It has been about a week and a half since I returned from my trip, and to be honest, I still haven't unpacked. Part of that is me being lazy and busy but it's also because the stuff in my suitcase and carry-on bags is pretty much all there is that says, "I was just in Europe." The jet-lag is gone, along with one of the chocolate bars and more than half of the candy. My postcard of Night Watch is on my desk at work and my skinny jeans and flats can only be worn so many times in a row. My photos have been sorted through and posted here and I've even completely finished the series of books I started reading on the return flight. There's not much left to indicate I just went on a trip other than my half unpacked suitcase.
At the end of my last post I mentioned my flights. As it turns out, Charlotte, North Carolina and the state itself got to remain on my "never been there" list. My flight out of Philadelphia was delayed (lord knows why, it was the same plane that I was on from Amsterdam and it flew fine) and I would have missed my connecting flight from Charlotte to SF, were it not for a US Airways clerk who found me a spot on a direct flight from PHL to SFO that left about the same time as my old flight to Charlotte. Of course, when I arrived in SF though, my bag was not with me. It followed my original flight path and arrived about an hour after I did. Luckily, the San Francisco baggage people are awesome and they delivered it to my house bright and early the next morning.
In terms of reflection on my trip... thinking about it that way makes me feel like I'm in high school. They made us reflect on everything. I guess it's habit or something. Anyway, generally I had a great time and I would love to do it again. I don't think I would change anything other than to make it longer. It was a great experience and I am glad I did it with the people I did. Next time, I will know how much longer I need in certain areas (Paris and Brussels in particular) and may be able to lead my companions through various others (The Hague and Amsterdam). I will probably not do much travelling alone in non-anglophone countries by myself in the future, but that's alright, because I've been to most anglophone countries already and I like them. That's not saying I won't travel, I'll just make sure when I'm going to an entirely new place that I take somebody with me. I'm braver when I'm not alone.
This blog will stay up, and the next time I go on an international adventure (which might not actually be that long from now) I will use it again. I've greatly enjoyed documenting my travels this way, and I hope the rest of you have too. Goodbye for now!
If you haven't found me already, I am on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
A'dam Good Day
Today may have been my last day in the Netherlands, but I did not waste it lamenting. I got up at 9:30, got dressed and ready and was out the door at 10 to get to Amsterdam and get my waterborne adventure rolling.
When I arrived in Amsterdam at about 11:30 (it doesn't actually take that long, I just barely missed a train and had to wait around) I had originally planned to walk my way over to the Jordaan and find Anne Frank Huis by myself, but a lot of the area in front of Amsterdam Centraal (the train station) is under construction so the way I was going to walk was blocked. As I was turning around I saw a sign for the Canal Bus hop-on hop-off canal tour. One of my tasks for the day was to go on a boat in a canal. The Canal Bus would take me to Anne Frank Huis and the Rijksmuseum and whereever else I had time for AND take care of the boat-on-the-canal requirement for my trip. It was 20 Euro, but I did it anyway. It was worth it to not have to constantly be looking like a tourist staring at a map and possibly getting pick-pocketed.
The boats were nice, open topped long boats with cushy seats, tables and a multilingual recording that recited interesting things about the surroundings and Amsterdam in general. I learned a lot of things about the canals, the harbors and even the gables on the canal houses.
When I arrived at Anne Frank Huis, there was a line that most people less determined than I might forego. I had planned for this though (having been warned by my tour book and half a dozen people) so I didn't mind standing in line. Luckily, I was only in line for about 45 minutes. I had been expecting something more along the lines of 2 hours, so I was pleased. The museum itself is very interesting. It mostly consists of the house itself, which is bare of furniture as the Nazis left it, per the surviving Otto Frank's request. The various things that were plastered to the walls in the Secret Annex, both by Anne and her Father are all still there though, and that was really cool to see. There were also video interviews with various people who survived the war that told various portions of the story from other people's perspectives. For me, it sort of made it all very...real, I guess, which was maybe the purpose? Because, well, it was real, but being an American 22 year old female in the 21st Century, World War 2 and the terrible events that happened with it were always long ago, in a country far far away. I've always liked historical fiction, and I've read a reasonably large number of holocaust books for a non-Jewish kid, including Anne Frank's Diary, but it never really was a reality until today I think. Walking in that house and seeing those actual rooms, objects, writings and people. Videos of the real people talking about their memories of what happened. It's a good museum. Go stand in line and walk through it. It's not big, but it is worth the 8.50 and the wait. Especially if you've read Anne's Diary.
After that experience, which was concluded with a video of Otto Frank talking about his daughter and her diary, I walked back to the Canal Bus stop and rested by the canal for a while waiting for it. When it arrived I hopped back on and we continued our route towards the Rijksmuseum, which is right next to the Van Gogh museum I visited last week. When we arrived, I got off and decided that I was going to go into the Rijksmuseum and see the Nightwatch, since apparently it's important or something. So I did. And now I understand.
Most of the Rijksmuseum is being renovated right now so they don't have their whole collection available, but they did have all the important pieces and some Dutch finery. The bottom floor was dedicated to Dutch history and had ships, some paintings, Delftware (thats the Dutch porcelain with the blue dyes) and some metal work. Nothing too intriguing for me. Upstairs was the good stuff. I'm not normally a huge painting person, but for some reason today I was (just like the day I went to Van Gogh, maybe I'm more interested when I pay?). Anyway, while walking through the rooms, there was one artist who had a few paintings up who I liked a lot: Pieter Jansz Saenredam. I thought his composition was cool, and sort of like my photography. I looked at all the Rembrandt and Degas stuff they had up and came to the conclusion that Degas was rather handsome and Rembrandt wasn't really.
Then I walked into the room with the Nightwatch. Most people are impressed by its size, I think. Having seen many large paintings in galleries world wide (the British National Gallery, for example) that wasn't really what surprised me. What caught me was the detail! I stood staring at the thing for what must have been 10 minutes trying to see it all. I don't think I had, until today, ever seen the image before, but now it might be my favorite painting ever. The print I bought of it (on a postcard) doesn't even begin to do it justice though. I'm not sure any duplicate could. There's just no reproducing the way the man in gold jumps off the canvas, or the glitter on each gentleman's hat, or the dimensionality of the rifles. Not happening on a print. I knew that when I was looking at it, which is probably why I stared for so long. Though now, I wish I had stayed even longer.
After the Rijksmuseum, I wandered around a little and eventually got back on the Canal Bus, which meandered it's way back to Centraal, where I caught the train back to Den Haag. My last train ride... followed by my last tram ride, followed by my last time keying in to the apartment. I will miss it here, I like it a lot.
I then set about helping Peter and Jen eat all of the remaining food, before we discovered we needed to go out to get more. Then we went out to one of the restaurants and Jen and I split some pasta. Then we got some ice cream and came back to pack.
I'm all packed now, all 3 of us are taking a taxi to the airport in the morning (their flight for Boston leaves very shortly after mine to Philly). I will tweet when I return to the states. I go to Philadelphia, then Charlotte, then SFO, but we'll see if that sticks.
A reflection post will come with my photo album links in a few days :)
When I arrived in Amsterdam at about 11:30 (it doesn't actually take that long, I just barely missed a train and had to wait around) I had originally planned to walk my way over to the Jordaan and find Anne Frank Huis by myself, but a lot of the area in front of Amsterdam Centraal (the train station) is under construction so the way I was going to walk was blocked. As I was turning around I saw a sign for the Canal Bus hop-on hop-off canal tour. One of my tasks for the day was to go on a boat in a canal. The Canal Bus would take me to Anne Frank Huis and the Rijksmuseum and whereever else I had time for AND take care of the boat-on-the-canal requirement for my trip. It was 20 Euro, but I did it anyway. It was worth it to not have to constantly be looking like a tourist staring at a map and possibly getting pick-pocketed.
The boats were nice, open topped long boats with cushy seats, tables and a multilingual recording that recited interesting things about the surroundings and Amsterdam in general. I learned a lot of things about the canals, the harbors and even the gables on the canal houses.
When I arrived at Anne Frank Huis, there was a line that most people less determined than I might forego. I had planned for this though (having been warned by my tour book and half a dozen people) so I didn't mind standing in line. Luckily, I was only in line for about 45 minutes. I had been expecting something more along the lines of 2 hours, so I was pleased. The museum itself is very interesting. It mostly consists of the house itself, which is bare of furniture as the Nazis left it, per the surviving Otto Frank's request. The various things that were plastered to the walls in the Secret Annex, both by Anne and her Father are all still there though, and that was really cool to see. There were also video interviews with various people who survived the war that told various portions of the story from other people's perspectives. For me, it sort of made it all very...real, I guess, which was maybe the purpose? Because, well, it was real, but being an American 22 year old female in the 21st Century, World War 2 and the terrible events that happened with it were always long ago, in a country far far away. I've always liked historical fiction, and I've read a reasonably large number of holocaust books for a non-Jewish kid, including Anne Frank's Diary, but it never really was a reality until today I think. Walking in that house and seeing those actual rooms, objects, writings and people. Videos of the real people talking about their memories of what happened. It's a good museum. Go stand in line and walk through it. It's not big, but it is worth the 8.50 and the wait. Especially if you've read Anne's Diary.
After that experience, which was concluded with a video of Otto Frank talking about his daughter and her diary, I walked back to the Canal Bus stop and rested by the canal for a while waiting for it. When it arrived I hopped back on and we continued our route towards the Rijksmuseum, which is right next to the Van Gogh museum I visited last week. When we arrived, I got off and decided that I was going to go into the Rijksmuseum and see the Nightwatch, since apparently it's important or something. So I did. And now I understand.
The building behind the wall with the panels on the side is the Rijksmuseum
Most of the Rijksmuseum is being renovated right now so they don't have their whole collection available, but they did have all the important pieces and some Dutch finery. The bottom floor was dedicated to Dutch history and had ships, some paintings, Delftware (thats the Dutch porcelain with the blue dyes) and some metal work. Nothing too intriguing for me. Upstairs was the good stuff. I'm not normally a huge painting person, but for some reason today I was (just like the day I went to Van Gogh, maybe I'm more interested when I pay?). Anyway, while walking through the rooms, there was one artist who had a few paintings up who I liked a lot: Pieter Jansz Saenredam. I thought his composition was cool, and sort of like my photography. I looked at all the Rembrandt and Degas stuff they had up and came to the conclusion that Degas was rather handsome and Rembrandt wasn't really.
Then I walked into the room with the Nightwatch. Most people are impressed by its size, I think. Having seen many large paintings in galleries world wide (the British National Gallery, for example) that wasn't really what surprised me. What caught me was the detail! I stood staring at the thing for what must have been 10 minutes trying to see it all. I don't think I had, until today, ever seen the image before, but now it might be my favorite painting ever. The print I bought of it (on a postcard) doesn't even begin to do it justice though. I'm not sure any duplicate could. There's just no reproducing the way the man in gold jumps off the canvas, or the glitter on each gentleman's hat, or the dimensionality of the rifles. Not happening on a print. I knew that when I was looking at it, which is probably why I stared for so long. Though now, I wish I had stayed even longer.
After the Rijksmuseum, I wandered around a little and eventually got back on the Canal Bus, which meandered it's way back to Centraal, where I caught the train back to Den Haag. My last train ride... followed by my last tram ride, followed by my last time keying in to the apartment. I will miss it here, I like it a lot.
I then set about helping Peter and Jen eat all of the remaining food, before we discovered we needed to go out to get more. Then we went out to one of the restaurants and Jen and I split some pasta. Then we got some ice cream and came back to pack.
I'm all packed now, all 3 of us are taking a taxi to the airport in the morning (their flight for Boston leaves very shortly after mine to Philly). I will tweet when I return to the states. I go to Philadelphia, then Charlotte, then SFO, but we'll see if that sticks.
A reflection post will come with my photo album links in a few days :)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Hangin' in the Hague
So, the past couple days have been somewhat rearranged from plan and been a bit less eventful than planned, therefore, I don't have much to report.
Yesterday Jen and Peter returned in the morning from their trip to Georgia. After a chill morning Jen and I ran some errands, went out to lunch at one of the restaurants on the boardwalk and then went out to the water to put our feet in. For something called the North Sea the water was warm! I mean, it was still cold, but compared to the usual temperature of the Pacific at home it was much warmer. It may be because it's late summer, so I'll have to go to the beach again at home and do some comparison.
Last night we went to a dinner party with the interns at one of their apartments. It was a good time :)
Today Jen and I went to Leiden and Wassenaar (aka places Jen has lived in Holland). In Leiden we went to her favorite Pannekoeken house. I think the pictures will speak for themselves:
Said pancake as large as my torso had cheese and ginger in it. I know that sounds like a weird combination, and I was skeptical at first, but actually it was quite tasty! Which was good, because I never would have been able to decide between the two separately.
Anyway, after the pancakes, we walked around the center of Leiden a bit. There were windmills.
Then we caught a bus towards Wassenaar, which is situated between Leiden and the Hague. We got off first at a place near the house that Jen lived in when she was in 6th grade. (Bethy also lived near there in her youth, for those keeping track). We walked around a bit and passed by Jen's old house, and then sat in a park for a bit. Then we got back on the bus and went to the center of town where we walked through the shopping area and stopped at the famed candy shop that Jen has brought me candy from. I got a whole lot, so those of you at home can have some. We then returned to the apartment and rested for a while before we went out to dinner with Peter and an old intern who is currently living in the Hague. We went to a really tasty chinese restaurant (it helped that said intern is from China and knew the restaurant well). After eating, Jen and I had a meeting with a friend at a nearby Irish pub called O'Casey's, where they were having a trivia night. It was a lot of fun! We met a lot of other interns from the various tribunals in the Hague. It was fun :) I sort of like hanging out with lawyers to be. I still don't want to be one though... too much rule following I think.
Tomorrow I am going back to Amsterdam tomorrow to go to Anne Frank Huis and possibly also the Rijksmuseum. We'll see. Going to try to be brave and get a water taxi too. Then I have to pack :( I'll be all trip summary in my post tomorrow night.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
A Tour of the EU Capital
Brussels, that is.
Today I woke up around 9, got myself ready and got on a 10:30 train to Brussels, Belgium. Yes. I went to another country and came back in the space of 8 hours. The middle of another country, even. Much like my experience in Paris, the amount of time I had really didn't let me actually do very much, but I did see a lot of things and I can legitimately say I have been to Brussels. I even have 25 euro worth of Belgian chocolate to prove it! And a few train and bus tickets. And some photos.
Before I tell you all about my day in the capital of the EU though, I'd like to discuss something I have learned about myself. I am a very shy tourist when I'm traveling by myself. I want to be completely inconspicuous all the time. I either do this by not looking like a tourist in areas where there aren't a lot of tourists OR by looking completely like a tourist where there are lots. I don't really much enjoy looking like a tourist at any time, since it limits where I am comfortable wandering. Unfortunately for me, speaking the language is part of blending in, so when I'm in a country where I don't speak the language I have to stay where the tourists are regardless of how local I may look. I had this problem to an extreme degree today, where I did not have it yesterday in Delft.
In Delft, while they do mostly speak Dutch, I could avoid talking to anyone and wander about looking normal (with my skinny jeans, cute flats, scarf and side bag I looked plenty Euro) along the quiet streets. I didn't need to go into any restaurants and could just get some frites from a fast food type stall. Easy. Quiet. Inconspicuous.
In Brussels, everyone speaks French and talking to them is somewhat necessary as you're bouncing about from shop to restaurant to tourist attraction and back again. And while they're definitely not snippy about it like the French are (they want you to at least try to say things in French in France, much like Americans are about foreigners speaking English) it's still a pretty large language barrier that it takes a lot of bravery for me to deal with. And that's even with my background in Spanish AND when they all speak English anyway. But, I'm getting ahead of myself, back to the beginning!
I stepped out of Brussels Centraal onto a city street and was promptly baffled. I had half decided on the train that I was going to hop on the nearest touring bus and use that as a way to see the city (because I wasn't sure how walkable, or not, Brussels would be) but the street I stepped out onto had no touring busses. I looked around and walked towards the nearest large looking street and turned the corner to find a bright green double decker bus with a big sign saying "City Sightseeing!" Naturally, according to my plan, I hopped on. A bit steep at 20 Euro, but honestly at the end of the day I saw a lot more on the bus than I would have trying to navigate my own way through the crazy streets of Brussels. Seriously, I did some of that later and nearly got lost a couple times. Anyway, the bus also had a very interesting audio guide that pointed out various buildings and parks along the way from place to place. Conveniently it was also hop-on hop-off, so if there was something I wanted to see closer, all I had to do was get off the bus and I could get back on the next one 20 minutes later.
The first place I got off was, I think, the Palais Royal. (I have to guess because there are about a dozen palaces in central Brussels alone.) I stepped off the bus and walked through the building (which was free!) and saw all manner of royal rooms, portraits and chandeliers. It was like Napolean III's apartments in the Louvre, only Belgian and a whole building. There was a ballroom too! and what was once I think a dining hall of some sort with beautiful paintings on the ceiling, that for some reason the Belgians had decided to use for a science exhibition? They even had a room, a very palatial looking room, with green fabric detailing on the ceiling, filled with Exploratorium type science games. I was very confused. I don't think the Belgians quite get it...
Anyway, some time later I hopped back on the bus for most of the rest of the tour. We went past the Atomium and the Justice Palais (spelled in french on purpose) and the other remains from the 1958 Worlds Fair, the inland harbor and the EU parliament. Along with a bunch of other EU buildings I couldn't name. Eventually we came around to the shopping district (Sablon) and I got off to see the Mannekin Pis (a tiny statue of a boy... well... pissing) and buy my chocolate. Here he is... and me with a dopey face.
So I bought my chocolate and then proceeded to wander about trying to find a place I felt comfortable getting some food/ maybe run into the Tintin museum. I didn't succeed at either really, until I looped back around and went to a place on the same street as the chocolate shop and the Mannekin. That was after I'd bought a Fanta at one place and crossed the same street about 6 times. It was especially hard for me to find a place because it was both an odd time to be eating (about 3:30p) and I was stupid hungry. But, I did find a place, sat down, ordered some spaghetti and ate. I felt much better afterwards, and slowly wandered my way back to the train station. I sort of wish I had actually found Tintin, but it was late and the museum closed at 5 and I knew I probably wouldn't have had enough time in there anyway. It's alright. On my next Europe trip, I will not only have a travel buddy at all times, but I will be spending a night or two in Brussels and will definitely have time to find and see Tintin AND go to mini Europe. This trip just made me familiar with Brussels. I just had enough time to get my bearings, and not really enough time to really be there. But it's really alright, it was a good trip and I know what to do for next time :) I had to mess up at some point on this trip, and if today was it, I've done quite well. I even got chocolate out of it!
Today I woke up around 9, got myself ready and got on a 10:30 train to Brussels, Belgium. Yes. I went to another country and came back in the space of 8 hours. The middle of another country, even. Much like my experience in Paris, the amount of time I had really didn't let me actually do very much, but I did see a lot of things and I can legitimately say I have been to Brussels. I even have 25 euro worth of Belgian chocolate to prove it! And a few train and bus tickets. And some photos.
Before I tell you all about my day in the capital of the EU though, I'd like to discuss something I have learned about myself. I am a very shy tourist when I'm traveling by myself. I want to be completely inconspicuous all the time. I either do this by not looking like a tourist in areas where there aren't a lot of tourists OR by looking completely like a tourist where there are lots. I don't really much enjoy looking like a tourist at any time, since it limits where I am comfortable wandering. Unfortunately for me, speaking the language is part of blending in, so when I'm in a country where I don't speak the language I have to stay where the tourists are regardless of how local I may look. I had this problem to an extreme degree today, where I did not have it yesterday in Delft.
In Delft, while they do mostly speak Dutch, I could avoid talking to anyone and wander about looking normal (with my skinny jeans, cute flats, scarf and side bag I looked plenty Euro) along the quiet streets. I didn't need to go into any restaurants and could just get some frites from a fast food type stall. Easy. Quiet. Inconspicuous.
In Brussels, everyone speaks French and talking to them is somewhat necessary as you're bouncing about from shop to restaurant to tourist attraction and back again. And while they're definitely not snippy about it like the French are (they want you to at least try to say things in French in France, much like Americans are about foreigners speaking English) it's still a pretty large language barrier that it takes a lot of bravery for me to deal with. And that's even with my background in Spanish AND when they all speak English anyway. But, I'm getting ahead of myself, back to the beginning!
I stepped out of Brussels Centraal onto a city street and was promptly baffled. I had half decided on the train that I was going to hop on the nearest touring bus and use that as a way to see the city (because I wasn't sure how walkable, or not, Brussels would be) but the street I stepped out onto had no touring busses. I looked around and walked towards the nearest large looking street and turned the corner to find a bright green double decker bus with a big sign saying "City Sightseeing!" Naturally, according to my plan, I hopped on. A bit steep at 20 Euro, but honestly at the end of the day I saw a lot more on the bus than I would have trying to navigate my own way through the crazy streets of Brussels. Seriously, I did some of that later and nearly got lost a couple times. Anyway, the bus also had a very interesting audio guide that pointed out various buildings and parks along the way from place to place. Conveniently it was also hop-on hop-off, so if there was something I wanted to see closer, all I had to do was get off the bus and I could get back on the next one 20 minutes later.
The first place I got off was, I think, the Palais Royal. (I have to guess because there are about a dozen palaces in central Brussels alone.) I stepped off the bus and walked through the building (which was free!) and saw all manner of royal rooms, portraits and chandeliers. It was like Napolean III's apartments in the Louvre, only Belgian and a whole building. There was a ballroom too! and what was once I think a dining hall of some sort with beautiful paintings on the ceiling, that for some reason the Belgians had decided to use for a science exhibition? They even had a room, a very palatial looking room, with green fabric detailing on the ceiling, filled with Exploratorium type science games. I was very confused. I don't think the Belgians quite get it...
Anyway, some time later I hopped back on the bus for most of the rest of the tour. We went past the Atomium and the Justice Palais (spelled in french on purpose) and the other remains from the 1958 Worlds Fair, the inland harbor and the EU parliament. Along with a bunch of other EU buildings I couldn't name. Eventually we came around to the shopping district (Sablon) and I got off to see the Mannekin Pis (a tiny statue of a boy... well... pissing) and buy my chocolate. Here he is... and me with a dopey face.
So I bought my chocolate and then proceeded to wander about trying to find a place I felt comfortable getting some food/ maybe run into the Tintin museum. I didn't succeed at either really, until I looped back around and went to a place on the same street as the chocolate shop and the Mannekin. That was after I'd bought a Fanta at one place and crossed the same street about 6 times. It was especially hard for me to find a place because it was both an odd time to be eating (about 3:30p) and I was stupid hungry. But, I did find a place, sat down, ordered some spaghetti and ate. I felt much better afterwards, and slowly wandered my way back to the train station. I sort of wish I had actually found Tintin, but it was late and the museum closed at 5 and I knew I probably wouldn't have had enough time in there anyway. It's alright. On my next Europe trip, I will not only have a travel buddy at all times, but I will be spending a night or two in Brussels and will definitely have time to find and see Tintin AND go to mini Europe. This trip just made me familiar with Brussels. I just had enough time to get my bearings, and not really enough time to really be there. But it's really alright, it was a good trip and I know what to do for next time :) I had to mess up at some point on this trip, and if today was it, I've done quite well. I even got chocolate out of it!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Delft!
Today was another relaxed day. I woke up at around 11:30 and slowly got myself together to go out to Delft, which is the town just south of the Hague known for it's pretty buildings.
And well, I went there and saw just that! Unfortunately the famous windmill was down for restoration/ construction, but I did walk through a good deal of the town and it was quite pretty. Very quiet as well, in comparison to the noise of Amsterdam, Paris and even The Hague. It's a nice, residential, rural sort of area. A suburb really. But with some quite pretty cathedrals and official looking buildings. Lots of canals as well. I took many many photos with my nice camera, but none with my phone (partly because I was alone) so I haven't anything to post here. But I did go, and it was nice. I even had some more frites while I was there :) Several swans and other birds approached me to try to steal some, but they weren't brave enough to go after anything I was still holding. Pretty swans though.
On the way back I got off at Kneuterdijk, which is the name for the stop that the Binnenhof is closest to (thats the royal seat in the Hague). I walked through the Binnenhof and past the Maurithuis Museum (which houses the Girl with the Pearl Earring, I plan to go back there Wednesday morning) and along some streets on my way to the Peace Palace, which is about 2 tram stops up. I wandered into a series of outdoor sculptures on the way and finally photographed a church I had seen from the tram half a dozen times. My feet were quite tired and it was about closing time when I arrived at the Peace Palace, but I did get some photos of the outside to go with my photos of the mini version in Madurodam. I then hopped on the tram to Keizerstraat, where I found a post office and mailed my 3 Parissien postcards. I bought another 3 in Delft that I will write sometime later this week and then pop into the nearest bright orange mailbox before I leave. After all that I returned to the apartment and rested for an hour or so before discovering I needed somethings from Albert Heijn (which I spelled wrong last time I think) so I took the bike out there quickly to grab the things I need. I eat a lot of cheese here, but its SO DELICIOUS. I also got some wine on this trip. The bottle claims its a Bordeaux Rosé. It's alright, a bit drier than I like though. Goes well with the chocolate I bought.
Speaking of chocolate, tomorrow I go to Brussels, Belgium! Just for the day. I already have my walking route mapped out on my travel book's map. I will be buying lots of chocolate. I'm excited. Next blog will be either tomorrow night late, or Wednesday. I can't believe I've been here a week!
And well, I went there and saw just that! Unfortunately the famous windmill was down for restoration/ construction, but I did walk through a good deal of the town and it was quite pretty. Very quiet as well, in comparison to the noise of Amsterdam, Paris and even The Hague. It's a nice, residential, rural sort of area. A suburb really. But with some quite pretty cathedrals and official looking buildings. Lots of canals as well. I took many many photos with my nice camera, but none with my phone (partly because I was alone) so I haven't anything to post here. But I did go, and it was nice. I even had some more frites while I was there :) Several swans and other birds approached me to try to steal some, but they weren't brave enough to go after anything I was still holding. Pretty swans though.
On the way back I got off at Kneuterdijk, which is the name for the stop that the Binnenhof is closest to (thats the royal seat in the Hague). I walked through the Binnenhof and past the Maurithuis Museum (which houses the Girl with the Pearl Earring, I plan to go back there Wednesday morning) and along some streets on my way to the Peace Palace, which is about 2 tram stops up. I wandered into a series of outdoor sculptures on the way and finally photographed a church I had seen from the tram half a dozen times. My feet were quite tired and it was about closing time when I arrived at the Peace Palace, but I did get some photos of the outside to go with my photos of the mini version in Madurodam. I then hopped on the tram to Keizerstraat, where I found a post office and mailed my 3 Parissien postcards. I bought another 3 in Delft that I will write sometime later this week and then pop into the nearest bright orange mailbox before I leave. After all that I returned to the apartment and rested for an hour or so before discovering I needed somethings from Albert Heijn (which I spelled wrong last time I think) so I took the bike out there quickly to grab the things I need. I eat a lot of cheese here, but its SO DELICIOUS. I also got some wine on this trip. The bottle claims its a Bordeaux Rosé. It's alright, a bit drier than I like though. Goes well with the chocolate I bought.
Speaking of chocolate, tomorrow I go to Brussels, Belgium! Just for the day. I already have my walking route mapped out on my travel book's map. I will be buying lots of chocolate. I'm excited. Next blog will be either tomorrow night late, or Wednesday. I can't believe I've been here a week!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
A Walking Tour of Amsterdam
We met in Den Haag Centraal station, where we hopped on an intercity train to Amsterdam. The same train that I took from the airport to Den Haag last week, only in the other direction. When we arrived we stopped to buy some coffee and then walked over to Saint Nicolasskirk, which is near the station.
It was very pretty inside. I took several pictures with my phone, since I decided to leave my big camera at home for this trip. I'm going back to Amsterdam though so never fear my photography inclined friends, there will be plenty of nice Amsterdam photos to look at later.
After a peek inside the church, Bethy lead me through the Green and Red Light districts. It was day time, so they were fairly quiet, but there were still girls in the windows in the Red Light. She explained to me how Red Light businesses are marked throughout the city, and that a coffeehouse is NOT where someone gets a cup a' joe. Not that I couldn't already tell of course, since I could smell it. Amsterdam is a silly town.
We then headed towards Dam square. We stopped for street frites with fritessaus on the way. They were delicious! I don't know why we call them french fries at home, we should call them dutch fries, but then maybe we call them french because they pale in comparison. (No offense to french food of course.) I think I saw a place in the Hague that sells them earlier today. I will have to stop by next time I'm in Centrum and get them because they were AMAZING. Anyway, the delicious frites aside, when we arrived in Dam square, we happened upon the Homeless Cup. According to Bethy, this is a series of football (soccer) games played by homeless men from various towns in the Netherlands and all the proceeds go to charities that help these men. Holland is so cool. We should have something like this in the US. Really. Someone who plays more sports than me start this. I'll help with marketing. Here's a photo that includes the tents (as well as the Queens seat in Amsterdam).
We spent a few moments watching the game while we finished our frites, and then we walked in the direction of the Museumplein. It was a bit of a walk, but not too bad. We walked by the Bloomenmarkt on the way. That's the famous flower market, but it was all bulbs at this time of year. I wish I could bring some back to the states for my mother's yard, but I don't think California would be pleased (sorry Mom).
When we reached the Museumplein, we stopped by the "I amsterdam" sign for a photo (below) before heading to the Van Gogh Museum.
The museum itself was very interesting, and just the right size for the amount of time I wanted to spent in a museum that day. It was really cool to see Van Gogh's early work along with the paintings everyone knows. I saw a lot of paintings I had never seen before along with a lot of familiar ones. We saw the recently restored Bedroom in Arles, it's so bright now! I don't think there is an image of it since the most recent restoration on the internet, but it's quite colorful. One of the most interesting things that the museum has done with Van Gogh's work is try to figure out what he painted on top of, since he is known for reusing his canvasses. They had xray images of several paintings and all sorts of interesting details about how he did his work. Maybe it's because I'm an adult now, or because it's a famous artist, but I really enjoyed our visit.
After the museum, Bethy knew of a nearby bakery that we walked to. I got a Croque Monsieur and it was delicious! I feel like I've had one before now, but I don't know where. Perhaps in Puerto Rico. Regardless, it was a warm sandwich with ham and mayonnaise inside and cheese toasted onto the outside. Yum.
At this point, I was pretty tired of walking, so we went to find a tram that would take us back to Amsterdam Centraal. On the way we walked through part of Vondelpark, which is very pretty, and past a movie theater showing a Jack Nicholson film festival. There was a fancy looking party happening on the balcony.
We did find the tram soon thereafter and rode back through town, passing some places we had been earlier. We then took the train back, and I stopped at Lush on the way home to get a bath bomb to help ease my feet.
Once I returned to the apartment, I relaxed for a little while and then went out again to Albert Hein, which is the main grocery chain here in the Netherlands. I took the bike which Peter has lent me, and followed the route that we took on Wednesday morning. I bought all sorts of practical things, including veggies, cheese and bread. I already know that I will miss dutch cheese dearly when I return to the states. It's better than any cheese I have had at home. The jong cheese tastes like... maybe mild cheddar but better, and the old cheese definitely tastes like white cheddar but again, better. I also bought some fresh pasta and spinach sauce which I ate for dinner last night. My evening was pretty relaxed after that, and I slept very early.
Today I spent in the Hague, having a rest day. I went to lunch with Bethy in Centrum, and took a bike trip to Hema up here in Scheveningen (on Keizerstraat, a cute shopping area), which was near my destination of a bookstore with a post office. But the bookstore was closed, so I just went to Hema and bought a pen, since I forgot to bring one. I rode back part way along the beach and it was nice and sunny.
Then here I am, sitting at the table in the apartment facing the window looking out on the beach, listening to the chaos of karaoke and real bands playing in the various clubs along the boardwalk.
Tomorrow I am going to Delft!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Two days in Paris
When I first told people I was only going to Paris for two days, they looked at me and said "only??" as if it was impossible to get around and see everything one would want in that period of time. I'm not saying it was easy, and I'm not saying I have no need to go back, but Jen and I managed my full list of monuments and we still had time to sleep and go shopping.
We left early Thursday morning for the train, and travelled by tram, intercity train, high-speed Thalys and the Paris metro to arrive at the hostel in Paris. Our travels were not without their mistakes, as we went the wrong direction on the Paris metro towards a suburban town called "Louvres" instead of the single stop to the mid-town hub where we would transfer to get to the Musee du Louvre. In the end we got there alright, if a little irritable.
We spent the rest of Thursday walking around. After eating at a streetside cafe, and witnessing some rather heavy rain, we decided to go to the shops on Rue de Rivoli. So, we did that, and it became sunny again! After a little shopping, we decided to walk down to the river and follow it in the direction of the Champs-Elysees, since I wanted to see where the Tour de France bikes had been less than a week before. The river walkways and bridges were very pretty and I took several pictures of them and the many large, architecturally interesting buildings we passed along the way. [I will upload the photos from the Canon Rebel I have been using when I return.] When we reached the Tuileries, we turned away from the river and went to the Ferris Wheel, where we had some crepes and took a ride. The view from the top was gorgeous. After our ride we walked through the Tuileries towards the Obelisk and the Arc de Triomph. We made a few stops on the way, and switched to the metro for part of the way up the Champs-Elysees (we were both tired by this point), but eventually we reached the Arc de Triomph, located the underground passage and went up to it to take photos.
It was certainly interesting to look down the Champs-Elysees and see the Obelisk and the Louvre back down where we started. After some very touristy behavior, we stopped at a nearby cafe for some drinks (Orangina!) before heading back into the subway to go to the Tour Eiffel. We got out of the subway just as they turned on the lights on the tower, and followed the herds in the general direction of the base. We then, of course, took the proper number of photos:
After photographing the Tour and the river, we decided it was best to take a taxi back to the hostel, since we were hot and tired and our feet hurt. So, I can say I have ridden a taxi in Paris and I didn't die, though I'm pretty sure Paris is a more dangerous city for pedestrians, given the way people drive. Within 5 minutes of being out of the metro in Paris, we saw a fender-bender at a cross walk. No one was hurt, but still!
Friday morning we woke to a free breakfast at the hostel (jam, fresh bread, hot chocolate and juice) and headed over to the Musee du Louvre. After walking through the relatively fast paced line we arrived inside the pyramid and went down to purchase tickets into the galleries, which were 10 Euro. Not bad! Jen and I definitely didn't get to everything, but we went to see the things that I knew would be interesting the whole time and never boring. Someday I will go back and visit the painting galleries that we did not visit this time around. We first went to the Mona Lisa, since I figured the crowds would be smaller since it was early. It was still crowded, but not so much so that it was extremely difficult to get this photo:
We then walked through almost the entire Egyptian gallery and some of the Greek and Roman stuff. The most interesting things there were the ink on papyrus writings and drawings. Those were so cool to see!! I took some pictures with my camera, they'll be up later with the others :). We also went through Napolean III's apartments. Fancy!
After the Louvre, the last thing on my list was Notre Dame. After some lunch and the most delicious quiche I have ever eaten, we took the metro to Cite, got off and walked the block and a half to Notre Dame. We took some photos and rested outside for a few moments before getting in line to enter.
The inside was so pretty! But very dark so I only have photos from the nice camera. I'm glad I made a point of going here.
After Notre Dame, Jen and I took the metro back to the shopping district where we used the restroom in the super nice McDonald's on Rue du Rivoli. Seriously. It's all digitized and well lit and nice. It was sort of odd. After, we went into some stores and I bought a pair of skinny jeans so I could be fashionable walking around Europe. Everyone here wears skinny jeans, all the time. This new pair are actually quite comfortable!
After that we went to a creperie and had another small meal and drank some French wine. We got the Rose, since most of the other wines looked drier than is to either of our tastes. It was quite good! After a long rest there, we toodled our way back to the hostel, stopping at some souvenir shops on the way, got our bags and took the metro back to the station for the Thalys. We got on the train fine, but then it was delayed for an hour and a half! We did not return to the apartment in the Hague until around midnight, at which point I promptly went to sleep.
Today I go to Amsterdam! Perhaps another post tonight. If not, tomorrow. I am loving Europe so far!
We left early Thursday morning for the train, and travelled by tram, intercity train, high-speed Thalys and the Paris metro to arrive at the hostel in Paris. Our travels were not without their mistakes, as we went the wrong direction on the Paris metro towards a suburban town called "Louvres" instead of the single stop to the mid-town hub where we would transfer to get to the Musee du Louvre. In the end we got there alright, if a little irritable.
We spent the rest of Thursday walking around. After eating at a streetside cafe, and witnessing some rather heavy rain, we decided to go to the shops on Rue de Rivoli. So, we did that, and it became sunny again! After a little shopping, we decided to walk down to the river and follow it in the direction of the Champs-Elysees, since I wanted to see where the Tour de France bikes had been less than a week before. The river walkways and bridges were very pretty and I took several pictures of them and the many large, architecturally interesting buildings we passed along the way. [I will upload the photos from the Canon Rebel I have been using when I return.] When we reached the Tuileries, we turned away from the river and went to the Ferris Wheel, where we had some crepes and took a ride. The view from the top was gorgeous. After our ride we walked through the Tuileries towards the Obelisk and the Arc de Triomph. We made a few stops on the way, and switched to the metro for part of the way up the Champs-Elysees (we were both tired by this point), but eventually we reached the Arc de Triomph, located the underground passage and went up to it to take photos.
You'll never believe this was at around 8pm!
It was certainly interesting to look down the Champs-Elysees and see the Obelisk and the Louvre back down where we started. After some very touristy behavior, we stopped at a nearby cafe for some drinks (Orangina!) before heading back into the subway to go to the Tour Eiffel. We got out of the subway just as they turned on the lights on the tower, and followed the herds in the general direction of the base. We then, of course, took the proper number of photos:
After photographing the Tour and the river, we decided it was best to take a taxi back to the hostel, since we were hot and tired and our feet hurt. So, I can say I have ridden a taxi in Paris and I didn't die, though I'm pretty sure Paris is a more dangerous city for pedestrians, given the way people drive. Within 5 minutes of being out of the metro in Paris, we saw a fender-bender at a cross walk. No one was hurt, but still!
Friday morning we woke to a free breakfast at the hostel (jam, fresh bread, hot chocolate and juice) and headed over to the Musee du Louvre. After walking through the relatively fast paced line we arrived inside the pyramid and went down to purchase tickets into the galleries, which were 10 Euro. Not bad! Jen and I definitely didn't get to everything, but we went to see the things that I knew would be interesting the whole time and never boring. Someday I will go back and visit the painting galleries that we did not visit this time around. We first went to the Mona Lisa, since I figured the crowds would be smaller since it was early. It was still crowded, but not so much so that it was extremely difficult to get this photo:
We then walked through almost the entire Egyptian gallery and some of the Greek and Roman stuff. The most interesting things there were the ink on papyrus writings and drawings. Those were so cool to see!! I took some pictures with my camera, they'll be up later with the others :). We also went through Napolean III's apartments. Fancy!
After the Louvre, the last thing on my list was Notre Dame. After some lunch and the most delicious quiche I have ever eaten, we took the metro to Cite, got off and walked the block and a half to Notre Dame. We took some photos and rested outside for a few moments before getting in line to enter.
After Notre Dame, Jen and I took the metro back to the shopping district where we used the restroom in the super nice McDonald's on Rue du Rivoli. Seriously. It's all digitized and well lit and nice. It was sort of odd. After, we went into some stores and I bought a pair of skinny jeans so I could be fashionable walking around Europe. Everyone here wears skinny jeans, all the time. This new pair are actually quite comfortable!
After that we went to a creperie and had another small meal and drank some French wine. We got the Rose, since most of the other wines looked drier than is to either of our tastes. It was quite good! After a long rest there, we toodled our way back to the hostel, stopping at some souvenir shops on the way, got our bags and took the metro back to the station for the Thalys. We got on the train fine, but then it was delayed for an hour and a half! We did not return to the apartment in the Hague until around midnight, at which point I promptly went to sleep.
Today I go to Amsterdam! Perhaps another post tonight. If not, tomorrow. I am loving Europe so far!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Hague: Madurodam and meet the interns!
Today was quite busy! Well, after 11 anyway.
I woke up early due to jet lag, and was up and about at around 6:30. I went to the grocery store with Peter, and in the process learned several dutch words and how the bicycles work. After Jenni woke up, we decided we would go to the ICTY (International Tribunal for Yugoslavia, operated by the UN, which Peter works at) for lunch with the interns and then on to Madurodam and Centrum in the afternoon.
The ICTY was very high security (I had to give them my passport in exchange for my visitors pass) and I obviously didnt get to see much, but it was cool to be on the premises of such a famous and important institution. The interns were, of course, entertaining :).
After eating and chatting, Jen and I walked the approximate 1km to Madurodam, which is, for those who don't know, Holland in miniature. Here's the view from the tram stop:
We then went inside, and Jen played tour guide, reading from the booklet about each building we found interesting, and I took pictures. They'll all show up later in my Netherlands album. For now, have a photo of me recieving my 1 Euro souvenir from a clog factory truck and a self pic of Jen and I at Madurodam :)
I woke up early due to jet lag, and was up and about at around 6:30. I went to the grocery store with Peter, and in the process learned several dutch words and how the bicycles work. After Jenni woke up, we decided we would go to the ICTY (International Tribunal for Yugoslavia, operated by the UN, which Peter works at) for lunch with the interns and then on to Madurodam and Centrum in the afternoon.
The ICTY was very high security (I had to give them my passport in exchange for my visitors pass) and I obviously didnt get to see much, but it was cool to be on the premises of such a famous and important institution. The interns were, of course, entertaining :).
After eating and chatting, Jen and I walked the approximate 1km to Madurodam, which is, for those who don't know, Holland in miniature. Here's the view from the tram stop:
Hooray!
After Madurodam, we took a brief rest back at the apartment and then headed back out to the center of town to do some shopping. I got a new wallet that functions better for all the euro coins. It has some hedgehogs on it, and thus makes me smile. After that, we walked to one of the interns/ a friends apartment for dinner, wine and conversation. It was a very good evening. :)
Tomorrow early, Jen and I head to Paris for our 1 night stay. Probably no posts until Saturday evening. See you then!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Arrivals
I did it! It was somewhat terrifying, aggravating, thrilling etc, but my journey across 9 time zones has concluded sans injury. I am here, sitting on the couch in the Robinson's apartment in The Hague, on my best friend's computer typing away about my journey while the oven heats up. Once it's warm I can put the Dutch version of Bagel Bites (they come in Hawaiian!) in, and then I can have foods. I haven't eaten since late dinner on the plane. It's been a bit hectic okay?
Anyway, either you all read my tweets or it will be long boring tale. I will give you the highlights from before I arrived in Holland, before I left San Francisco even.
I arrived at SFO plenty early this morning, checked in, went through security and even had breakfast before boarding the plane to Philadelphia. Everything went to plan until we were out of the gate and the captain checked his weather map. At which point, everything fell apart, not because of the weather, but because of the map. The weather radar on the plane was apparently broken. So, we sat on the plane hoping they'd fix it. They took too long, so they pulled everyone off the plane and sent the international passengers down to purgatory in the bag claim area while one person worked on all 50 of our transfers to different flights and/or carriers. You can imagine that did not go well. Somewhere along the line, I and another woman travelling alone to Amsterdam, heard about two seats on a Delta flight. So we went upstairs and managed to get ahold of...one. We ro sham bo'd for it. I won. I am here now, instead of tomorrow. Yes. My travel plans hinged on whether I picked scissors or rock. I picked scissors, it all worked out.
My flights themselves were fairly uneventful, except for my lovely position in children-to-young-to-ride-planes central on the flight to Amsterdam. I didn't sleep as much as I'd have liked to, but at this point I think I'll be okay until this evening. It helps to have only half the day instead of the originally planned whole day.
Upon arrival, I walked right up to the immigration counter, the guy took my passport and stamped it with hardly a glance. I knew instantaneously that I was in fact, not in Kansas anymore. Customs was merely a gate that said "No items to declare." There wasn't even a person there! Either the Netherlands is super laid back about stuff that comes in, or the US is a total stickler (probably both of those things actually.)
Anyway, it was at about this time that I had a scare of sorts. I went to the ATM that was on the back side of the exchange booth inside the baggage claim area. I would've gone to the front if there were a person, but no one was working. So I went to the ATM and tried to withdraw 450 Euro. It looked like it worked, and it spat my card back out, but it didn't give me any money. Naturally I was confused and distressed. That was most of my funds for the trip and if the stupid airport ATM had eaten them I was going to be very very sad. I knew that that wasnt all of my funds however, and I needed 20 Euro to get to the Hague (it was actually about 10, at the end of the day) so I bravely tried again and it behaved perfectly, giving me 20 Euro and a confirmation screen. Okay, I thought, I didn't get the confirmation screen last time, maybe it hasn't gone through and it was just too much. So I tried the top listed amount, 250 Euro. It said "you don't have enough money for that," which gave me a minor panic, since I knew that even with the 450 Euro evaporated I should still have 250 Euro. So I tried 100. Again, it behaved like a little sheep and did exactly as it was told. I came out with a 20 Euro and 2 50 Euro bills, and a worry that my money had been taken away. I took a photo with my phone of the "problems?" placard, just in case.
The next dilemma was tickets for the train to the Hague. I first stood in line for a while at one of the yellow ticket stands, but soon realized that none of them take cash. It took me a couple minutes, but I eventually located the well labeled train ticket booth where a nice lady gave me a ticket for 7,90 (they use commas for Euro cents, instead of periods) and told me that I needed to go to platforms 5 and 6 (which is something I already knew, thanks to Jenni) and that the train left in 5 minutes. I dashed off to the platform, and discovered, happily, that not only are such trains bright yellow, they're double decker! I rode on the bottom level since I had my luggage, but next time... :D
The train ride was fairly uneventful and mostly filled with me reviewing Jenni's directions for once I got to the Hague and fretting over the confusing ATM. Once I arrived, I found my way to the tram stop, awkwardly made my way onto the tram with much too much stuff, and rode the tram to the proper spot. It took me a little bit of wandering and guessing, but I found my way to the apartment and got settled in.
Then I became hungry, and since I am forbidden from sleeping, I decided to go investigate the grocery Jenni had told me about. The apartment is situated on the coast in Scheveningen, which is very touristy area. There is a boardwalk, populated by half a dozen gimmicky looking restaurants and a promenade filled with clothing shops. I walked through all this, observing that while most Dutch people speak English, they normally speak Dutch and throw in the occasional English phrase. Restaurants and sign-makers operate like this too. It's rather odd. Anyway, I walked past all that and the somewhat tempting Dutch Burger King and located "Deli - Food Shopping" where I purchased, for just under 6 Euro a bag of baby carrots, the aforementioned Dutch Bagel Bites, and a bag of Croky Superfrites because the bag amused me.
I also discovered that eggs are really expensive here? Maybe I was looking at it wrong but it looked like a box of 4 was 11 Euro! That seems very...incorrect.
On the way back, I walked by the famous Kurhaus hotel. I will take better pictures later with the good camera, but as I was just on a food excursion all I had was my phone and a lame angle.
That's all for now, sorry for the VERY LONG post. They should be shorter in the future.
Nap time!
Anyway, either you all read my tweets or it will be long boring tale. I will give you the highlights from before I arrived in Holland, before I left San Francisco even.
I arrived at SFO plenty early this morning, checked in, went through security and even had breakfast before boarding the plane to Philadelphia. Everything went to plan until we were out of the gate and the captain checked his weather map. At which point, everything fell apart, not because of the weather, but because of the map. The weather radar on the plane was apparently broken. So, we sat on the plane hoping they'd fix it. They took too long, so they pulled everyone off the plane and sent the international passengers down to purgatory in the bag claim area while one person worked on all 50 of our transfers to different flights and/or carriers. You can imagine that did not go well. Somewhere along the line, I and another woman travelling alone to Amsterdam, heard about two seats on a Delta flight. So we went upstairs and managed to get ahold of...one. We ro sham bo'd for it. I won. I am here now, instead of tomorrow. Yes. My travel plans hinged on whether I picked scissors or rock. I picked scissors, it all worked out.
My flights themselves were fairly uneventful, except for my lovely position in children-to-young-to-ride-planes central on the flight to Amsterdam. I didn't sleep as much as I'd have liked to, but at this point I think I'll be okay until this evening. It helps to have only half the day instead of the originally planned whole day.
Upon arrival, I walked right up to the immigration counter, the guy took my passport and stamped it with hardly a glance. I knew instantaneously that I was in fact, not in Kansas anymore. Customs was merely a gate that said "No items to declare." There wasn't even a person there! Either the Netherlands is super laid back about stuff that comes in, or the US is a total stickler (probably both of those things actually.)
Anyway, it was at about this time that I had a scare of sorts. I went to the ATM that was on the back side of the exchange booth inside the baggage claim area. I would've gone to the front if there were a person, but no one was working. So I went to the ATM and tried to withdraw 450 Euro. It looked like it worked, and it spat my card back out, but it didn't give me any money. Naturally I was confused and distressed. That was most of my funds for the trip and if the stupid airport ATM had eaten them I was going to be very very sad. I knew that that wasnt all of my funds however, and I needed 20 Euro to get to the Hague (it was actually about 10, at the end of the day) so I bravely tried again and it behaved perfectly, giving me 20 Euro and a confirmation screen. Okay, I thought, I didn't get the confirmation screen last time, maybe it hasn't gone through and it was just too much. So I tried the top listed amount, 250 Euro. It said "you don't have enough money for that," which gave me a minor panic, since I knew that even with the 450 Euro evaporated I should still have 250 Euro. So I tried 100. Again, it behaved like a little sheep and did exactly as it was told. I came out with a 20 Euro and 2 50 Euro bills, and a worry that my money had been taken away. I took a photo with my phone of the "problems?" placard, just in case.
The next dilemma was tickets for the train to the Hague. I first stood in line for a while at one of the yellow ticket stands, but soon realized that none of them take cash. It took me a couple minutes, but I eventually located the well labeled train ticket booth where a nice lady gave me a ticket for 7,90 (they use commas for Euro cents, instead of periods) and told me that I needed to go to platforms 5 and 6 (which is something I already knew, thanks to Jenni) and that the train left in 5 minutes. I dashed off to the platform, and discovered, happily, that not only are such trains bright yellow, they're double decker! I rode on the bottom level since I had my luggage, but next time... :D
The train ride was fairly uneventful and mostly filled with me reviewing Jenni's directions for once I got to the Hague and fretting over the confusing ATM. Once I arrived, I found my way to the tram stop, awkwardly made my way onto the tram with much too much stuff, and rode the tram to the proper spot. It took me a little bit of wandering and guessing, but I found my way to the apartment and got settled in.
Then I became hungry, and since I am forbidden from sleeping, I decided to go investigate the grocery Jenni had told me about. The apartment is situated on the coast in Scheveningen, which is very touristy area. There is a boardwalk, populated by half a dozen gimmicky looking restaurants and a promenade filled with clothing shops. I walked through all this, observing that while most Dutch people speak English, they normally speak Dutch and throw in the occasional English phrase. Restaurants and sign-makers operate like this too. It's rather odd. Anyway, I walked past all that and the somewhat tempting Dutch Burger King and located "Deli - Food Shopping" where I purchased, for just under 6 Euro a bag of baby carrots, the aforementioned Dutch Bagel Bites, and a bag of Croky Superfrites because the bag amused me.
I also discovered that eggs are really expensive here? Maybe I was looking at it wrong but it looked like a box of 4 was 11 Euro! That seems very...incorrect.
On the way back, I walked by the famous Kurhaus hotel. I will take better pictures later with the good camera, but as I was just on a food excursion all I had was my phone and a lame angle.
That's all for now, sorry for the VERY LONG post. They should be shorter in the future.
Nap time!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Packed and Ready!
Tomorrow morning I board a plane in SFO headed for Philadelphia and then on to Amsterdam!
Keep an eye on my twitter (Midna07 or the feed over there -->) for updates on my air travels!
All of my things are packed, the confirmation for the hostel in Paris (Thursday and Friday's adventure) is sent, my clothes are laid out and all that is left is to charge my cell phone and stay up as late as possible.
I will post again when I have braved my way across Holland to get to the Robinson's apartment in Den Haag! See you then!
Keep an eye on my twitter (Midna07 or the feed over there -->) for updates on my air travels!
All of my things are packed, the confirmation for the hostel in Paris (Thursday and Friday's adventure) is sent, my clothes are laid out and all that is left is to charge my cell phone and stay up as late as possible.
I will post again when I have braved my way across Holland to get to the Robinson's apartment in Den Haag! See you then!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Hallo!
Welcome to my blog for my upcoming trip to the Netherlands!
For those of you that don't know, I will be going on a trip to the Netherlands (and Paris) in 2.5 days. I leave Monday morning, and will arrive in Amsterdam the following morning. That will be around 11pm here in PST. The time difference is +9 hours for Amsterdam time. (For those of you in mountain time, that's +8.) I will be staying at Jenni's father's apartment in The Hague for the majority of the trip (Hooray!). I will arrive back on the evening of August 6th.
My plan is to post here daily/ almost daily and use it as a journal of sorts that I can share with all of you! I figure this will be easier than trying to tell all of you about everything when I get back, and nicer on my fingers than actually journalling like I have in the past. Also, I can add photos :) Therefore, I will try to remember to share to Facebook, G+ and Twitter when I post (since blogger doesn't do it automatically to my knowledge, though it might to G+) BUT as that might come out sort of spammy, if you want to read every post as they happen you should bookmark and check back!
Todays preparatory tasks include shopping, so I had better get on that!
For those of you that don't know, I will be going on a trip to the Netherlands (and Paris) in 2.5 days. I leave Monday morning, and will arrive in Amsterdam the following morning. That will be around 11pm here in PST. The time difference is +9 hours for Amsterdam time. (For those of you in mountain time, that's +8.) I will be staying at Jenni's father's apartment in The Hague for the majority of the trip (Hooray!). I will arrive back on the evening of August 6th.
My plan is to post here daily/ almost daily and use it as a journal of sorts that I can share with all of you! I figure this will be easier than trying to tell all of you about everything when I get back, and nicer on my fingers than actually journalling like I have in the past. Also, I can add photos :) Therefore, I will try to remember to share to Facebook, G+ and Twitter when I post (since blogger doesn't do it automatically to my knowledge, though it might to G+) BUT as that might come out sort of spammy, if you want to read every post as they happen you should bookmark and check back!
Todays preparatory tasks include shopping, so I had better get on that!
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