Amsterdam Tuesday

Ok, this apartment is comfy. It's bright, spacious, homey, clean... it has a kitty, and it's in a decent neighborhood; ethnic, but near a pretty park. The light in the living room all day is amazing, straight in through the almost wall-to-wall windows... :D

Arriving late afternoon Sunday, I took some time to settle in and got some basic groceries (the "night shop" is a cool idea, around Europe. It's a grocery store open when the other stores are closed. Key on Sundays!)

I spent Monday mostly inside, too. Slept in short spans, the other lady that was here the first night I arrived woke up reeeeal early to leave by 6am... Then the kitty wanted to be fed at 8 am... Even with laringitis, he woke me and my sense of responsibility up. Uff. Later I got a chance to try out the kitty toys, the hair brushes, the petting... only thing i can't do yet seems to be pick him up and keep him on my lap. Dunno if he's that way in general or if he's just not a lap cat... It probably would have helped to see him interact more with his owner to get a better sense of him... ah well. Also researched and noted all the Amsterdam walk-throughs I found online. I got a really colorful map now! :D

Today I finally motivated to venture out for a couple of hours. Walked to the south side of the center, saw Leidseplein, big bar/touristy shopping area. Unfortunately I started cramping by the time I got there, stomach, ovaries, all a big mess. It's not always easy being adventurous and carefree when you are a girl... *sigh* So I made my way back home, navigating the network of bridges over the canals... I was able to appreciate some of it even while not feeling well, it's quite pretty, and any other time I'd have loved the way you can't quite make a straight line between most two points... but not today :P

Evening at home, then. I feel kinda lame. Safe, but lame. But I have tentative plans to see the Dutch soccer game tomorrow night at some local bar, with the lady of the keys :) And next week visit the auction house in Aalsmeer, the equivalent of a global Wall Street for the plants business. And tomorrow I am hoping to be better and actually make it to some museum, which always makes me happy :) ...aaaaand, I hope it will make me bust out my camera again. Which I did take with me today, but I saw few tourists, and one big sign to watch for pickpockets... so since I wasn't up for much fighting or running, I opted to keep it safely tucked away. I did look into a cell phone w/camera. Still debating if it's worth spending all the money on the model I think I want...

Well, I manage to write a lot even when I do nothing... lol. Watch out for the next entry! ;) And thank you for the comments and emails! Yey for two-sided indirect communication! ;)