Hooray for Holland!!

Now I know that Not all of the Netherlands is Holland, but I'm in Holland right now and yaaaaaaaaay for me. I can ask for fried rice at the counter of the "wok to walk" and they know what I'm saying! Yes, Amsterdamers all speak English. Mostly like it's their first language, well, almost.
And I hate to say it, but I'm back in the land of beautiful people. I don't know why Berlin attracts or perhaps retains the funky-looking, but they are all there. I know, it unkind. I've already had karma hit me for thinking it. See below.

I left my phone at the Berlin train station yesterday. Yes, the Universe, or "Utrecht, the German god of Schadenfruede" exacted revenge for my ungenerous thoughts on German endowments. I called the station this morning, but no luck yet. Someone just shoot me now, before I lose something irreplac... oh wait, that's already happened. Sigh.

I'm getting over it fast. I figure, this will be a way to start over and just have the numbers of the people that are actually in my life. But this will only last until I remember whose numbers I had that I won't be able to get again. At least I have my old sim card, so there's a bunch of work saved right there. Just don't get me near any small electronic devices. I'm death.

So I turned my phone number off until I get back, so the bastard who took it at least won't be able to make calls on my number. Can you tell I've lost some faith in the human race? Strangely, in my experience, Americans have been very likely to turn stuff into lost and found. I've lost a few things in my time, and they've mostly been returned in the Bay Area. I would have thought that it might have been moreso here. Not a chance - as the lady at the front desk of the hotel said this morning. She said I shouldn't even bother to call.

The bright side is I've eaten a bunch today and I think I'm on the mend. Amsterdam is teeming with tourists - well, at least this neighborhood. Okay, ended up staying in the red light district. It was so close to the train station and well, the hotels are cheap. No it's not one of "those hotels." I don't need money that badly. It's France Hotel and true to its name, breakfast was extremely good. Tonight Mike and Sera (those whom I'm house/cat-sitting for) will be a bit less frantic in their preparations to get out of here and we get to stay there tonight.

Fab news - my sister will be joining me on Sunday! Shari jumped a last-minute plane to London the other day, and I convinced her to jump a last-minute plane here for a few. It will be great to have her. Hopefully we can run into the hills and sing "Sound of Music" or something geeky like that. The weather is beautiful, the food is good and the possibilities are endless.

Oh, got tickets to the Lowlands Music Festival this weekend. Artic Monkeys, Massive Attack, Belle and Sebastien, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and a whole bunch of others are playing. I know I left out some big names, but I can't think of them just now. My brain is still consumed with self-flaggelation over the phone-loss.
The festival should be fun, in addition to the music, there's a movie theater, and a bunch of other stuff, dancing, I imagine tattooing and such. That's Friday thru Sunday, and meanwhile, there's another free theater/performance festival happening in town. Not sure what I'll see of that, but I hope to take advantage.

Did I say that Amsterdam is beautiful? The architecture. Ah!!!! The shopping mall looks like a palace. I'm not kidding. I'll get pics of it. Canals down every street, and the street cleaner comes by each day to clean up the remnants of the previous night's debauchery. Speaking of which, in the hotel pamphlet for tourists, there is actually a section from the police force of the city, asking people not to pee in the streets, or buy drugs from anyone not selling out of a cafe. It's like they're helpful older siblings instead of "The Man." Apparently, (I know I use that word a lot) there are a bunch of scam artists who try to sell tourists fake heroin, acid and the like. It warns about that too.

So, just the first day. I'll have lots to report by the weekend.
A shout-out to the peops who leave comments, they make my days. What-up yo!
Love to all!

I finally bought some shoes!!!!! Yes, I have new-shodden feet. I hope to shortly have some newly pedicured feet as well. They don't even blink at the shoe store when I ask for size 41 (European, thank you). Yeah, ummm, three pairs. Call it retail therapy.