Amsterdam

So I'll need to figure out how to post pictures from internet cafes (the last few have upload limits). But getting here was pretty fun and Europe thus far has been cool.
our plane got delayed by the like 6 inches of snow falling on Chicago on December 12 so it took us a few hours to get to the airport. However, it took the planes about 3 extra hours to take off from the airport, so we got the full effect of waiting at the airport for the full 3-4 hours that is expected for international flight.
Although the KLM flight was just as cramped as Northwest, the free booze and far superior inflight snacks (cous cous with a vinegarette and a whole wheat roll and chive spread ayone?) made the fight pretty doable.
So Miriam and I landed in Amsterdam and went over to the train station to grab out tickets to Amsterdam Central Station. I got my Eurorail pass stamped and after hopping the th comfortable and on-time train, we took a tram to the Ann Frank House.
At this point it is worth discussing the differences in our travel styles. Miriam prefers to know where she is going and likes to ask people who are actually there to help you, buy maps, look things up ahead of time, etc. I am a bigger fan of wandering around and finding busses attempting to ask them how to get where I am trying to get, and not spending money on maps. I think a prudent approach would veer more in her direction,. but I like the stories that come from my method :) In this case it was a combination of asking at a tourist desk (who gave us the wrong tram anyway) and then finding a helpful driver who steered us in the correct direction.
After hopping off the tram, we stopped at a guy selling herring. are available for like 1.50 euro and are quite good (another good recommendation from Papa Robinovitz).
The Anne Frank House was quite a moving experience, as you can imagine. There was a quote on the wall of the house to the effect of that any event of genocide or ethnic cleansing is horrible and can often cause a visceral reaction to us, Ann Frank in this case put a face and a name on this one and makes it more personable and relatable. Needless to say, after stepping out of that place, I was in need of a beer.
There was a friendly rugby pub happy to ablige this so we sat down, had a pint, and made our way back to the train station, to the airport, and then off to Rome.