Hobbits in the Red Light District - Innocence Lost

One would think that a true Dutch Football Fan would want to watch the game with a bunch of other Dutch Fans, not a bunch of orange clad tourists who think they’re at the hub of it all and don’t really know what they’re cheering for. So that’s why I think the guy who called Maggie and I Hobbits while sipping on a glass of merlot wasn’t really a great representation of the Holland Faithful. But I digress, because that was one cool Soccer game!

It was extremely fun heading to a pub to watch the game. A lot of energy in the streets, orange streamers everywhere; it’s like a when a professional sports team wins a championship and the town celebrates, only cooler, because EVERYONE cares so much.

So now they’re in the final, and we will probably not be here because we’ll be racing…wa wa waaa. Either way, hopefully they can pull off another one, because I think everyone will be a lot happier in this city if they do.

After the game, we decided to walk around and somehow we found ourselves in the Red Light District! (It was completely by coincidence and not planned at all.) As one of the sprinters at the track told us, “whether you agree with it or not, you have to go check it out.” She was completely right. The bottom picture is of us there, and if you look closely, you can see how uncomfortable we all are. And as Elizabeth said as we were walking out, “My innocence is gone.”

Let’s Go!
*One last side note...that PIZZA DOGG looks awesome...while there’s no skyline in Amsterdam, I think I found my savior...

Us after the game...

It's a PIZZA DOGG

Red Lights make us nervous...

Skyline Time

You get yourself some hot dogs. You warm yourself up some chili. Find yourself some buns. Cut up a little onion. Grate a lot of Cheese. You put those things together, you got yourself a meal.

And I’m not talking any meal, I’m talking the best meal you could ever think of. I’m talking Skyline Chili and their cheese coneys. I love Skyline. It is probably my favorite food of all time. If you’ve read my previous entry about nicknames, REEESE’S is a little more acceptable of a nickname than CHILI DAWWGGGGG! But boy do I love ‘em.

Thankfully, I am in a town where chili is plentiful. Sadly, I am an idiot and have yet to have been to the most famous chili place in DC: Ben’s Chili Bowl. I have been to Hard Times Chili out in Clarendon, Va, but I need to make my way to Ben’s. The thing that I worry about, is that nothing can really live up to Skyline for me.

Skyline is a Boylan family delicacy, I remember young trips to Cincinnati to visit my Uncle Mike or Aunt Barb and the massive amounts of skyline we would consume. Even my cousin Connor, who doesn’t eat meat, found something on the menu when he would get the vegetarian chili on noodles.

One summer, my brother and I spent five days at my Uncle’s house. He gave us a lunch allowance for the week. Every day we went to Skyline. Every day we ordered the same thing: 4 Cheese coneys, onions, no mustard and a Dr. Pepper. Well, except for the last day, we ordered 5 dogs. Mmmmmm. Five days = 42 Cheese Coneys and 10 Dr. Peppers.

My love of Skyline has in no way dwindled. A birthday present of cans of skyline let me know that one friend was a legit one, and I have been reaping the benefits since. Sadly, I am down to my last can, and I am hoping to celebrate a good race by popping it open to enjoy a few chili dogs next week.

That’s right, even with all of this eating of chili dogs, I have been doing some running. Adding on the miles will make this road mile out in California interesting, but I am pumped for a chance to race after all of the slower (yet incredibly harder) base training I have been doing.

I’m heading out this Friday and then racing early Sunday morning. The field will most likely be pretty good, and I’ll just try to put forth a much better showing than my 5th Avenue performance. Wish me luck, because right now I am less of a professional runner than my brother, who made $300 at his marathon last weekend where he ran 2:28 (impressive indeed).