we got in to amsterdam about 1pm local time and went back to anita's house (maria's mom) to take a nap and recharge. parker and i slept like logs for about three hours before getting up and going to a nearby park. the park anita took us to has these cool "stork towers" specially designed to attract storks to nest. apparently these birds have gone nearly extinct and the dutch are helping to restore their population.
after strolling in anita's neighborhood, we walked around the red light district (which is everything you've heard it is and more) and went to a nice little indo restaurant on the dam square. considering we'd all gotten about 5 hours sleep total in the past 36 hours we were in good moods and enjoyed the sights immensly. our plane left for rome earlyish the next morning.
no explanation necessary
