Author's Note: This chapter was written by the funny and talented emerald-doll. In fact, she had the chapter completed weeks ago, but I was too slow finishing Abby, Kristy, and Shannon. Thanks for the patience and creative contribution, emerald-doll! You've done a fabulous job!

Dear Mom, Dad and Juhnine,

Hallo from Amsterdam! And dun't worry I did spill Hallo rite, just the Amsterdamian way! It's way warmer here than I thut it would bee. Our group is getting uhlong very well and having a nice time. I plan to go have some brownies today, they are famous for them hure.

Dag! (dun't worry that mens goodbye!)

Love,

Claudia

Oh my Lord. I just adore Amsterdam. The Dutch are super friendly people who always smile and even laugh with happiness (and probably envy) at my outfits. The weather is not at all what I expected. The Celsius temperatures are quite confusing. I had to take my down ski jacket and unstuff it so I didn't suffocate when we went shopping yesterday.

But that's cool. I plan to make either a sculpture of a life sized sheep or use it to accessorize my Birkenstock sandals.

I had big plans while in Amsterdam. There were museums that I couldn't wait to see. Mary Anne had informed me that there was a Vincent Van Gogh museum that houses over 200 paintings and 500 drawings are on permanent exhibition. Someday, I hope to have my work shown in an actual museum like that, but for now my parents garage in Stoneybrook would have to do. It was harder than I thought to find someone who wanted to go with me. Anna had finally agreed to come with me after I told her about my other great find.

Abraxas was a coffeeshop that features not only music (which Anna enjoys) but also decorative mosaic artwork. Finally, I had knowledge of something that Mary Anne didn't. They were very well known for their brownies and other dessert items. I couldn't wait! They had some sort of special ingredient. I wonder what it was! Ooh, I hoped it sparkled. I had the perfect outfit planned to coordinate with sparkling brownies.

Suddenly, I got worried. What if the magic ingredient was german chocolate? I had a terrible experience with it in the airport. After buying a two-pound bar that cost me a whole days worth of baby-sitting wages, I realized there was chocolate out there that I didn't like. It was heartbreaking. Far worse than being sent back to seventh grade. At least we had normal Mars bars in the vending machines there.

Anyway, I had excitedly told the girls about the coffeeshop and was pleased to see that Anna was excited about our planned trip.

Mary Anne's eyes widened and she gasped, "Claudia you cannot go there. Are you aware about it at all? It consists of two historic buildings and it has a juice bar, but you can not eat - "

I bristled and cut her off. "Why not Mary Anne? Just because I knew something about the city that you didn't? Sorry little Miss Tour Guide, but I am not a dummy. I am capable of reading guard books, too. You cannot tell me what to eat either. You are not my mother".

Greer gave me a funny look and said, "I think you mean guide books."

Dawn glared across the table at her. "Excuse me Claudia can express herself vocally however she chooses. If she wants to sound completely ignorant that is her right. And, no leather wearing, cow carcass eating murderer can tell her what to do. That job is reserved for members of the BSC,"

"Thanks Dawn. Now if you will excuse me, I must get ready for my day," I stood and motioned for Anna to follow me back to our rooms.

"Gosh, everyone seems to be a little on edge with each other," Anna said, nervously.

"Don't worry about it. When you have been on as many trips as we have together, you learn that it will all work out in the end," I tried my best to reassure Anna. Although right now I was so mad at Miss Know-It-All Spier that I didn't care if we ever made up.

Twenty minutes later, we were ready to go and stood outside waiting for the cab to arrive. I convinced Anna that we should take a cab, despite the expense. I didn't tell her the real reason I was avoiding the tram. Yesterday, after leaving Stacey, I got lost on the tram for three hours. At one point, I circled a four-block radius for forty-five minutes before noticing we were sailing right passed Verbruggenhuis.

The driver pulled up and we hopped in. "

Hallo. Where to ladies?" he asked and turned around to smile at us. He did a small double take at my outfit (it was very lovely) and then added, "Abraxas?"

"Oh my Lord, yes! How did you know?" I was mystified. Anna and I exchanged surprised glances.

Wild guess, ma'am," he said and shifted the car into gear.

We had decided to go to the coffeeshop before the museum, so we could have some delicious treats to snack on while looking at the art. The Kilbourne household was severely lacking in treats and candy. Last night, I had to mix butter with brown sugar just to come up with a suitable after-dessert snack.

The people of Abraxas were obviously impressed by my outfit. A man with dreadlocks and rampant body odor gasped and squealed when I walked in the door.

"Zij kijkt alsof Wense Wonka!" he cried.

I have no idea what he said, but I heard "Wonka". He recognized the inspiration for my outfit. Yes, I was Willy Wonka. Well, if Willy Wonka were a thirteen year old Asian girl with flawless skin and a fantastic sense of style.

I started with a purple jacket (with the fleece lining removed) and under it was a ruffled white blouse. My pants were red corduroy and I had glued candy bar wrappers onto my Doc Marten boots. My hair hung in two long braids, which I tied off with plastic bread bags with the Wonderbread logo on them. Atop my head was a top hat, but instead of boring black, like everyone wore, I had covered mine in lime green felt with real gummy bears attached.

Anna led the way to the counter and I flashed a smile at the cute guys lounging on a couch near the back. This place was fantastic! Who needed Mary Anne and her guidebook knowledge? I'd discovered the real Amsterdam!