This morning, I woke up at 6AM and immediately started walking toward the train station in Brugge.  I took a train to Ghent, where I planned to spend the afternoon before continuing along to Amsterdam.  Brugge was a nice tourist town, but nowhere near as unique and charming and Brugge.

Following the Irish traveler’s advice (at the hostel in Brussels), I rented a kayak at Uppelink Hostel and went on a 2 hour kayaking trip through the canals in Brugge.  The water in the canals was a bit dirty and had some trash in it, but the view from the kayak was beautiful and it was a great workout.

After kayaking, I walked the Main Street of the town, visiting a few cathedrals and the Belfort Tower.  At the suggestion of the employee at the Uppelink Hostel, I had a meatball at Balls & Glory, a unique restaurant in Ghent.  There are large, Gondi-like balls that are filled with toppings such as mushrooms, eggplant, and more.  The meatballs are served with mashed potatoes and gravy, which was also delicious.

After lunch, I walked back to the Ghent train station and traveled to Brussels.  From Brussels, I took a +- 3 hour train to Amsterdam.  The hostel I’m staying at “Heart of Amsterdam” is located in the heart in the red light district, just a short walk away from the train station and everything else in City Center.  I walked in and shortly after met Shayan, an Iranian traveler from San Diego.  Shayan nonchalantly mentioned that he wanted to find a girl in the red light district to do things with.  About an hour later, Shayan was back in the hostel, and we planned on going to a coffee shop to smoke a little bit.  We ended up going to “Green Place” where I bought a pre-rolled joint for 7 Euros.  Shayan and I smoked inside Green Place and were pretty high after that first joint.  We then made our way to another cafe, where we each bought a gram of weed and smoked a little bit out of a bong.

We then went to a pizza shop, where I ordered a veggie pizza with extra mozzarella cheese, and a hot chocolate.  I was originally planning on ordering a four-cheese veggie pizza, but didn’t want to pay the 13.5 euros.  Next, Shayan and I were walking and we ran into Lexi and Luis walking around the streets of Amsterdam.  We went to a bar together, where we smoked and talked a little bit.  I ordered a Fruit Smoothie with ice cream.

Later that night, we all walked through the red light district for another hour.  I’m not a fan of the red light district, and I feel like 2 nights would have been more than enough time to spend in Amsterdam.  I’m hoping the cycling and sightseeing activities will be able to fill up my time, because the red light district is already getting a bit old.  Prostitution and smoking weed are not things I admire on any level, especially with my addiction self-awareness and where I am in that area.

Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to renting a bike and cycling to nearby cities in Amsterdam including Volendam as well as a few other cities within 50 km.  Additionally, some attractions I want to see inside the City are Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, VondelPark, The Jordaan and Centraal Station.