Doing the Touirst Thing

So today was the Terry Fox run in Canada and Europe also had a run of its own - not for Terry Fox but for something else. I asked people what the run was for, and they were just like "it's a marathon." So I'll have to check up on what it was really for haha. Apparently it is one of the biggest runs in Europe - the 10 mile marathon from Dam to Damloop. There were bands playing, music blasting, balloons everywhere... it was quite the event.

The start...

And they're off!!!!

Then I read up some touristy magazine at lunch and thought I should go on a bus tour and see Amsterdam!!!

So bus tour it was!!! I learned that although many people think that marijuana is legal in Amsterdam, it's not - rather it is tolerated. However there is not much of a difference. In fact there is no difference. You can buy weed at coffeeshops everywhere, you can smoke it in coffeeshops, smoke it on the streets... it's as legal as you can get. Below is a picture from my first hostel... only "during breakfast"

This is the bike "parking lot" behind Centraal Station - there are approximately 1 million people in Amsterdam and there are over 3 million bikes. The bus driver said he recommended, instead of buying a bike, steal one. People here call it "recycling."

Amsterdam is known for their windmill towers. Though there aren't nearly as many as there used to be, there are hundreds in the city still. Many have restaurants on the ground level.

We visited and got a half hour tour at Gassan Diamonds - where they cut and shape diamonds, then set them in pretty rings and sell them for massive amounts of money. I tried on a ring that cost over 20,000 euro!

Here's someone shaping the diamonds....

THE diamond rings =)

I also went to church today - in Spanish. It's actually really hard to find churches here that hold Mass in English. Spanish and Dutch are popular though! And no luck on the apartment search. In fact, I came so extremely close to getting one. It was right there - but it fell through. It's very discouraging. But it obviously wasn't meant to be. So... I'm still looking. Haha, on the bright side, the staff at the hostel are getting to know me very well, and they have given me free internet a couple times!