Gezellig

These days I am feeling quite gezellig in Amsterdam. Gezellig (pronounced hazella) means "cozy" in Dutch. It is a nice word that feels nice to say.

I have been keeping busy with visitors (such as Laura Gruberg), frisbee (Spongebabes Damsquare), pancakes, new friends, and exploration. Oh, and making/eating more toast than you could shake a stick at.

Speaking of toast, I have discovered a wonderful spreadable substance called Speculoos. Imagine a biscoff cookie (kind of cinnamon/gingery). Now imagine it liquified and smeared on everything in sight. Now you have speculoos.

On Wednesday I leave for Italy where I will stay for 6 days--3 in Genova, 3 in Venice. Sadly, it looks like a gondola tour is out of the question unless anyone would like to send me a check for 80 euros...But I have decided that I will stroll along the sidewalk beside the gondola-poling man and sing "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..." It's cheaper and more fun. Heck, I could eat spaghetti while I do it!

Also--I have learned why Dutch people feel so tall to me. It's because they are (according to my Dutch friend) the second tallest community of people on Earth, dwarfed only by the Masai tribe in Africa.