AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (1984)

As the night progressed I got to see how drunk Europeans could get. Very drunk, it turned out.

I had just graduated from college and my plan was to go to Europe and write a novel.  I looked through my parent’s National Geographic magazines to decide which city to go to.  Amsterdam seemed the most beautiful with its canals, pretty streets and bicycles. So that’s where I’d go.

I might travel a little, on weekends, but mostly I would be living in Ams…