Amsterdam, was stuck in my head

Well, I've already posted here about Amsterdam, way, way back at the beginning of the blog, even before I got to Israel, but I'll have a few brief words about the end of my European adventure, with Tom and Dana, in Belgium and Amsterdam.

We woke very early Wednesday morning (maybe because it's so north, but Paris was incredibly dark until about 7:30ish; it was very disorienting) and trained it up from Paris to Amsterdam. The train ride took about 4 hours, and brought us through Belgium and southern Holland. The French, Flemish, and Dutch countrysides were beautiful. I decided that if Israel is California, Western Europe is the Northeast of America - same deciduous trees, brick buildings, smoke stacks, cloud patterns. And it was so relaxing and smooth.

We arrived in Amsterdam and made our way to Tom's uncle Bruce's apartment, which is kind of like the Burrow redux: urban and in a cool old Dutch building on the side of a canal. My remaining 40 hours in Holland was spent dodging the freezing rain and bitter wind, enjoying a great exhibit at the Rijksmuseum, wandering around the streets and canals, and getting overfed by Bruce's luxurious cooking. It was a great way to end the trip.

Now I'm back, doing laundry and seeing (new) old friends. I really missed this place while traveling (I also missed California, but that's a whole different story) and was surprised by how much my life in Jerusalem stayed at the forefront of my mind. I'm really excited now to start my new semester and do many things I didn't get to do in the Fall. I've got a whole 4 months ahead (that's either a very short amount of time or a very long amount of time) to make the most of.

And, I've also got a whole season of LOST to keep me busy. I can hardly wait.