Hello everybody! Well, after a year of planning i finally have made it to my european adventure! I'm currently staying with one of best buddies Ian and lives right outside of london and we are having a great time here! The trip started a little rocky as i wasn't exactly prepared to leave as i stuffed everything into my bags and prayed that i had everything that i needed. Even if i didn't i figured i could buy the rest over here. The plane flight was tough. I didn't sleep at all and there was a guy right ahead of me who got sick and it smelled terrible. So it was off to a bad start. When i landed, all strung out from the flight, they gave me a terrible time at immigration because i didn't know the address where i was staying and i had an open ended ticket. I tried to explain to them that all i really wanted to do was travel! But they weren't very cool about it. They asked me a hundred questions, i don't even think some of them even applied to traveling (Ex: What type of beer do you drink? What's your cats name?) After i finally got through that and got my luggage, it had been 2 hours since i landed. My taxi driver wasn't happy because he had to wait and he was charging Ian more, which made Ian really happy. When i got out of the airport it was really really hot..about 32 degree C. So i guess you can do the math on that one. The Taxi dropped me off at Ian apartment and i made my way into central london to meet Ian. Ian used to be a DJ but now he works a "proper" job in a huge building on liverpool street. We hung out for a while then went back to his apartment, but it was awesome to see Ian in person again. It had been about a year and it was also a thrill to be in central london again after two years. So many memories came back, both with laughter and tears of joys. There is no place in the world, excpet maybe New York, that has the feeling of coming into central london. Its the people, the businesses, the landmarks and adrenaline that get to me. Ian and i had a great night filled with beer, stories, and laughing. Too much fun. The next morning we got up to make our way to Amsterdam. This time we would be traveling to Gatwich airport. When we landed the weather was the same..hot. We found the famous Flying Pig hostel and of course there was no air conditioning so sleeping was going to be tough. I knew my way around Amsterdam from last time but i enjoyed the weather much more in the summer here than in the winter. We walked around the coffeeshops, catching a beer or a little dutch food when we could. Ian loves sayind sunny dutch saying such as "Itzzss his fazzer (father)" He works for a dutch company so he is constant contact. That night the city was alive, so Ian took a qucik advantage of the liberal sexuality of Amsterdam but i don't feel like giving too many details of what this entailed. We were out to 2am just soaking in the beautiful canals (better than the canals in Venice) and the atmosphere and dutch beer. The next day saw Ian and i rent bikes to ride across the city and into a local park called Vondel park. It is huge and so beautiful. Tourists normally don't go to this park because it is way too far away to walk or go by the city trains. Ian and i bought 40 grams worth of mexican mushrooms (which are legal in amsterdam and weren't supposed to be powerful). We sat in the park with our beer and mushrooms. It was a perfect scene. I ate double the amount that Ian ate but we started to trip out at the same time. I think we laid in the same position for about 7 hours. Ian took the trip hard and got sick twice..he ate before probably not a good idea. My trip was without interruption and quite amazing as clouds made formations and i heard friendly sounds around. My thoughts were great and new ideas floated in and out of my head but it was intense and i really couldn't move my body much so laying there looking at people on bikes in the park was just perfect. After the trip was over we were both really tired mentally. So we just made our way back into the city and had a wonderful meal at a little dutch place. The rest of the evening was spent on a bike pub crawl just to relax. Amsterdam really isn't too great for clubing so we just went to bed early that night (1am). The next morning we returned the bikes and did some shopping. We made sure we didnt have any more illegal products on us and left for the airport. We both said good-bye to amsterdam for the final time with the tears in our eyes. The images of the culture, and the beautiful canals were running through our minds. It was an amazing place. The weekend in London was spent pretty quietly. I have been trying to get over jet lag and just trying not to spent too much money. On Saturday we went to a park where they were having an outside film festival. They showed Kill Bill 1 which was really cool and on Sunday i went to the london sports bar to watch Tiger win the british open...it was so emotional for him after his father died. I was going to try to make it to the tournament but it was expensive and i would of had to of made Ian drive me..and gas is three times as expensive for them here. So i will be leaving for Berlin on the 1st of August and traveling the mainland. I think it takes me a while to get the traveling bug because i know i will be over here for at least two more months but that seems unbelieveable to me right now. I have a phone number now but i'm not sure if it going to work. 00447960198340 or if you have a moblie +447960198340 I will give updates if my phone doesn't work. I hope all is well in the states! I miss you all!! Look for my blogs from me! Take care, Alex "the international legend"