Upon returning to Amsterdam from Barcelona on Tuesday, April 14, Corey and I left Central Station to retrieve our bikes from the fence we locked them together to. As we approached the area, we noticed that the fence looked pretty bare, and joked that our bikes were gone. Nonsense, all of the people that parked by us must had just moved their bikes already, we thought. Once we came upon the area we had locked our bikes, we realizes that our bike, too, were suddenly invisible against the green fence that we had left them six days before. Then, I noticed a little red sign with Dutch writing, about ten feet ahead of us- I suddenly realized that maybe it was not okay to have parked our bikes there for such an extended amount of time. Fortunately, on the side of Central Station there is a place called “Mac Bike,” which is a bike rental service, different than the one that my program arranged for us, which was Orange Bike. Corey and I jogged over to Mac Bike and I asked the employee: “Is there some sort of bike towing service who would have taken our bikes, had we parked them in a ‘no-bike-zone’?” To my question, the Mac Bike employee responded with, what sounded like “Ah F*ck.” To this, I was surprised by his bluntness and we responded that “yes,” we knew we were “screwed.” The man laughed and said, “No, AFAC, is the corporation that tows bikes.” In fact, the Mac Bike employee was not cursing at the fact our bikes were gone, but all the long trying to tell us that there was a towing company, and its acronym is “AFAC.”
On Friday, April 17, with no class ahead of us for the day, Corey and I walked to Central Station, knowing we had quite a journey ahead of us: our program leader, Hannah, told us that the whole process would take approximately three hours…45 minutes to get there, and the rest of the time to obtain our bikes and ride them home. After six minutes on a train, a ten-minute bus ride, and about a five minute walk, Corey and I stumbled upon the AFAC sign and property. As we made our way to the front office, we noticed the thousands of bikes collected outside, all around the vicinity. The woman at the desk seemed nice enough when we entered, and within a minute we were explaining that sometime between the previous Wednesday and last Tuesday, our Orange Bikes had been towed from Central Station. To this, she nodded, but didn’t smile. She informed us that yes, she had had our Orange Bikes there for the past week, but the day before they were returned to the Orange Bike store right by where we live. After a delusional laughing fit, Corey and I retraced our steps back to the train station. Knowing that I have Dutch heritage and have been wanting to travel to the city of Hoorn to check out where the Van Horne’s came from back in the day, Corey suggested that we take a little trip out, since we were already out and planning to spend at least the next few hours dealing with our (lack of) bike situation.
Five minutes later and only twenty-three euro spent, Corey and I were on a train, an intended thirty -minute ride, to the great city of Hoorn. Today was the second day in a row that the Netherlands had a sunny day, and we stepped off the train to encounter a bright sky and a light breeze. It was perfect! We immediately started to walk around and explore this little town, with small cafes, little boutiques, cobble stone sidewalks, and horse-and-carriages all around. We found a nice little café called “De Tuynkamer.” After a delicious lunch, where our waiter was kind enough to give us a map of the city and suggest we walk down certain streets to come upon the coast, we left this little piece of heaven to explore a bit more. After some window-shopping, we came upon a beautiful coastal area, with tall houses and apartments on the edge of the water, places that we decided we would not at all mind living in! We sat down on these stairs right on the beach, threw in an earphone each, and enjoyed some tunes as we soaked up a little Hoorn sun. After a while of admiring the views, watching children play soccer and ride their little bikes nearby, and see dog owners playing catch with their pets in the water, we decided it was time to get back to reality. On our way back to the station, we stopped for some ice cream. After frustrating the lady a bit- I think, I decided on a scoop of Mocha, while Corey went with mint chip. While my flavor was delicious, Corey decided that his mint chocolate chip ice cream was “too minty,” and either purposefully or carelessly, when I turned around from withdrawing money from the ATM, his two scoops were laying on the pavement, and half of my Mocha was suddenly in his cone! I must admit, I did make the better flavor choice! Another forty minutes later, and we were back home in Amsterdam, where the air was still warm and the sun was about to set.
About three weeks prior, we had made plans to go to a concert in Rotterdam (about an hour by train from Amsterdam) on the evening of Saturday, April 18. Because neither Corey or I had been to Rotterdam before, we did not know if we would be able to fill up a whole day with activities there, so we decided to get up early and go to Delft (on the way to Rotterdam, about forty-five minutes away from Amsterdam) on the way to Rotterdam. By one’ o’clock in the afternoon, we were off of a train and leaving the Delft station, ready to explore a new city, for the second time in two days! Another sunny day in the Netherlands, Delft was full of street markets, beautiful canals- a bit smaller than those in Amsterdam, and small shops and restaurants lining the streets. We also stumbled upon a town square area, where there was a little festival-ish even going on with tents set up, and little play pins for children to play soccer in. After taking plenty of pictures throughout the streets, Town Square, and whole area, really, we decided it was time for a snack. After nit picking around at various cafes and restaurants, we found a delicious-sounding Mexican restaurant that unfortunately was not open for another three hours. Instead, we sat down outside in the town square at a café for a snack (to tide us over until the Mexican place opened!) and shared a strawberry crepe, which was good- but I cannot wait to be back in Paris for the real deal! After this, we continued to walk around until 4:30pm when we headed back to the Mexican restaurant and shared a fajita dish, which was amazing, as we had not had Mexican food in more than two months! After our meal, we headed back to the Delft station and were soon on our way to Rotterdam!
Not much more than fifteen minutes later, we were exiting another train station, this time at dusk in the city of Rotterdam. Not knowing at all what we were going to do until the concert, where it was, or where we were in relation to the city, we started walking a random direction. After about five minutes, we realized that all the people surrounding us were not white or as nice and proper looking as the two of us, and so we quickly retreated to the station, where we asked an information booth employee where a main town area was. As we were following his directions, we decided it would be fun to find a pub to watch the Chelsea versus (uhm, what was that team’s name?) soccer match. We stumbled upon an Irish Pub, found seats in an overcrowded tabled area, and watch Chelsea’s victory. After this, we found ourselves at another establishment in the main square area, and decided that it was necessary to find a hotel room for later that night, since we would, without a doubt, be up until at least four in the morning, and would rather die than take an hour train ride home at that time. After finding a hotel and freshened up we eventually made our way to the concert hall by metro. The performer was a DJ, ranked number two in the world: Armin Van Burren, and the show was amazing. We made some friends throughout the night, and we were quite sad when the DJ, Armin Van Burren, had completely his performance. Although, we captured some great moments on camera and we will never forget being five feet away from Armin himself, nor will we forget him looking directly at us, pointing our way, and throwing up a “T” in our honor (if you don’t get it, don’t worry about it).
I am so happy that I finally had the chance to travel a bit around the Netherlands, and especially visit the city of Hoorn. It was a beautiful city, one that I hope to return to another time (or two!) this semester, and I am jealous that the Van Horne ancestors had the privilege in living in such a quite, cute, and pretty town. Oh, and don’t worry, Corey and I eventually recovered our bikes from Orange Bike, with only a twenty euro charge!
As members of CIEE, our travels around the Netherlands will not stop here. This weekend, our program (CIEE) has arranged a weekend-long field trip to one of the Netherland Antilles islands: Schnoonighghgjk. I cannot wait to fill you in about this adventure coming up this weekend!
I miss you all, and love you all, more!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
SPRING BREAK IN BARCELONA
Although us Amsterdam study abroad students were not given a designated week-long Spring break during the semester, some friends and I were still able to take an extended vacation over Easter weekend: six days in one of the most beautiful and amazing cities I have seen thus far: Barcelona, Spain. This trip was one of the first ones I booked earlier this semester, because two of my friends would be celebrating their 21st birthdays that weekend. The two birthday kids, Darren and Kelly, were the first two of the four (others were Alex and myself) to book this trip. As soon as we found out that one of our classes that meets on Thursday was to be cancelled for that week (and none of us have class on Fridays), we immediately jumped on the idea to make plans and go to Barcelona on Wednesday night, April 8.
This was one of the best choices we’ve made, for it meant that we would be spending a full five days and six nights in this spectacular city. By the time April came, Corey and Andrew had booked their flights also, so on the 8th of April the six of us headed to Centraal Station, then to Schiphol Airport, and finally, to Barcelona. We arrived in Barcelona around 11:30 pm and by the time we made our way to the main drag, La Rambala, it was late. After checked into the hostel, Kabul, and dropped our bags off, we went out to explore a bit of the area. However, at an already late hour the only occupants on the street were the creepy street vendors trying to pawn off individual beer cans for one euro, so we decided to keep the exploring for the next day.
Thursday was the most ideal first day in any foreign city a group of young touristy adults could have asked for. The sun was shining and there was a warm breeze, and after a quick breakfast at the hostel the six of us made our way down La Rambala and to the boardwalk. We took many pictures of views and statues, and eventually made our way on to the beach. Regardless of the warmth of the water, we all scrambled to the edge of the water to stick our toes into our first taste of the Mediterranean. We then all continued along the beach, walking and enjoying the sun, until we decided it was time to settle into a beachfront restaurant for lunch. I am thankful for the fact that six of the most indecisive people in the world were put together, otherwise we would have picked the first place we saw instead of having the “uh, yeah this looks okay, oh look at this place…” conversations. Because of this, we kept walking a few restaurants down, and when we all glanced to the left we knew that we had found our spot: Beach-front-lounge-on-the-cushioned-bed-like-seating-area. This place was immediately dubbed “Heaven.” After spending a few hours in the blistering sun sipping refreshing refreshments and eating delicious chicken wraps, my chest and all of our noses were thoroughly burnt, so we decided to “make moves” and get on with our day. After realizing that I brought no warm weather clothes: shorts, dresses, bathing suits, nothing, I deemed it necessary to check out a few stores to try to find something decently priced and cute to wear out in the sunny days and warm nights. Because everyone but Corey was more prepared than I, we ventured to a mall shopping area, where he was able to pick up a few things that he needed and I was able to find two dresses that would hold me over for the next five days. After a successful shopping spree (which he was a surprisingly-good sport about), we eventually made our way back to the hostel. Because Alex, Darren, Kelly, and Andrew were no where to be found, Corey and I ventured off for dinner and found a nice pizza & pasta place toward the beach (a much longer walk then we initially intended, but vowed not to eat at the restaurants that advertised their menus on the outside walls with disgusting looking pictures).
Once we returned to the hostel and met back up with the rest of the group, we discovered something that would remain a beautiful, beautiful factor to our trip: the organized club adventures Kabul offered. There was a sign up sheet at the bar in the lobby, and in the late evening the list of people would be taken to one of the popular Barcelona clubs, free of entrance charge, for the night. Thursday night was at the venue, Catwalk, which we made our way to with a large group of hostel-stayers and had an amazing night out.
Friday morning was a bit more unsuccessful than the first morning. We decided to venture out to have breakfast on the town. A restaurant two doors down was recommended to us by the reception desk. Worst choice we’ve ever made: the breakfast was unappetizing and I disbelieved our luck, or lack there of. However, that did not stop us from having a magnificent day. We started walking and ended up at La Sagrada Familia, a massive, privately funded Roman Catholic Church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is expected to continue until at least 2026. This church is considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years (thanks Wikipedia!!!). This was a great structure to see, but unfortunately the line was too long, and the rain picked up as we were finishing up getting pictures. However, we did walk around it and it is truly a spectacular church. We found a restaurant to dine in for lunch nearby, and let the rain settle down as we enjoyed our meals and Fanta Orange drinks. After lunch, we continued walking and on the way back ran into Spain’s Arc de Triomf (Triumphal Arch), which was interesting because I have only seen the one in Paris. It was built for the 1888 Universal exhibition, as its main access gate by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas. The arch is located between Passeig de Lluís Companys and Passeig de Sant Joan, at the end of a wide promenade connecting with the Park of the Ciutadella. We then walked through this park, and eventually made it back to the hostel for naptime before it was time to get up and get ready for dinner and for the night. We celebrated Darren’s birthday over tonight’s dinner since tomorrow we all would not be together for dinnertime. We went to a nice Tapas place, and had a fun time. The club hosting the Kabul visitors was Roxy tonight.
After sleeping in a bit, the birthday boy and group hit the road and headed back to Heaven, to relax and have a good birthday breakfast/lunch with refreshments and chicken wraps. This afternoon was great, and we got a bit more sun while lounging on some cushions on the beach. After hanging out at Heaven, we headed back on the beach and stopped to play in a jungle gym type structure on the sand for a few while enjoying the beach and the sunlight. Then, continuing on our way back, we stopped and listened to some live music being played on the boardwalk. There was a massive group of people on the stairs surrounding the group listening. It was really pleasant to sit there in the sun and listen to the music, while drinking the ever-refreshing Fanta Orange drink. We then all headed back to the hostel and Corey and I ventured off to go to the Barcelona Soccer Game. It was so fun! Barcelona won, of course- apparently they are one of the best teams in the world. After the game, the group ventured out to the club, Discotec, for Darren’s late night birthday celebration/Kelly’s birthday. We also discovered this fun bar called Chipitos we went to this night and the night before.
Easter Sunday was an interesting day, as it was Kelly’s birthday. As indecisive as she is, she did not seem to have much input on where to go, and she was being a bit dramatic about everything so it was a difficult morning to please her. We finally found somewhere to eat that did not have very good food, but it was okay because we realize the positive relationship between a bad breakfast and a great day as Friday taught us. After that, her and Andrew went their own way, and Corey, Alex, Darren and I went to explore Barcelona. We made our way to this Castle like place on a hill with excellent views and explored around and saw some sights before heading back and having a early dinner at “Ideal Restaurant”- which at the time was very ideal! Then we went back to the hostel to rest, got ready, and went to the Chipitos bar I mentioned earlier. Then, we went to Roxy again, as the hostel organized the club venue again. This night was really fun, too.
Monday morning I rallied the troops to stop sleeping and wake up for our Beautiful last day. Darren, Kelly and Andrew decided to do a bus tour, while Alex, Corey and I decided to go to Park Guell by the same architect Antoni Gaudí. The park contains amazing stone structures, stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. There is a Gaudi dragon fountain that is at the entrance to Guell Park. This dragon is adorned in beautiful colored tiling and there is something rather hypnotic and magical about it. This park was really amazing, and after walking through it for a while, the three of us made it out and found a nice balcony terrace to have lunch on. Although the food was not good, the company, conversation, and sunlight was amazing as we spent probably two to three hours there. After this, we took the metro back and took the Gandola, where I saw the most amazing views of Barcelona, on a sunny and amazing day- we also took some amazing pictures. This day was amazing. Each day and moment I kept thinking nothing could get better, but it always did. After the Gondola ride, the three of us returned to Heaven for the last time and spent a few hours relaxing and having dinner. It was amazing. We ended the night and the trip to Barcelona at club Apollo. It is questionable how good of a choice this was, because we ended up going straight from the club to the hostel to get our things to the airport for our 6:05 am flight. We were exhausted and had to wait on the runway for an hour before takeoff because of fog in Amsterdam, but eventually we made it back two hours late and then home to our dorms for a nice nap before class.
I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to take this trip; it was literally six of the best days of my life. Barcelona is a beautiful city, and I hope you all have a chance to go there someday to visit and witness such a heavenly restaurant, or at least have the chance to live vicariously through my pictures!
I love and miss you all!!!
This was one of the best choices we’ve made, for it meant that we would be spending a full five days and six nights in this spectacular city. By the time April came, Corey and Andrew had booked their flights also, so on the 8th of April the six of us headed to Centraal Station, then to Schiphol Airport, and finally, to Barcelona. We arrived in Barcelona around 11:30 pm and by the time we made our way to the main drag, La Rambala, it was late. After checked into the hostel, Kabul, and dropped our bags off, we went out to explore a bit of the area. However, at an already late hour the only occupants on the street were the creepy street vendors trying to pawn off individual beer cans for one euro, so we decided to keep the exploring for the next day.
Thursday was the most ideal first day in any foreign city a group of young touristy adults could have asked for. The sun was shining and there was a warm breeze, and after a quick breakfast at the hostel the six of us made our way down La Rambala and to the boardwalk. We took many pictures of views and statues, and eventually made our way on to the beach. Regardless of the warmth of the water, we all scrambled to the edge of the water to stick our toes into our first taste of the Mediterranean. We then all continued along the beach, walking and enjoying the sun, until we decided it was time to settle into a beachfront restaurant for lunch. I am thankful for the fact that six of the most indecisive people in the world were put together, otherwise we would have picked the first place we saw instead of having the “uh, yeah this looks okay, oh look at this place…” conversations. Because of this, we kept walking a few restaurants down, and when we all glanced to the left we knew that we had found our spot: Beach-front-lounge-on-the-cushioned-bed-like-seating-area. This place was immediately dubbed “Heaven.” After spending a few hours in the blistering sun sipping refreshing refreshments and eating delicious chicken wraps, my chest and all of our noses were thoroughly burnt, so we decided to “make moves” and get on with our day. After realizing that I brought no warm weather clothes: shorts, dresses, bathing suits, nothing, I deemed it necessary to check out a few stores to try to find something decently priced and cute to wear out in the sunny days and warm nights. Because everyone but Corey was more prepared than I, we ventured to a mall shopping area, where he was able to pick up a few things that he needed and I was able to find two dresses that would hold me over for the next five days. After a successful shopping spree (which he was a surprisingly-good sport about), we eventually made our way back to the hostel. Because Alex, Darren, Kelly, and Andrew were no where to be found, Corey and I ventured off for dinner and found a nice pizza & pasta place toward the beach (a much longer walk then we initially intended, but vowed not to eat at the restaurants that advertised their menus on the outside walls with disgusting looking pictures).
Once we returned to the hostel and met back up with the rest of the group, we discovered something that would remain a beautiful, beautiful factor to our trip: the organized club adventures Kabul offered. There was a sign up sheet at the bar in the lobby, and in the late evening the list of people would be taken to one of the popular Barcelona clubs, free of entrance charge, for the night. Thursday night was at the venue, Catwalk, which we made our way to with a large group of hostel-stayers and had an amazing night out.
Friday morning was a bit more unsuccessful than the first morning. We decided to venture out to have breakfast on the town. A restaurant two doors down was recommended to us by the reception desk. Worst choice we’ve ever made: the breakfast was unappetizing and I disbelieved our luck, or lack there of. However, that did not stop us from having a magnificent day. We started walking and ended up at La Sagrada Familia, a massive, privately funded Roman Catholic Church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is expected to continue until at least 2026. This church is considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years (thanks Wikipedia!!!). This was a great structure to see, but unfortunately the line was too long, and the rain picked up as we were finishing up getting pictures. However, we did walk around it and it is truly a spectacular church. We found a restaurant to dine in for lunch nearby, and let the rain settle down as we enjoyed our meals and Fanta Orange drinks. After lunch, we continued walking and on the way back ran into Spain’s Arc de Triomf (Triumphal Arch), which was interesting because I have only seen the one in Paris. It was built for the 1888 Universal exhibition, as its main access gate by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas. The arch is located between Passeig de Lluís Companys and Passeig de Sant Joan, at the end of a wide promenade connecting with the Park of the Ciutadella. We then walked through this park, and eventually made it back to the hostel for naptime before it was time to get up and get ready for dinner and for the night. We celebrated Darren’s birthday over tonight’s dinner since tomorrow we all would not be together for dinnertime. We went to a nice Tapas place, and had a fun time. The club hosting the Kabul visitors was Roxy tonight.
After sleeping in a bit, the birthday boy and group hit the road and headed back to Heaven, to relax and have a good birthday breakfast/lunch with refreshments and chicken wraps. This afternoon was great, and we got a bit more sun while lounging on some cushions on the beach. After hanging out at Heaven, we headed back on the beach and stopped to play in a jungle gym type structure on the sand for a few while enjoying the beach and the sunlight. Then, continuing on our way back, we stopped and listened to some live music being played on the boardwalk. There was a massive group of people on the stairs surrounding the group listening. It was really pleasant to sit there in the sun and listen to the music, while drinking the ever-refreshing Fanta Orange drink. We then all headed back to the hostel and Corey and I ventured off to go to the Barcelona Soccer Game. It was so fun! Barcelona won, of course- apparently they are one of the best teams in the world. After the game, the group ventured out to the club, Discotec, for Darren’s late night birthday celebration/Kelly’s birthday. We also discovered this fun bar called Chipitos we went to this night and the night before.
Easter Sunday was an interesting day, as it was Kelly’s birthday. As indecisive as she is, she did not seem to have much input on where to go, and she was being a bit dramatic about everything so it was a difficult morning to please her. We finally found somewhere to eat that did not have very good food, but it was okay because we realize the positive relationship between a bad breakfast and a great day as Friday taught us. After that, her and Andrew went their own way, and Corey, Alex, Darren and I went to explore Barcelona. We made our way to this Castle like place on a hill with excellent views and explored around and saw some sights before heading back and having a early dinner at “Ideal Restaurant”- which at the time was very ideal! Then we went back to the hostel to rest, got ready, and went to the Chipitos bar I mentioned earlier. Then, we went to Roxy again, as the hostel organized the club venue again. This night was really fun, too.
Monday morning I rallied the troops to stop sleeping and wake up for our Beautiful last day. Darren, Kelly and Andrew decided to do a bus tour, while Alex, Corey and I decided to go to Park Guell by the same architect Antoni Gaudí. The park contains amazing stone structures, stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. There is a Gaudi dragon fountain that is at the entrance to Guell Park. This dragon is adorned in beautiful colored tiling and there is something rather hypnotic and magical about it. This park was really amazing, and after walking through it for a while, the three of us made it out and found a nice balcony terrace to have lunch on. Although the food was not good, the company, conversation, and sunlight was amazing as we spent probably two to three hours there. After this, we took the metro back and took the Gandola, where I saw the most amazing views of Barcelona, on a sunny and amazing day- we also took some amazing pictures. This day was amazing. Each day and moment I kept thinking nothing could get better, but it always did. After the Gondola ride, the three of us returned to Heaven for the last time and spent a few hours relaxing and having dinner. It was amazing. We ended the night and the trip to Barcelona at club Apollo. It is questionable how good of a choice this was, because we ended up going straight from the club to the hostel to get our things to the airport for our 6:05 am flight. We were exhausted and had to wait on the runway for an hour before takeoff because of fog in Amsterdam, but eventually we made it back two hours late and then home to our dorms for a nice nap before class.
I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to take this trip; it was literally six of the best days of my life. Barcelona is a beautiful city, and I hope you all have a chance to go there someday to visit and witness such a heavenly restaurant, or at least have the chance to live vicariously through my pictures!
I love and miss you all!!!
Christina's visit & Denmark with Michele
Ah so i am so bad at writing on this thing.
Christina came to visit for two weeks in March and we had an amazing time. We went to Paris for one of the weekends, say Girltalk in concert at Paradiso, went to museums and some delicious restaurants. I was so happy to show her around Amsterdam, and I am sure she had an amazing time, too. It was great to see her after all this time.
The first week of this month, April, I flew out to Denmark to meet up with Michele, who was visiting her boyfriend who lives there and plays on the Denmark National Soccer team. We had a nice relaxing weekend, including going to one of the games and partying/clubbing with a bunch of the boys on the team...good times!!!
Christina came to visit for two weeks in March and we had an amazing time. We went to Paris for one of the weekends, say Girltalk in concert at Paradiso, went to museums and some delicious restaurants. I was so happy to show her around Amsterdam, and I am sure she had an amazing time, too. It was great to see her after all this time.
The first week of this month, April, I flew out to Denmark to meet up with Michele, who was visiting her boyfriend who lives there and plays on the Denmark National Soccer team. We had a nice relaxing weekend, including going to one of the games and partying/clubbing with a bunch of the boys on the team...good times!!!
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