Day 3

Ryaneken, originally uploaded by Ryan Runs Europe.

Heineken Brewery. I slept late and went for a half hour run around Amsterdam to see what I could see. I got my typical lunch at the Albert Heijn grocery store--a single serving bowl of microwaveable pasta that I eat cold (less than 3 euros for a decent meal).
I went to the Heineken Brewery...which was awesome. I had some half-brewed Heineken and raw barley and hops...two of the only four ingredients in Heineken. I had a glass on the tour, and my ticket came with two little pieces of plastic that you could exchange for drinks at the bar at the end of the tour. Well, when I got there feeling a bit awkward to be drinking alone, I introduce myself to a group of girls travelling from Michigan, who eventually left, and left me with each of their second pieces of plastic. I then introduced myself to another good group of students who were just finishing a program in Spain. We were all very impressed by the digital countertops in the bar, which fins where there are glasses and makes an image of a coaster underneath no matter how you move it (processing maybe?).
5 heinekens later I decide that I need to run back and grab my stuff (having been in the Brewery for almost 4 hours). Was a bit of a funny, not incredibly sober run, where at some point I stopped in one of the amazing Amsterdam urinals, which are just a spiral of sheet metal that you walk into in the middle of the street.
I decided that I would try to get a little bit closer to Leiden, so I ran 5 miles or so (past the 1928 Olympic Stadium) to the outskirts of Amsterdam to stay with Jelcke and Marjon, some friends of Ernst. Overall an amazing first city.