I AMsterdam

I took the above pictures using the crappy Photobooth camera on my computer - they were taken on the 2 days of crossing through the Kiel Canal, which separates Denmark and Germany. I was able to sit in class and watch the German countryside roll by outside - absolutely breathtaking. The inter-port journey continued along the coast of Holland until we reached...

BELGIUM
* Shortly after watching the Colin Farrell movie, In Bruges (which sucked hard and convinced me to stay away from Bruges at all costs), the MV Explorer arrived in Antwerp rather early. I could have left the ship at midnight, but we had to wait around until the ship was cleared by customs at 8am. The sleep proved to be well necessary for the 3 nights that followed, where I slept for a combined total of four hours (maybe).

* Antwerp the first day: beautiful, smaller-scale city that boasts of diamonds, chocolates, beer, and french fries with mayo. I ate and drank my way around the city, and spent a good portion of the day riding a tandem bike with Jeff and my roommate. I'm truly surprised that we didnt cause any car accidents during our reckless tour de antwerp while riding tandem. It was hilarious.

* Following morning: hopped on a train to Amsterdam. For weeks I had been convinced that my travels would stay within Belgium, but Holland called out my name so I answered. Amsterdam is incredible; canals divide up the city into difficult-to-navigate little streets, the architecture is beautiful, the bars are so old, and there is so much history and diversity. After a long day of touring the city, getting lost, meeting random Dutch girls who showed me around, crashing a fancy SAS dinner, and eating sandwiches with peanut sauce, something incredible happened: Mr Max Ukropina himself arrived at Central Station. We stayed awake almost all night (considering he arrived at 12:30am, we had some things to accomplish), and we managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep

* Day three: Max and I hopped on a train to Brussels. Amsterdam was fun, but it was ready to move on to something different. We checked into our hostel (which was nicer than most hotels I have stayed in thus far), and then began the journey that I have been dreaming about for months: retracing the steps of Zane Lamphry during his infamous Three Sheets episode of Belgium. Watch that video if you have the time and you will pretty much see exactly what I did in that night, which included: eating Mussels in Brussels, meeting the angry bartender at Le Mort Subite, drinking several beers at Delirium Cafe (which boasts 2600 in total - the world record), and eating waffles topped with chocolate, bananas and ice cream.

* Day four: woke up feeling like I had been tackled by a football team, one by one. Max and I managed to squeeze in a few hours of Brussels sightseeing during the midday and early afternoon, then it was time to go out separate ways. He then headed off to Paris for an extended holiday, and I returned to Antwerp to meet up with my favorite Belgian girl named Kissy. She works as a bartender and graciously treated me to my final Belgian beer of the trip (wish I remember the name... but it was delicious and thought provoking). The bar played "Hey Jude" and the Beatles never sounded so good. We then walked back to the ship together, and I said my goodbye with a deteriorated voice (its currently non-existant).

In summary, those 4 days in port felt like 1 really, really long day. After nearly 12 hours of sleep, I am still ready for a nap or two. Enjoyed myself to the fullest and I cannot wait until Italy!

love
mark