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!!!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Now I can relax...kind of
So I got back from London 2 nights ago, and although I am not heading off to Dublin with a lot of my friends for this weekend, does not mean I will not be keeping busy.
Monday & today I have been doing lots of work, preparing for the AMAZING upcoming three weeks. Katie McKitterick is coming to stay with me tomorrow (Wednesday) until Sunday, and then my sister is coming next Wednesday for two weeks!!!! YAY
I'm super excited for Katie to get here, I am going to go buy us concert tickets so we can see T PAIN who is performing at this club Melkweg tomorrow night. Then I have a bunch of ideas of fun stuff to do while she's here, including going on a daytrip Saturday to see Paleis het Loo, which is the Royal Palace!!!! This was actually a field trip for my dutch class (that all CIEE students were welcome to, and that was not mandatory), but I was pretty sure I would enjoy it, and Katie would, too, so I signed us up!
Besides that, museums and markets are in the cards for when both Katie and Christina are here. Other sights like Dam Square, the Red Light District (of course), Coco's (this really fun bar w/ a good happy hour), the Pancake Bakery, maybe the Zoo or a Comedy Show, Anne Frank house, Madame Tusaud's wax museum, Heinekin Factory, FOAM (photography museum), the Rijks, Van Gogh, Rembrandt House, Allard Pierson Museum, Dutch resistance museum, and of couse, Tranny Bingo. I will definitely let you know which of these are accomplished over the next three weeks!!!
Oh, and I'm excited because:
1. Michele is dating this hottie on the Denmark soccer team and going there for her Spring Break, so I'm trying to make plans to meet her there for one weekend
2. Jacqueline's getting an internship in Germany this summer so I am gonna extend my trip to see her in Germany!!!!!
3. Papabear's eye is better so he can fly so M&D can prob come see me soon! YAY
miss you all...
Monday & today I have been doing lots of work, preparing for the AMAZING upcoming three weeks. Katie McKitterick is coming to stay with me tomorrow (Wednesday) until Sunday, and then my sister is coming next Wednesday for two weeks!!!! YAY
I'm super excited for Katie to get here, I am going to go buy us concert tickets so we can see T PAIN who is performing at this club Melkweg tomorrow night. Then I have a bunch of ideas of fun stuff to do while she's here, including going on a daytrip Saturday to see Paleis het Loo, which is the Royal Palace!!!! This was actually a field trip for my dutch class (that all CIEE students were welcome to, and that was not mandatory), but I was pretty sure I would enjoy it, and Katie would, too, so I signed us up!
Besides that, museums and markets are in the cards for when both Katie and Christina are here. Other sights like Dam Square, the Red Light District (of course), Coco's (this really fun bar w/ a good happy hour), the Pancake Bakery, maybe the Zoo or a Comedy Show, Anne Frank house, Madame Tusaud's wax museum, Heinekin Factory, FOAM (photography museum), the Rijks, Van Gogh, Rembrandt House, Allard Pierson Museum, Dutch resistance museum, and of couse, Tranny Bingo. I will definitely let you know which of these are accomplished over the next three weeks!!!
Oh, and I'm excited because:
1. Michele is dating this hottie on the Denmark soccer team and going there for her Spring Break, so I'm trying to make plans to meet her there for one weekend
2. Jacqueline's getting an internship in Germany this summer so I am gonna extend my trip to see her in Germany!!!!!
3. Papabear's eye is better so he can fly so M&D can prob come see me soon! YAY
miss you all...
LONDON
So not even a full 4 days passed until Kelly & I were venturing off to travel again.
We returned home Monday morning at 5:30am and took for for London after my dutch class on Thursday night. Kelly and I hurried to Centraal Station to catch the 7:58 pm train to Schiphol airport. As we were walking off the train, we met up with Beth, Colleen, and Jessee, who are the other three girls we were traveling with. We checked in without any trouble, and less than 2 hours later we were walking off the plane at London Gatwick.
After purchasing our London Gatwick express tickets, we preceeded to get on the wrong (well, not really wrong, but not the express) train to Victoria station, and arrived there about 20 minutes after we would have had on the express. Nonethe less, we successfully arrived to Euston Station and set of to find the Generator hostel. This should have been easy. Colleen printed out directions, and I kindly asked a bus driver where the street was. 35 minutes later, we realized he had told us the wrong way. After a 35 min walk back to our starting point, we went left instead, and 20 minutes later the street was no where in sight. Apparently you have to go STRAIGHT to the next block, and THEN left. Anyway, we eventually made it to the Generator, exhausted and starving and ate vending machine chips for dinner and passed out.
However, the rest of the weekend was amazing.
We woke up Friday morning, and after bfast (aka cereal and toast) at the hostel we went on a walking tour of the city. The tour took us around all sorts of places: Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park Corner, Nelson's Column, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, 10 Drowning St., St. Jame's Park, Wellington Arch, Horsegaurds, Whitehall, Big Ben, Churchill's War Cabinet Bunker, The Houses of Parliment, St. Martin in the Fields, Westminister Abbey, and more! it was grand! After the walking tour we went to a pub for lunch. Kelly and I ordered the "Big Ben Burger" and it was phenominal. After lunch we went to Camden Market, which was huge and amazing. We thought it was only one street with a little swap meet like set up, but as we talked realized it was a HUGE area outside and inside of little stands selling really cool things. I bought quite a few things- in fact, I am about to put up some posters once I finish writing this!!! After we spend four hours or so there, we left and headed back to the hostel to get ready for FABRIC, this really cool sounding club we had heard about. We got ready and headed to the hostel bar for a drink or two, before heading out (grabbing dinner on the way) to Fabric. Fabric turned out to be really fun! We heard a British band and danced ! And we met some guys from Venezuela, doing Master's programs in London & Madrid.
Saturday was an amazing day, too. After the hostel bfast, we headed to Notting Hill. BEAUTIFUL area with pretty houses and colorful trees. We went to Portabello Market, which was, again, AMAZING. I found some really good souveniors, for myself and my family. Not only were there random ring/jewelery stands, but antique stores, touristy stores, food stands, fruits and veggie stands, etc. We found a falafel stand and had a great sandwich for lunch. After the market we headed to HARRODS for tea by way of the Kennsington Gardens(/park). This was BEAUTIFUL. it was so sunny- which is outrageously rare for London. In fact, it was sunny all three days we were there. It was simply a blessing. Anyway, the garden/park was beautiful and green with flowers everywhere and familys scampering around. There were a few lakes which added a nice touch. We saw the Kennsington Palace, although we did not enter, and the Princess Diana Memorial fountain. After spending quite a bit of time in the park walking around, we finally made it to Harrods for tea. Now, I had been to Harrods a few times, each time being amazing, and so I was really excited to take the girls. We only had to wait around 30 mins, and the prices were less expensive than I remembered or warned them, so we were all stoked. We spent like 2 hours having tea and talking and such- it was a great end to a great afternoon. After tea, we split up and Colleen, Kelly & I hussled back to the hostel to get ready and make it in time for happy hour before meeting up for the pub crawl at 8:30. After some drinks, conversations, and new acquaintences from the bar, the three of us headed out to Covent Gardens to meet up at the first bar. 12 pounds well spent- the pub crawl was a lot of fun, and we met a lot of nice people. In one bar we met a group of (young & attractive) Norwegian teachers on a conference, and met a group of Aussies in another. Also, we met three guys that happen to be visiting London from Amsterdam! So that was cool! We hungout with these guys until the end of the night and eventually made it home after getting a little lost! What a fab night!!!!!!
Sunday morning we woke up extra early by chance and got our day started right away. Today, Kelly & I split up from the other girls and went back to the Camden Market, because she needed to get her friend a Arsenol flag. After walking around the market a bit, we grabbed lunch at a cute cafe before heading to Trafalger Square to the Picasso exhibit featured at the National Gallery. We got there a little before 1:00 pm, and bought exhibit tickets for what we thought was right then. Turned out the appointment we bought tickets for was at 2:00pm, so we went out to take pictures around the square with the lion statues and such, and then went to have a drink while we waited in a nearby bar. We sat there talking about all the plans we had for the next week while Christina and her brother visits. YAY! Another funny think- we were sitting rightttt by the door, and there was this one point where this woman walks in with a toddler. Kelly, a little louder than she had meant, bursted out: "Who brings a baby into a bar!!!?!?!" and did not realize how loud she said it until it was already out. Fortunately for her, she was facing the wall and I was facing the room, so the woman turned around as if to say something but I subtly looked past her as if I didn't notice, so we didn't have to deal with her attempt and an excuse. So that was funny. Eventually we made it into the exhbit, and was there for just under an hour viewing the genius works of Picasso. it was grand! We then headed back to the hostel and met up with colleen, printed our boarding passes, grabbed our luggage, and took off to the pizza place next door before heading the the airport. We got hom Sunday night around 11:30 pm, and the trip was declared an AMAZING success. YAY!
We returned home Monday morning at 5:30am and took for for London after my dutch class on Thursday night. Kelly and I hurried to Centraal Station to catch the 7:58 pm train to Schiphol airport. As we were walking off the train, we met up with Beth, Colleen, and Jessee, who are the other three girls we were traveling with. We checked in without any trouble, and less than 2 hours later we were walking off the plane at London Gatwick.
After purchasing our London Gatwick express tickets, we preceeded to get on the wrong (well, not really wrong, but not the express) train to Victoria station, and arrived there about 20 minutes after we would have had on the express. Nonethe less, we successfully arrived to Euston Station and set of to find the Generator hostel. This should have been easy. Colleen printed out directions, and I kindly asked a bus driver where the street was. 35 minutes later, we realized he had told us the wrong way. After a 35 min walk back to our starting point, we went left instead, and 20 minutes later the street was no where in sight. Apparently you have to go STRAIGHT to the next block, and THEN left. Anyway, we eventually made it to the Generator, exhausted and starving and ate vending machine chips for dinner and passed out.
However, the rest of the weekend was amazing.
We woke up Friday morning, and after bfast (aka cereal and toast) at the hostel we went on a walking tour of the city. The tour took us around all sorts of places: Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park Corner, Nelson's Column, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, 10 Drowning St., St. Jame's Park, Wellington Arch, Horsegaurds, Whitehall, Big Ben, Churchill's War Cabinet Bunker, The Houses of Parliment, St. Martin in the Fields, Westminister Abbey, and more! it was grand! After the walking tour we went to a pub for lunch. Kelly and I ordered the "Big Ben Burger" and it was phenominal. After lunch we went to Camden Market, which was huge and amazing. We thought it was only one street with a little swap meet like set up, but as we talked realized it was a HUGE area outside and inside of little stands selling really cool things. I bought quite a few things- in fact, I am about to put up some posters once I finish writing this!!! After we spend four hours or so there, we left and headed back to the hostel to get ready for FABRIC, this really cool sounding club we had heard about. We got ready and headed to the hostel bar for a drink or two, before heading out (grabbing dinner on the way) to Fabric. Fabric turned out to be really fun! We heard a British band and danced ! And we met some guys from Venezuela, doing Master's programs in London & Madrid.
Saturday was an amazing day, too. After the hostel bfast, we headed to Notting Hill. BEAUTIFUL area with pretty houses and colorful trees. We went to Portabello Market, which was, again, AMAZING. I found some really good souveniors, for myself and my family. Not only were there random ring/jewelery stands, but antique stores, touristy stores, food stands, fruits and veggie stands, etc. We found a falafel stand and had a great sandwich for lunch. After the market we headed to HARRODS for tea by way of the Kennsington Gardens(/park). This was BEAUTIFUL. it was so sunny- which is outrageously rare for London. In fact, it was sunny all three days we were there. It was simply a blessing. Anyway, the garden/park was beautiful and green with flowers everywhere and familys scampering around. There were a few lakes which added a nice touch. We saw the Kennsington Palace, although we did not enter, and the Princess Diana Memorial fountain. After spending quite a bit of time in the park walking around, we finally made it to Harrods for tea. Now, I had been to Harrods a few times, each time being amazing, and so I was really excited to take the girls. We only had to wait around 30 mins, and the prices were less expensive than I remembered or warned them, so we were all stoked. We spent like 2 hours having tea and talking and such- it was a great end to a great afternoon. After tea, we split up and Colleen, Kelly & I hussled back to the hostel to get ready and make it in time for happy hour before meeting up for the pub crawl at 8:30. After some drinks, conversations, and new acquaintences from the bar, the three of us headed out to Covent Gardens to meet up at the first bar. 12 pounds well spent- the pub crawl was a lot of fun, and we met a lot of nice people. In one bar we met a group of (young & attractive) Norwegian teachers on a conference, and met a group of Aussies in another. Also, we met three guys that happen to be visiting London from Amsterdam! So that was cool! We hungout with these guys until the end of the night and eventually made it home after getting a little lost! What a fab night!!!!!!
Sunday morning we woke up extra early by chance and got our day started right away. Today, Kelly & I split up from the other girls and went back to the Camden Market, because she needed to get her friend a Arsenol flag. After walking around the market a bit, we grabbed lunch at a cute cafe before heading to Trafalger Square to the Picasso exhibit featured at the National Gallery. We got there a little before 1:00 pm, and bought exhibit tickets for what we thought was right then. Turned out the appointment we bought tickets for was at 2:00pm, so we went out to take pictures around the square with the lion statues and such, and then went to have a drink while we waited in a nearby bar. We sat there talking about all the plans we had for the next week while Christina and her brother visits. YAY! Another funny think- we were sitting rightttt by the door, and there was this one point where this woman walks in with a toddler. Kelly, a little louder than she had meant, bursted out: "Who brings a baby into a bar!!!?!?!" and did not realize how loud she said it until it was already out. Fortunately for her, she was facing the wall and I was facing the room, so the woman turned around as if to say something but I subtly looked past her as if I didn't notice, so we didn't have to deal with her attempt and an excuse. So that was funny. Eventually we made it into the exhbit, and was there for just under an hour viewing the genius works of Picasso. it was grand! We then headed back to the hostel and met up with colleen, printed our boarding passes, grabbed our luggage, and took off to the pizza place next door before heading the the airport. We got hom Sunday night around 11:30 pm, and the trip was declared an AMAZING success. YAY!
BERLIN
Written the first week in March:
This past weekend has been one of the craziest ones thus far.
Kelly, Darren, Andrew, Alex & took a cab to the Euroline bus stop around 11pm on Thursday night. After checking in and loading the bus not long after 11:30pm, we were off and on our way to Berlin! The bus ride was long, and somewhat treacherous, however, nine ish hours later we arrived at "ZOB"- the Berlin bus station. A few minutes walking led us to the Kaiserdam subway stop, where we loaded the metro to take us to Rosa-Luxenburg-Platz where we would find our hostel just 200 yards away. After dropping our stuff in the luggage room of The Wombat hostel, the five of us left with Matty, a walking tour guide, who took us to the area where the walking tours depart from. After a magnificent mocha and sandwich from Starbucks (yeah, we were desperately hungry), we took off on our walking tour with our guide, Summer. We explored the city for the next 3 1/2 hours and saw sights and heard historical blurbs and stories.
After this, we headed back to the hostel for a much needed nap, and finally made our way down the the restaurant next door for dinner. Then we were off to a pub crawl! and we had to run around to find it and then literally sprint to the bar to make it for the first free beer. haha four bars, great company, and a few Australian acquaintances later, I struggled for Andy and his friends (coming from studying in Vienna) to find the bar- which was a bitch because in the middle of trying to figure out where we were, both of our phones ran out of minutes, without 10 mins of each other, and thus, impossible for us to contact one another. BUST! anyway, the rest of the night was a lot of fun and by the time we made it back to bed it was one of the best sleeps of my life!
The next morning Kelly & I got up to take advantage of the bfast at the restaurant next door to the hostel, for 3.50 euro- yum! After rounding up the boys and getting ready, and finally meeting up with Andy & co. to discuss plans for meeting up later, we headed out to the Museum Isle. After a bunch of amazing pictures later, we also went to the government building where there is this dome you can venture up (kinda like the Arc de Triumph or Effiel Tower) and check out the view of the city. It was beautiful! Then we had dinner at the most spectacular falafel place called “Da Da Falafel.” It was unrealllllll. I am not doing Berlin much justice here, but it was fabulous. This night we met up with Andy & co. at the hostel bar around 10 pm, and headed out for Panorama around 1am…yeah, things get started late. Anyway, to make a long story short we waited in line from like 4:30am – 5:15 am just to get rejected at the door for being American. Bust.
The next morning was a rough one, as we didn’t sleep until 7am and had to check out by 10am, but the crew ventured to an outdoor market that was really cool. I really love walking around markets and looking at all the random shit people are trying to sell. Ha!
Then we tried to go to this place, apparently the largest department store in all of continental Europe, but it was Sunday, and therefore, closed- so we had lunch at this little café before heading back to Wombats to get our things and head to the bus.
Funny though how we thought we had all the time in the world, and realized that the bus was scheduled to leave in 20 minutes- when we were still on the train. AH! We all got really flustered, but decided as long as the train didn’t break down or something we’d be fine. 17 seconds after we agreed on this, the train stopped and the lights went out. What seemed like forever and was probably only 40 seconds, the train started moving (with the lights still out) and eventually got us to the right stop 7 minutes pre bus departure. We sprinted to the bus and were the last ones to board- somehow though we still all got our own seats- success!
This past weekend has been one of the craziest ones thus far.
Kelly, Darren, Andrew, Alex & took a cab to the Euroline bus stop around 11pm on Thursday night. After checking in and loading the bus not long after 11:30pm, we were off and on our way to Berlin! The bus ride was long, and somewhat treacherous, however, nine ish hours later we arrived at "ZOB"- the Berlin bus station. A few minutes walking led us to the Kaiserdam subway stop, where we loaded the metro to take us to Rosa-Luxenburg-Platz where we would find our hostel just 200 yards away. After dropping our stuff in the luggage room of The Wombat hostel, the five of us left with Matty, a walking tour guide, who took us to the area where the walking tours depart from. After a magnificent mocha and sandwich from Starbucks (yeah, we were desperately hungry), we took off on our walking tour with our guide, Summer. We explored the city for the next 3 1/2 hours and saw sights and heard historical blurbs and stories.
After this, we headed back to the hostel for a much needed nap, and finally made our way down the the restaurant next door for dinner. Then we were off to a pub crawl! and we had to run around to find it and then literally sprint to the bar to make it for the first free beer. haha four bars, great company, and a few Australian acquaintances later, I struggled for Andy and his friends (coming from studying in Vienna) to find the bar- which was a bitch because in the middle of trying to figure out where we were, both of our phones ran out of minutes, without 10 mins of each other, and thus, impossible for us to contact one another. BUST! anyway, the rest of the night was a lot of fun and by the time we made it back to bed it was one of the best sleeps of my life!
The next morning Kelly & I got up to take advantage of the bfast at the restaurant next door to the hostel, for 3.50 euro- yum! After rounding up the boys and getting ready, and finally meeting up with Andy & co. to discuss plans for meeting up later, we headed out to the Museum Isle. After a bunch of amazing pictures later, we also went to the government building where there is this dome you can venture up (kinda like the Arc de Triumph or Effiel Tower) and check out the view of the city. It was beautiful! Then we had dinner at the most spectacular falafel place called “Da Da Falafel.” It was unrealllllll. I am not doing Berlin much justice here, but it was fabulous. This night we met up with Andy & co. at the hostel bar around 10 pm, and headed out for Panorama around 1am…yeah, things get started late. Anyway, to make a long story short we waited in line from like 4:30am – 5:15 am just to get rejected at the door for being American. Bust.
The next morning was a rough one, as we didn’t sleep until 7am and had to check out by 10am, but the crew ventured to an outdoor market that was really cool. I really love walking around markets and looking at all the random shit people are trying to sell. Ha!
Then we tried to go to this place, apparently the largest department store in all of continental Europe, but it was Sunday, and therefore, closed- so we had lunch at this little café before heading back to Wombats to get our things and head to the bus.
Funny though how we thought we had all the time in the world, and realized that the bus was scheduled to leave in 20 minutes- when we were still on the train. AH! We all got really flustered, but decided as long as the train didn’t break down or something we’d be fine. 17 seconds after we agreed on this, the train stopped and the lights went out. What seemed like forever and was probably only 40 seconds, the train started moving (with the lights still out) and eventually got us to the right stop 7 minutes pre bus departure. We sprinted to the bus and were the last ones to board- somehow though we still all got our own seats- success!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Amazingness all Around!
Well I sure have been lazy about keeping up with this journal...I do not know why! I know that I want to log all of my adventures and activities, but I am just so busy running around seeing/doing this and that when I have a spare moment or two I don't even think to update this baby!
Anyway, the last few weeks have been amazing. First off...so far I have four trips planned: Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and Barcelona! I am SO excited to finally start adventures outside of the Netherlands! We go to Berlin in 2 weeks, and Andy & his friend from Vienna are coming and meeting us there! I cannot wait to go on a bike tour of the city, explore museums, and party at night =] Next, my wonderful sister is coming for TWO WEEKS in March and we're going to Paris for one of the weekends- can you imagine! Then, Vienna at the beginning of May, and Barcelona in April. These, however, are only 4 of my Top 10 travel locations, so I still have much traveling to plan! The other places I want to/am going to go include Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Czech Repub and England!
OKAY so as I said the last few weeks have been so amazinggg...some friends and I have made the tradition to go to the Pancake Bakery for brunch (because bfast before noon on Friday mornings are IMPOSSIBLE! ha!). This place serves ridiculous sized omlets and crepe like pancakes. yum!
Last week after the Pcake Bakery, Darren and I went to the Anne Frank House. it was spectacular. It was so perfect because I had literally finished the book two days before- which I vowed to do before going to the museum. This experience was truly amazing: walking through the house where Anne herself lived for 24 months. It was very moving also. Anyway, besides that I went on a day trip to the Hague, which is the Netherlands government building about a 45 minute metro ride from Amsterdam. I went with Jeremy and Justin, and we explored the area, found a Muslim market- interesting- and saw THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING live!!! It is at the Maurishuis museum and it was beautiful! I got a poster too!
Which reminds me...I have decorated my room a little bit! I have that poster on the bac of my door and then this pretty tapestry I got at the flea market hanging on one wall. i also have pictures posted everywhere, so its quite homey. =]
Let's see...
So Katie Mckitt is coming to visit me in March before my sis comes, which is SO exciting. And then my sis will be here for two weeks...so that will simply be an amazing three weeks! I have also been talking to my parents about when they should come/if i should extend my trip and have them just come meet me after to travel around...so we shall see!
I dont have much more to tell about now, besides these Friday afternoons of just hanging out, catching up on work, and being lazy are AMAZING after going out every night during the week. ha! See, it's not that I am totally crazy, but with all the fun activities it's hard not to go out all the time! For instance, every Tuesday night ISN (international student network) has a borrel (party) for us at da Hefer (the heffer). this is like a bar/club ish type place. its really fun...our group usually meets up way before hand to hangout, then goes to the heffer, then goes to other random fun places! Then, on Wednesday nights it is 1 euro beers at this bar we call Jupiter (yes, I RECENTLY realized that was 1. not the name of the bar and 2. that it is the name of the beer featured there, actually called Jupiler!). So we all make the 20 minute or so bike ride journey over to the containers aka Stravanderveg (sp?) OH but this is exciting- 2 weeks ago when we biked over there IT WAS SNOWING!!! this was my first time in real, free falling snow! whoa it was sooo amazing i didnt even care that my fingers were numb and the mascara was streaming down my cheeks! side note- another thing, it is SO cold sometimes that when i am biking i start crying! just because of the cold air in my face! bet that makes you shiver!
ok well besides that, nothing else new (haha). tonight we are going to this club "club house" which has 2 floors, one with house and one with techno music (my fantasy basically).
OH! and last night i went to the ballet! it was spectacular! i mean, it was kinda boring and the story line wasnt too exciting, but it was a great experience to go! except by the time it was over, at like 11pm i was starving because i had class 3-6 and 6-8 so i never had din! whoops! anyway, classes are really great too. Dutch is HARD but im glad i am taking it, my contemp dutch social policy is kinda bullshit, but okay, and my other 2 basically mesh together to be a repeat of Comm 206 from usc...but oh well.
anyway, gotta get dinner going and get ready for the night...yea thats right...i COOK NOW! hahaha future roomies get excited...
love you all!
Anyway, the last few weeks have been amazing. First off...so far I have four trips planned: Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and Barcelona! I am SO excited to finally start adventures outside of the Netherlands! We go to Berlin in 2 weeks, and Andy & his friend from Vienna are coming and meeting us there! I cannot wait to go on a bike tour of the city, explore museums, and party at night =] Next, my wonderful sister is coming for TWO WEEKS in March and we're going to Paris for one of the weekends- can you imagine! Then, Vienna at the beginning of May, and Barcelona in April. These, however, are only 4 of my Top 10 travel locations, so I still have much traveling to plan! The other places I want to/am going to go include Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Czech Repub and England!
OKAY so as I said the last few weeks have been so amazinggg...some friends and I have made the tradition to go to the Pancake Bakery for brunch (because bfast before noon on Friday mornings are IMPOSSIBLE! ha!). This place serves ridiculous sized omlets and crepe like pancakes. yum!
Last week after the Pcake Bakery, Darren and I went to the Anne Frank House. it was spectacular. It was so perfect because I had literally finished the book two days before- which I vowed to do before going to the museum. This experience was truly amazing: walking through the house where Anne herself lived for 24 months. It was very moving also. Anyway, besides that I went on a day trip to the Hague, which is the Netherlands government building about a 45 minute metro ride from Amsterdam. I went with Jeremy and Justin, and we explored the area, found a Muslim market- interesting- and saw THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING live!!! It is at the Maurishuis museum and it was beautiful! I got a poster too!
Which reminds me...I have decorated my room a little bit! I have that poster on the bac of my door and then this pretty tapestry I got at the flea market hanging on one wall. i also have pictures posted everywhere, so its quite homey. =]
Let's see...
So Katie Mckitt is coming to visit me in March before my sis comes, which is SO exciting. And then my sis will be here for two weeks...so that will simply be an amazing three weeks! I have also been talking to my parents about when they should come/if i should extend my trip and have them just come meet me after to travel around...so we shall see!
I dont have much more to tell about now, besides these Friday afternoons of just hanging out, catching up on work, and being lazy are AMAZING after going out every night during the week. ha! See, it's not that I am totally crazy, but with all the fun activities it's hard not to go out all the time! For instance, every Tuesday night ISN (international student network) has a borrel (party) for us at da Hefer (the heffer). this is like a bar/club ish type place. its really fun...our group usually meets up way before hand to hangout, then goes to the heffer, then goes to other random fun places! Then, on Wednesday nights it is 1 euro beers at this bar we call Jupiter (yes, I RECENTLY realized that was 1. not the name of the bar and 2. that it is the name of the beer featured there, actually called Jupiler!). So we all make the 20 minute or so bike ride journey over to the containers aka Stravanderveg (sp?) OH but this is exciting- 2 weeks ago when we biked over there IT WAS SNOWING!!! this was my first time in real, free falling snow! whoa it was sooo amazing i didnt even care that my fingers were numb and the mascara was streaming down my cheeks! side note- another thing, it is SO cold sometimes that when i am biking i start crying! just because of the cold air in my face! bet that makes you shiver!
ok well besides that, nothing else new (haha). tonight we are going to this club "club house" which has 2 floors, one with house and one with techno music (my fantasy basically).
OH! and last night i went to the ballet! it was spectacular! i mean, it was kinda boring and the story line wasnt too exciting, but it was a great experience to go! except by the time it was over, at like 11pm i was starving because i had class 3-6 and 6-8 so i never had din! whoops! anyway, classes are really great too. Dutch is HARD but im glad i am taking it, my contemp dutch social policy is kinda bullshit, but okay, and my other 2 basically mesh together to be a repeat of Comm 206 from usc...but oh well.
anyway, gotta get dinner going and get ready for the night...yea thats right...i COOK NOW! hahaha future roomies get excited...
love you all!
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