everyone hates us

kristy c.-posting up, Holla!

i swear in every place that we have been there has been one person that is not a fan of us...rude resturant guy in barcelona, 2 lady computer nazis that cut in front of shea to use the internet, i tried to be sarcastic with a waitress at a cafe and something was totally lost in translation, everyone in paris rolled their eyes when one syllable was uttered from these lips (i got asked twice if i knew how to speak french), yesterday a man covered his face when he heard we were americans asking shea is she had the "pig flu"...nonetheless europe is still the bomb.com and we will continue to laugh about the awkward conversations that we have with locals.



the travel day from paris to amsterdam was a breeze...the train is now my new preference for travel...no security, bag checks, tight airplane seats or turbulance...just a smooth ride listening to Mat Kearney from train station to train station...



Thus far on this trip as an euro-travel virgin i have complied a list i call-"things i have learned whilst traveling"...here goes-

1. check a metro route before paying for the ticket.

2. always have some form of toilet paper on your person.

3. earplugs will save your life.

4. when lost look for a bus stop, they always have maps.

5. i am too old to stay in mixed dorm hostels.

6. to find cheaper stuff start at the tourist attraction and walk a block away from it, every step you take the prices get cheaper.

7. when booking with Rail Europe it is like Expedia, so when you arrive at the train station look at board for the trip you booked then go to that train company to check in.

8. watch the locals (without being a stalker) and do what they do...that's how we figured out the metro ticket machine in paris.



**I plan to continue to make a list to become the worlds third best traveler behind Rick Steves and Jake and Carlee Loya.



Yesterday we went to the Van Gogh Museum and it was really cool. The paintings are in chronological order from the time he started as a painter to the last painting he did before he commited suicide. i found it fascinating that up close he used simple brush strokes (that i swear i could do) but when you step back the painting is totally a complete beautiful picture...this dude had incredible vision.



After the museum we did some souvenier shopping (you lucky bitches)...searched for the red light district with no luck and ended up at a cafe drinking Heinekens (imagine that)...the man that owned the resturant came to our table looking very distressed (here we go again someone else hates us) wanting us to pay our bill...we explained that we were going to have 2,3,4 more and if we could wait to pay...he explained in words i did not understand but thank you jesus shea did, that he was worried that we would dine in dash...we explained that we weren't but thanks for thinking we could run that fast and he was cool with us...by the end of the encounter this man loved us...we ended up drinking 4 beers each and then he gave us one each on the house...showed us pics of his kids, gave us his phone number, we even took a pic with him and his son who was working there for his summer job...on the way out i got a kiss on the hand and three on the cheek...loved us!!

Went back to the hostel where we befriended an austrian lad named sebastian, who claimed that he was a wise man and could lead us to the promise land (Red light district)...turns out that our hostel is pretty much in the heart of sexy town...once we actually got on the street with the pretty ladies, I was disturbed by the fact that there were walking tours with several small children being led through the district. After walking around a bit and having a man outside a sex shop yell at us "hey ladies do you want some cock"-shea decided it was a good time to take a pic of one of the girls in the doors...as she brought up her camera the girl dodged behind a curtain and i said "what the fuck are you doing"...a passerby (who i later came to think was a womanly pimp, she had on a suit with a fishnet shirt over her bra) pulled us aside and said "if you want a picture of the girls you have to ask for permission, if not their pimp with find you, beat you up and take your camera."...i replied to shea, "put your fucking camera away you are going to get us beat the fuck up"...after laughing uncontrollably for several minutes there were no other issues to report from that scene.

walked home, went to bed.

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