Amsterdam Weekend

Many of the people I live with have been traveling like mad.  I don't know how they do it, but they manage to travel almost every weekend.  Perhaps they never go to class, perhaps mom and dad are paying for their travels, perhaps they are speedy students and get their work done incredibly fast.  Regardless, I'm totally jealous. 

While heading to Amsterdam for the weekend isn't that exotic (what a brat I am for saying that, hahaha), it was still a much needed escape from Groningen!  A great friend from college, Jen Weber, was in town to run the Amsterdam Marathon and staying with another friend, Paul, who was also running the marathon.  I hadn't seen Paul since my trip to Argentina, so it was wonderful to get to see both Paul and Jen in the same weekend.  I arrived Friday and Paul gave Jen and me a biking tour of the city.  The weather was fantastic, and I couldn't be happier with the sun and good company.  We went out for dinner and grabbed some drinks, but alas, the marathon runners needed some rest so we didn't stay out too late.  Saturday, Jen and I went to The Hague (Den Haag) to do some site seeing, museum perusing, and a little shopping.  We met really nice Dutch people on the train (we traveled using their train discounts - woot!) and had a really relaxing time.  We returned home for a pasta feast to fuel the runners for the marathon the following day.

Sunday was the big day!  Paul, running his first marathon, spent months training with a goal of finishing in 3 hours.  I went with a group of his friends to cheer him on at the finish line, and we were so happy when he finished in under 3 hours!  I really couldn't believe how well he did, he set a tough time for himself and beat it.  I wish I had the mind-over-body mentality that Paul has.  Jen suffered a hip injury and knew she wouldn't get her best time, but she still ran a good race.  After the race, we enjoyed some well earned beers and relaxed with a delicious home made lasagna, courtesy of Paul's roommate.

I was very thankful to have time with Jen and Paul, and happy to escape for a weekend.  I did not get to see very much of the city, so I will definitely be going back!