Yesterday was a long day and a fun one!  We started in Amsterdam and took the train to Brussels.  At the end we took a late train to Paris arriving around 11pm.  We’ll be here for the next three nights and today is the last day of competition!

Alex and I started the morning touring the Cantillon Brewery with George and Mike as well as Jane the reporter from the UK.  Their beers are quite different and some very sour which Alex and I both enjoyed.

Speaking of alcohol, in my previous post, I meant to say the first time Alex had been buzzed WITH HIS DAD.

In keeping with our theme of French Fries, Beer and Chocolate, we headed to Brugge and the french fry museum for a thorough history of the potato and Frites!  Tasty fries custom made at the end!  Followed that with a visit to the Chocolate Story and learned more and saw some great demonstrations!

Then a walking tour of Brugges which is a beautiful and very walkable city!

Then a train back to Brussels to meet up with the other teams, a quick dinner and head to Paris.

For those curious about the standings, Steve told us last night that there should be a winner announced for the first three days sometime today!

One of the challenges in Amsterdam was to go “shopping” in the red-light district. The task involved approaching three different ladies and comparing their prices for various “services”. Being female (and straight), this seemed like a rather fun task.

I passed by many of the scantily clad women in the window and finally decided to approach one. She opened the door and smiled. I asked if she spoke English and then how much it would cost for her to, um, spend some time with me. She then shut the glass door.

Maybe she really didn’t speak English, I thought, so I tried again behind door number 2, a cute blonde in a teddy-kind-of-thing. I asked the same questions and once again, the door was quickly shut when I asked about the price.

The third time this happened I figured maybe I was doing something wrong. Perhaps I didn’t know the proper etiquette for approaching a prostitute. Was I being rude to discuss money so quickly? Should I get to know her a bit first?

Puzzled, I decided to ask the man working at the sex show shop what I was doing wrong. He said it was fine to ask the price right away and that then there can be a bit of negotiation. I then explained I wasn’t get any prices at all. Then he realized the problem … the “ladies” generally won’t take female customers.

Kind of an ego blow when you find you can’t eve buy a “date”.

Sheri/l’etoile

Team Valley Girls has been so busy making hilarious and creative videos (in our unbiased opinion, of course), that we haven’t had time to blog but here we are again. 

Currently we are on a train from Amsterdam to Brussels studying our challenges for today which include something to do with  the world’s only French Fry Museum (Brugge) and a Contemporary Art Museum in Ghent (which Judie happens to be familiar with and has longed to return to, you should excuse the hanging preposition). 

To catch up, Cologne was a beautiful city with a huge, gorgeous Gothic cathedral as its centerpiece (we were never lost, we just looked up, saw the cathedral and got our bearings).  

Our first challenge was the Chocolate Museum where in a burst of creative energy – and the lack of an accommodating tourist participant – it hit us that Fran was actually a tourist so she she became our 3rd interviewee, in the guise of Imama from Iran.  Her performance was truly inspirational. The Envelope please.

Then it was Judie’s turn at the Museum of Fragrance where the challenge was to do a wrap-up in the style of an American perfume commercial.  Move over Kate Moss, the other Envelope please.

Everyone met at the train station early that evening and headed for our next surprise destination – Amsterdam.

Arriving in Amsterdam late that evening we had a chance to visit with our friend Dorit, (and miss yet another meal – we’ve existed on bread and cheese for the last week) wife of Derek, the actor who lived in Judie’s cabana for a year.  He is back to being a famous actor in Europe and in fact that night was appearing in an out-of-town play so we didn’t get to see him until the following day for lunch.  How much fun was it to sit in a restaurant with Derek and feel all eyes upon us?

In Amsterdam our challenges included a visit to the Bols Liqueur headquarters where we had a blast as we got blasted.  We tasted many, many liqueurs and made a Rap video. 

All in all the trip so far has been fantastic with lots of challenges that have been as interesting as they have been difficult. This trip is not for the unadventurous or timid.  Every day there are 10 or more challenges, some very far away and some quite complex.  Since having fun is our goal, we haven’t done as many challenges as most of the others, but have tried to make our videos as quirky and enjoyable as possible, but I guess the judges will be the judge of that.

And it’s been fun interacting with our teammates and readjusting our first impressions with reality.  This is a high-energy group, full of good humor and good sportsmanship (for the most part).  Group psychology is an interesting thing to observe.

We chose to head out of the city to see more of Holland. Here’s one example of a challenge that we really enjoyed. We really took our time and enjoyed the challenges, spending at least an hour at each one today.

Now we’re off to Brussels. I haven’t even looked at the challenges yet. There’ll be time on the train, I hope. Day 4 represents the start of a new contest, this time for a pair of US or Canada airline tickets. We’ll know the results of the first three days next week, after everyone gets their videos uploaded.
Kent and Linda

Stupor– the sleep deprivation, no food, sheer excitement variety has settled around us like a foggy Maine day. One might mistakenly think it was a stupor of another variety since we’ve descended upon Amsterdam with gusto– but suffice it to say, THOSE areas seemed cool on the train ride in, but once the Swizzle-ator found us two bikes, we never even ventured near. No folks, we’ve circumnavigated the city of Amsterdam at least twice today (albeit on different loops) and seen some ridiculously cool stuff. Oddly we’re home before midnight and nourished and even showered, just so we can communicate with you.

Sincerely,

The Swizzles