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Hello everyone!
I left Amsterdam early this morning and am now in Florence. Since I didn't have an Amsterdam/Holland post, I'll give you a few of the highlights:
1. love how everyone rides bikes
2. hate how everyone rides bikes because it is nearly impossible to cross the street with both bike traffic AND vehicle traffic
3. everyone is tall
4. I still love Amsterdam. Even though it's touristy and known for sex and drugs, it is such a unique city with so much history and more to offer than just the Red Light District and coffee shops. The canals, narrow streets, and house boats make me love the city so much for its distinct beauty.
5. I stayed outside of Amsterdam in an adorable town called Lieden. Between going back and forth between Lieden, Amsterdam, the Hague and the tulip gardens, I got to see a lot of the Dutch countryside.
6. Even though we went to the tulip gardens, few tulips were out. But the ones that were out were absolutely beautiful and the enormous garden was still magical.
7. Dutch cheese is delicious. Though we didn't buy any we got ample opportunities to try many different kinds in the multitude of cheese shops around Amsterdam.

this morning we had a bumpy transition between Amsterdam and Florence involving sprinting to the absolute end of Amsterdam airport and barely making our flight, getting diverted from Pisa to Bologna back to Pisa, and trekking through the narrow Florence streets with enormous suitcases.

Currently: in Florence. In love. Such a beautiful city I cannot wait to explore it more tomorrow! I have already eaten gelato and can't wait to sink my teeth into some spaghetti!

nom nom nom