Cuts Like a Knife

I made it back from Amsterdam after a VERY long day, well, two days.

I left for Utrecht on friday, my train ticket is from Nijmegen Heyendaal (right across from my place), transfer in Nijmegen Centraal, then on to Utrecht. But, for some reason the train I was supposed to take to Utrecht was blocked off, luckily I found someone to explain in english what was going on, and it turns out I had to detour to Den Bosch (s'-hertogenbosch)....Well, after I got settled on that train, an announcer came on said something in dutch and everyone started leaving the train. I found out it was just because the train behind was going to the same destination but leaving earlier.

So...I made it to Utrecht just to have it drizzle all day. I got a locker for my bag at the train station, but had left my umbrella in it, so had to deal with the rain all day. I decided since it was rainy and foggy, it would be a waste to climb up the Dom Kerk Tower, and go to the Kasteel del Haar, the oldest castle in the Netherlands, since it's a 15 min. walk from the bus stop to get there. I'll have to save those for another day. I did manage to do a tour of the water tower museum in Utrecht, with a personal guide since I was the only one in the 'museum' (actually a working water tower) at the time. Was a very cool museum, I found out about the evolution of how the dutch have gotten and used their abundance of water...or, i guess added to since just being here I've learned so much.
I checked into a hostel not far from the red light district in Amsterdam friday night. A Christian hostel that had bibles and educational computer programs and prayer groups. My bunkbed was right next to the window facing outside where there was an outside deck and cafe and people partying all night. The girl on the bunk below me kept coming in and out of the room slamming her luggage and arranging her things at 2 am. In a room with 12 bunk beds at 2 am, you would think a person just might take into consideration all the people sleeping, but apparently not this girl. The one good thing about the hostel was the breakfast. They offered a hot meal (which i haven't gotten anywhere else). I woke up early and went around sight seeing. It was amazing to me how there was no one on the streets of Amsterdam on a Saturday until around 11:30am.
Actually that's one thing I love about the Netherlands, parades don't start until 1 pm, shops don't open until later in the day, no need to get up before 9 am!
So, I then had an appointment to get a tattoo at 2pm. I got there and my artist was running late and told me to come back in an hour and a half. An hour after that I gave him my design and he had to flip it, make it perfectly symetrical, draw it up, and set up the machines. Around 7pm is when we actually started tattooing, it lasted a little over an hour. Yes, it hurt. The top and the arms hurt the most. He tattooed the outline, then the lettering and bottom, then went over the outline with thicker lines, and then did the shadowing. The hardest parts for me to take is when he stayed in one place for a few seconds, I think thats the middle section, the three lines. Anyway, I'll post a picture below so you can see. This is right after, the next day I was very very sore, slowly it's feeling better. I'm just applying some ointment and waiting for it to be healed. Right now it's still raised and hurts when i put on a jacket.
So, I should explain the meaning a little so you all know. The basic design I wanted was an ankh, the egyptian sign for life. I looked at a lot of designs and found one from the 18th century in lapis lazuli they found that had the extended arms that my tattoo has that I really like the modern, sharp look. I added the anchor part, because I really like the (christian) idea of being anchored in your beliefs and/or faith when the time comes. The f-holes are of course from the violin, where the sound comes out. The three lines, are because most things in life seem to come in threes, and it looks cool. The serendip is a bit longer story. So, sarandib or serendip is arabic, and used to be the name for Sri Lanka. There is a persian fable called 'the three princes of serendip' that's about a King who kicked his three sons out on a quest of wisdom in the hopes that one day one would be ready to become King. Along the way they came across/stumbled upon forunate acidents and lucky discoveries. Leading to an englishman not too long ago coining the word 'serendipity' based on this fable. I believe that there are some things meant to be, many things in life that are just supposed to happen. I also really like the idea of a quest for wisdom as a goal in life.
Anyway, here's the picture, I've also put up my pictures from Utrecht and Amsterdam, of what I saw on my website.

Doei!

p.s. title song by Bryan Adams