It was good to be back in Brussels last night – back to the familiar. We arrived just 30 minutes before the hostel reception closed (that could have been interesting), got settled, and went out for food and beer. It was an early-ish night, as we wanted to have an early start today and get to the airport.
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We covered 7 towns and almost 350 km today, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything! To see the actual houses where our grandparents were born, the schools and churches they attended, the roads (now paved) that they rode their bikes down, and the old dykes (dikes?) that kept the fields dry… this has been awesome.
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Yes, we kind of disappeared for a couple of days there… Amsterdam can be quite demanding 
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Year Zero gets released today. this makes me a happy boy.
In case you haven’t heard anything about it, there has been a brilliant marketing campaign to build up to the release of this album. USB drives left in bathroom stalls at concerts with songs, clues leading you to web sites, phone numbers with recorded messages claiming you are now an enemy of the state… these are just a few examples of how the word has been spread.
the story as reported in the calgary herald
you can go to the website and, with a valid email address, listen to the entire album online… for free.
so far, I like what I hear
We had a pretty damn good night for our first in Amsterdam. We lucked out and ran into one of our friends from Brussels, and ended up putting on a lot of miles wandering all over town. Coffee shops, pubs, the Red Light District, updown, downtown… We had a pretty good tour. It’s not very busy at all, and by 1am the streets were completely empty. What a difference from Paris! We’re in a small seaside town North of Amsterdam now. The sun’s decided to have a nap today after 2 weeks of clear skies. This is “cold”!! Needless to say this trip to the beach hasn’t been exactly what we expected. There’s a cool little hostel here with cheap beer and great couches though, so we’re taking it easy. The shuttle goes back to the city at 9pm, and we’ll have one more night there before heading North-East. This leg of our trip’s almost done… Only a few days away from Spain and Portugal now!
This weekend started off with the April installment of the Magic Satchel games night on Friday night.
Prior to the party I ran off to a garage sale my parents church was putting on for a sneak preview (the benefit of being the son of one of the organizers). I went to town on the board games, buying 8 games for the whopping price of 8 bucks. EIGHT! Every game I bought is 100% complete, a definite treat for garage sale finds. Even though some games are from the 60′s, most look like they have never been played.
We’re both nursing some pretty fantastic hangovers today after meeting some people last night and figuring shots were a good idea. We also managed to find the only bar in the country (apparently) that serves absinthe. Doh!! We’ve made it to Amsterdam more or less in one piece, but have spent the first few hours sound asleep. It’s time now to head out and see the area, grab some food, and never drink another beer again
We sure have taken a shining to this city! After getting settled into the hostel last night we took the receptionist’s advice and headed down to Rue Gretry for some dinner and drinks. What a zoo! The streets are barely wide enough for a single vehicle, and the sidewalks are choked with cafe seating, not to mention all the people. We took a few pics – very cool area! Ended up eating at an Italian place, and believe it or not I had the best lasagna of my life there (sorry mom!) After dinner we went to Delirium Cafe, which is an awesome little pub that has 2004 different beers on the menu. The menu is the size of a phonebook!! We (well me, really) decided to call it an early night after all the walking around during the day, and headed back to the hostel after only a few drinks. I have a feeling we’ll put more effort into it tonight
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Wow, what a day! It’s taken us 13 hours to get here, but we’ve made it to Brussels and into a hostel for the night. There was a cancellation for a private room so we’ve lucked out again! And it’s at the same hostel we had booked for tomorrow night… Things couldn’t have worked out better This place is incredible! Perfect location, brand new, free Internet, plasma tv, comfy beds, amazing staff (perfect English and gave us a map with food / pub advice)… I’ve stayed in 4 star hotels that weren’t this great! Great first impression of the city too… Looking forward to seeing it in the daylight. Time for a shower, then food, then finally some Belgian BEER!!!