Where were you when...?

I can tell you where I was when Princess Di died. I remember walking into Roosters on September 11 and seeing a TV showing the second tower fall.

I don't think the Oilers losing in the cup finals is one of those moments that will go down in history, but I'll always remember where I was. At about midnight some Canadian guys told me they were off to watch the game, which started at 2 am local time. Kickass. We hopped in a cab and ventured off to The Sports Cafe (not the London one, sadly). There were about 80 people total, and a a surprising number of them were in Oilers jerseys. People were singing the HNIC song, cheering, and generally being hockey fans. The only jerks were 4 Brits who showed up and pretended to be Americans, and then got thrown out for having a nacho fight. It was just such a cool Canadian bonding moment, even though they lost.

Upon leaving the bar, the sun was just peaking over the horizon.

Other Amsterdam coolness -

I saw Anne Frank's house. I touched the bookcase, and looked out her bedroom window, and stood where she stood. WWII/Holocaust history is something that really interests me, but it's a bit of a morbid fascination. I stood where Nazis stood. The thought makes me shudder, but also makes me grateful. I was lucky to be born where I was, when I was. I need to not take that for granted. The house was actually pretty cool. It's become a bit of a museum, set up by Anne's dad, Otto. He was the only member of the family to survive. It's a museum in that it shows the past, but the foundation responsible for it also works hard to raise awareness (and money) about other social issues.

The red light district is exactly as you picture it - women standing in windows lit by red lights, wearing next to nothing. It isn't as depressing as it sounds, somehow. Most of them seem more bored than victimized. They chat on their cell phones or with buddies, read books, do their makeup, etc, while they wait for customers. And then they haggle.

The coffeeshops are also exactly as you expect them to be. Dark, smoky, full of guys who look like they've been sitting in the same chair all week.

They also have amazing munchy food there. Noodle bars rock, we need some in Canada. You choose what type of noodles, what type of veg and they fry it all up for you with a sauce that you also get to choose. There are tons of people just strolling down the street eating noodles with chopsticks. I don't blame them. They also had amazingly cheap ice cream. I went back to the same stand for pink bubblegum flavoured stuff 3 times in one day.

From Amsterdam it's a 19 hour train ride to Stockholm.