Quick list of the past couple of days

- Bruges was great. I climbed 366 steps to get to the top of its Bell Tower, took a look around of the panoramic view of the town, took a few pictures and climbed back down stairs. I can't believe I paid 5 euros to do that. Next time, I'm going to ask them to pay me money to walk up there and smell the way I smelled at the end of the day!

- OK, I won't be eating mussels for a while. In the two days I was in Belgium, I think I ate my weight in mussels, and it was worth it, but it will be a while before I eat more again. And anyway, after eating mussels in Belgium, I don't think it will be even worth it to eat them anywhere else.

- Between Dutch and French, the latter sounds so much better, and it helps when I understand so much more French than Dutch. I did learn how to say "Do you speak English?" in Dutch though, but I haven't used it yet, because it's much easier to ask people that in English. Hey, Dutch speaking people understand more English than the French, and they're less snooty about it. I don't know, maybe they're people of less pride. Whatever works for me :)

- Speaking of which, I have to apologize to the Dutch people, because I do have to say: the Dutch language is not pretty... no, no, Dutch is an ugly language! Ich bleech fluech... Sounds just as bad as German, but I can actually tell the difference. For example, that made up sentence would be: "fliech bliech icht" in German. I kid, I kid!

- I made myself go to the Ann Frank museum, because "everyone who goes to Amsterdam, must go there." I couldn't make myself go in. I'm sorry, but I don't care much for that story. There are a lot of sad stories like that, and I can't favor one over the others. I know this will be a controversial statement, but I think kids who actually died from being executed by the Nazis are more worthy of my sympathy. After all, she died from an illness. I also have problems with all the Holocaust stories being about Jewish people. I have no problems with Jewish people, but there are many other millions and millions of people who being executed and they weren't Jewish, I'm sure their stories were just as sad, but who wants to hear about little Christian kids who were killed by the Nazis? That doesn't sell! Yes, it doesn't sell, as evidenced by the fact that the Ann Frank museum is the only one that won't accept my museum pass. Screw that!
I warn you before you make any statements where I come from, and remember how many Arabic children die or have died by Israeli bullets. Oh wait, you may not know, because the media doesn't shove it down your throat.

- By the way, I'm watching some TV in my hotel room in Amsterdam, and there are a ton of shows and ads in English, and they don't bleep the N-word. Holy crap! My jaw nearly dropped the first time I heard that.

- It is so nice to hear church bells everywhere. I miss that. I'm not religious, but church bells in the US don't chime as much anymore. So unfortunate and sad. Apparently they offend some people from other religions. So basically, if their religion houses don't have bells to chime, no one else's can. Boooo!

- One of the guide books was very right: "sometimes looking at some guys may be considered flirting. This is especially true with Mediterranean men." Boy is that true! It is especially true with the short, ugly, hairy ones!

- Some cab driver asked me where I was from and when I told him "Chicago" he asked me what it was like living in the danger capital of the world. Not in those exact words, but he basically asked me how I have survived this long without being shot. I tried to convince him that not all Chicago is dangerous and that maybe he shouldn't form an opinion until he had a chance to visit. He didn't seem very convinced, but maybe Chicago is very dangerous, like where I live, I can be attacked by a bunch of yuppies and the most dangerous tool they know how to use: tweezers!

Enough of blogging. I'm on vacation damn it!