Et un bagette. Merci. Au revoir" I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror. A stylish looking girl carrying a bagette. I felt so Parisian. It's sad to leave such simplicity; but reflectiong on this past week lights up my eyes and makes me smile.

Amsterdam

After traveling all day; Dana and I finally arrived in Amsterdam Wednesday morning. Despite it's chilling winds, the city is beautiful. The arcitecture, the canals, people sitting outside of cafes having their morning breakfast. Amsterdam certainly has it's charm. We walked through the Anne Frank Huis; which was just mesmorizing, and chilling. We saw the Van Gough museum and marveled at his paintings while learning about how Van Gough came to be as an artist. We did what most American tourists do, and went into a coffee shop to make a purchase. Bicyclists rule the street and smoking inside is allowed. Amsterdam is absolutely gorgeous.

Then the sun went down and the red lights came on.

With our hostel being located in the middle of the red light district, there was no avoiding it. As Dana and I walked through the crimson lit streets we noticed that we were the only women not behind a glass door. Herds of men window shopped up and down the streets. Dana and I tried to encourage some of them to buy something or leave the market; almost as though we earned a commission. I think one guy walked by us and asked up "how much?" but I'm not sure. I was absolutely fascinated by the Ladies of the Night. Young, old, fat, skinny, white, black, eager, bored-They have a wide variety to choose from. Their behavior behind the glass door was just as interesting as I'm sure their resume is. Usually, the younger girls acted as if they didn't know they were being looked at. Their eyes would wander so not to make eye contact. Some ladies were bored. I suppose any job will make you feel bored at some point. My favorite were the ladies who just didn't care anymore. They just let it all out there. They didn't care if they got a hundred offers or none at all. Before I continue, I must inform you that Dana & I had been drinking pretty consistantly from about 5pm. We talked, we laughed, we bonded. It was delightful. Now back to the Red Light District. We walked by Amsterdam's Moulin Rouge: A Live Sex Show. The guys at the door were trying to get us to go in. "Girls, girls! Get some culture! 25 euros and you'll get 2 free drinks!" Dana looked at me and said with hesistation in her voice..."What do you think?" I looked her straight in the eyes with all the confidence a drunk girl could have (which is a lot) and said, "Let's do this."Oh, the things we saw. We stumbled into the club with an act in progress. The, let's just call her a "dancer," was performing a striptease to an audience member she had brought up on stage. Shen then got a vibrator -prop dancers pssshah- and began playing with it near the audience member. I didn't believe she was really pleasing herself. I'm being so critical- Let's move on to act number two. Dancer number was ugly. She was. There's just no way of covering that up. Her act consisted of four audience members eating a banana from various parts of her body. I guess that's one way to get your helping of potassium. Then came the main event: A couple having sex onstage. Not only did the pair have sex, but it was choreographed to music. The show started all over again. We see a dancer we missed from the eariler show. She's wrapped in ribbon. As a lad from the audience pulls the ribbon, she becomes naked. You would think that the ribbon would end, but it didn't. There must have been a spool in her cooch because it just didn't stop! Then the acts were repeated. When the banana lady came back she asked Dana and I to join her onstage. "Fuck it, why not?" We sat there onstage with two other participants as the dancer stripped. Then came the banana. She held the banana betwixed her legs and told me to take a bite. I did. I didn't want to be rude and I do need more fruit in my diet. We left the club after that. Really, what else could top that? We left the venue in absolute hysterics. We went in search of more fun.

Back at prostitute lane, there were many prospective buyers. We saw a few windows closed-someone sealed the deal. I noticed a number above one of the doors. Was this a reservations line? Perhaps a customer service number? Dana and I started talking with two gentlemen from Olso. We encouraged them to make a purchase. "Which one do you want? Come on, you're in Amsterdam!" One of the guys said he gave a girl 50 euros and she took it without doing anything. I pointed to the number on the wall, "You need to call that number and speak to a manager, or someone in customer service! You paid for a service and you should be entitled to it!"

Dana and I made it back to the hostel around 2am, and had one more shot before bed. The next morning was our last day in the city. I couldn't help but walk around the city with a huge, dopey grin on my face. You know that grin; the same one you have after an amazing night of sex. Yes. I had an amazing night of passion with Amsterdam and I felt great! I was sad to board our train to Paris.

We rode the 4 hour train ride in style... Okay... not really. We had a wheel of cheese and a box of Triscuts. Delicious my friends! We were suppose to be met at the train station by my cousin Justin, but he wasn't feeling well, so his wife Sophie met us instead. Paris is beautiful at night. The next day Dana and I went to go explore the Cattacombs. "Closed for Alterations." What? Are they putting more dead bodies in there? Lame.

Paris certainly wasn't as thrilling as Amsterdam, but it was wonderful. Justin was an excellent guide to the city, not just for geography problems, but for history of the city as well. It was great talking about our crazy family and getting another's perspective on it. Dana and I spent most of our time eating. Yes. Bagettes, cheese, crossiants, wine, tequila...okay maybe that last one isn't so "French" but still delightful.

Now, I had written all of this on a Tuesday. Tuesday we were suppose to leave.

We didn't.

See, getting the great deals I get for flights as an employee of an airline, there are some drawbacks. Mainly... we fly standby. I checked the flight loads before we left and they were fine. Plenty of seats were available. But Tuesday they didn't have the Airbus plane... There was an aircraft swap and so they had a smaller plane. Meaning they went from extra seats, to being overbooked. No hope. We took the train back to Justin and Sophie's place and found a hostel that had room. Okay... Tomorrow.

Wednesday we did the same routine. Got up early, went to the train station, waited at the airport. Dana and I joked that this was our sick version of "Ground Hog's Day."

Well since the day before was overbooked, they had standbys for this new flight. Another aircraft swap! We were seatless again. Back to the hostel, hoping there was room... there was.

One more time now.

Yes. Finally! A seat!!! We have seats on this plane!!! Never have I been more excited to go to Philadelphia!!! As Dana and I waited for seats to S.F. we saw many other people waiting on standby. They all have proirity over us. They had two seats left and everyone else were in parties of 3 or 4. "We're a party of 2!!!!" We were in!!! Not so fast. There was a party of 1. I pleaded with him, saying that we were stuck in France for 2 days, and that I had work the next day at 6am. All true. He had none of it. He boarded. One seat. I asked that if I took that last seat if they could assure me that Dana could get home the next day, no problems. (When you fly with a friend, they have to travel with you... but they were saying I could have the seat...) They said they'd list her for tomorrow morning. I gave Dana my phone, since her's was dead, told her to call my parents to explain, and I boarded. I felt like shit the whole time on the plane. I was so worried about Dana making her flight. I hoped that they didn't misunderstand me when I asked if she could fly without me. At work today I asked the airline if she was on the plane. She was. *SIGH* What a relief! Finally the trip is OVER!

We definetely had an amazing time, and couldn't imagine having the trip I did anyone but Dana. We're awesome! We totally got 5-10minutes out of this trip too!