Amsterdam: the 6th food group

Agh! What a day it was. We headed out of ghent plenty early, planning to catch the 11:18 direct bus from Brussels to Amsterdam. With our early arrival we walked around, and got some lunch for on the train. However when we headed up to the platform we noticed it said you needed a reservation. As it turns out our train book (which said we didn't need one) was out of date, as was the information Daryn had looked up online only a few days before our trip.

We asked at an information desk and they informed us we should go to Antwerp, then to Rotterdam, and them to Amsterdam. We would arrive only an hour later than originally planned. However, when we got to Antwerp they told us the trains to Rotterdam were cancelled forever. We discovered we could go to Roosdale and then to Rotterdam and then to Amsterdam. The train system was exhausting. It was really a crappy way for us to begin our train portion of the trip. Lucky for us on the train to Roosdale we met a nice couple also going to Amsterdam. We ended up following them directly on a train to Amsterdam. We had learned out lesson. Once arriving at the train station we went immediately to the information desk to check the information for our next train trip. As it turned out this time the information in the book was almost exactly correct, only off by about 4 minutes. I loved the train station in Amsterdam the last time I had seen it and it was cool to get inside for a bit.

I took charge of our directions in Amsterdam, for many reasons. We stopped at a coffeeshop quickly and then headed to wander around and look at the dam system/find the Brady bar, which had been suggested by someone on couchsurfing. However when we got there we discovered it wasn't open and that you had to be 23 to get in. Therefore I wouldn't be allowed to go, so we found a different bar nearby and enjoyed 2 beers each, which was just what we needed after our stressful journey. From here we headed to find the apartment of our couchsurfing host. We found it with little trouble but had to pee pretty bad when we were almost there, so we stopped and found a nice corner to use.

Eventually we made it to our host's apartment, and he was able to point us in the direction of some delicious indian food for dinner. It was just what I wanted! We headed back and Daryn and our host headed out for a few beers. I was pretty exhausted, so I just hung on the couch, did a bit of reading, and fell asleep. I was awaken a few hours later by their return. After 30 minutes of being home it was clear me and Daryn needed to add a 6th food group to our list. We had forgotten to drink water. Daryn got extremely hot and dizzy and upon trying to drink water he lost control and broke a glass. I asked our host for a broom, but as it turned out he didn't have one. So, I cleaned up the water and glass carefully using paper towels. After Daryn had a few sips of water he was ready to help us clean up and we finished with ease. Back to bed to prepare for our time in Germany.