I’m pretty behind in my blogs, but I’m doing my best to catch up! I don’t want the same thing to happen as last year, where half my trip is still un-recorded nearly nine months later. Haha.

So the 13 hour night bus from Copenhagen was not the most pleasant thing I have ever experienced, but it was far from the worst. I think I have even had less pleasant plane rides. So overall, not horrible.

I didn’t get too much sleep, yet I was also very unproductive as far as writing or blogging goes. I had even purchased a keyboard for the ride, thinking I might start a novel or something. Ha! I think I gave up after spending so long trying to figure out the Danish keys and trying to prop my phone up in a way where I could still see the screen while typing.

The worst part was about four hours in, when we stopped in a town on the mainland of Denmark and a group of rowdy Danish teens got on. I’d had the row to myself until then, and I’d been able to curl up to nap. But this group came on, and the loudest of them all chose me as her victim. She basically put her bags on top of my feet as and subtle way of waking me up and alerting me or her presence, as though her yelling to her friends had not done so already. She and her friends spent the next four hours chatting loudly to each other, apparently unaware that it was two in the morning and everyone else on the bus was silently trying to get some shut-eye.

I was so thankful when they got off in Hamburg, but another lady took her place next to me. She didn’t make a peep the entire ride, but I still wasn’t able to get as comfortable. Oh well.

We arrived in Amsterdam around 10:30, and I made my way to the city center to lock up my bags and wander.

I saw some men hard at work fixing up the city’s cobblestoned streets:

And I found a shop that sold these wonderful shirts:

I also stumbled upon the TFIOS bench on accident. Sigh….

A little more wandering…

And then I had a hot date with some of my favorites!

Eep! I actually just found out Aaron and Marissa were in Amsterdam that very morning through Facebook! They had a concert to see, but it was great to see their wonderful faces.

After this mini-rendezvous, I was hungry and had to pee, as is standard if you’ve ever traveled with me. Luckily, I found the cutest little cafe, perfect for eating, peeing, and reading.

Bahaha. Sorry. That sounded kinda gross. But oh well. I also had a ‘cold chocolate,’ because even though it was cloudy and a bit rainy outside, it was unbelievably warm and muggy.

I spent most of the rest of my time in Amsterdam wandering…

And then I found this wonderful park.

Wandelpark, I think it was called? It was huge and lovely. I am obsessed with city parks, and I believe the world needs more of them.

I thought about trying to rent a bike, but every twenty minutes or so, it started to rain. I would duck under a leafy tree for about five minutes as it poured down unforgivingly, and before I knew it, the rain would cease completely, freeing me from my hiding spot. This happened about five times. Hahaha.

Also, check out this cool tree moss-type-stuff:

And this pretty street:

And yeah. That was really all I had time for in Amsterdam. Tehe. I had to catch a train to Leiden, a sort of college town outside the city, to meet up with one of my favorite Dutchmen! Bart!

I still haven’t gotten around to blogging about him from my last trip, but I met Bart last September in Porto, Portugal, and we spent the whole day wandering the city and eating cheesy foods and drinking port. It was pretty great. We’ve been pen pals (email pals?) ever since, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to come all the way to Europe without seeing him.

We played a board game called Fjord  (highly recommend!) and then set off in search of some dinner.

Leiden is so pretty. I honestly like it quite a bit more than Amsterdam. Jackson and I actually stayed here when we went to the Netherlands in 2015, because one of his Norway buddies was from here and let us stay in his apartment. I am also convinced Bart lived in the same apartment area as said Dutch friend, because the setup was eerily similar, unless all apartments in Leiden are just like this. Haha. What a small world!

As we left the apartment for dinner, Bart began unchaining his bike. I was a little confused, considering I, myself, was bike-less. He then handed me his lock and asked if I would be okay holding it. I agreed but was still pretty confused, until he swung the bike out into the road and got on, looking at me expectantly.

You see, one thing that sets the Netherlands apart from other bike-heavy areas is that the Dutch seem to often confuse the standard bicycle with a heavy-duty cargo bike, meant for carrying any number of objects and up to three extra riders.

Sometimes the extra rider sits on the handlebars. Sometimes they sit on the handlebars facing backwards. Sometimes, they find footholds that allow them to stand throughout the ride. Often, they sit on the little luggage rack thing on the back tire.

This is where Bart wanted me to sit.

Not wanting to ruin the fun, and very much wanting to live out my inner Dutchie, I hopped on, asking, ‘Where do my feet go?’

‘Uh… to the side or something,’ replied Bart, giving me full confidence that this was the safest and most correct way to ride. (Sarcasm.)

And then we were off! I couldn’t figure out if I was supposed to hold his waist motorcyle-style, but that was also super awkward to attempt considering I was facing sideways. I settled for grabbing under the seat with one hand, the bike lock in the other.

It was so freeing! And terrifying! I couldn’t see a thing! But it didn’t matter, because I was basically a real Dutch girl!

This feeling lasted all of about three blocks, after which Bart stopped the bike and told me his back tire couldn’t take the extra weight and we should probably just walk. Awk.

Hahaha. Well. The dream was nice while it lasted.

For dinner, we went to a cute little restaurant that had a set price for a choose-three-courses menu, and I think I had some wine. It was pretty great, and the waitresses were adorable. One of them was worried about me because I hardly ate my main course, but I was so full from the bread and the starter, and I had to save room for dessert! Don’t worry, though. I took home leftovers and ate them for breakfast the next two mornings. Tehe.

It was also just super fun to watch Bart talk to the waitstaff, here and everywhere else we went on my stay in the Netherlands. He is just so chatty, and I wish I could have understood all they were saying because it all seemed so interesting! In hindsight, the waitstaff and shop workers were mostly women, so maybe he was just flirting. Bahahaha.

After dinner, we took a stroll through Leiden’s twilight-lit streets before calling it a night.

Check out this pixilated Van Gogh portrait we found hanging in someone’s apartment. I want it.

The next day, we were considering going to both The Hague and Delft, two cities/ towns close to Leiden, but we agreed we would start with The Hague and play it by ear.

In short, I loved The Hague! It was so pretty and calm, with life still flowing through the streets. I could see myself just wandering and reading and wandering some more for days on end. It kind of felt like a mini Copenhagen.

We came across a little café, and I just had to try out their coffee-croissant-fresh-squeezed-oj deal. The orange juice was so good! Can’t go wrong with fresh-squeezed.

We also lucked out and stumbled upon a free gallery exhibition from a Chinese artist. Most of his work was a commentary on communist leadership and the effect it had on the country’s people.

It’s really hard to see the next piece because it was so dark it became a mirror… haha.

Then we had some more wanderings…

And eventually, we made our way to the Peace Palace, where we sat out front for about half an hour listening to the bells chime continually. There were also a couple reporters outside, so we were hoping something exciting was going on, but we got tired of waiting, and the guards wouldn’t give us any hints, so we moved on.

Some more wanderings….

And then, unfortunately, we ended up in a shopping area. There were so many cute little boutiques, and I kept running in to check the prices of things in the window, but everything was always too expensive. At one point, we passed by a mannequin dressed in a striped romper thing. Really not my style, but also really cute. We walked past it, but then I stopped and asked Bart if I could run in really fast.

The romper was all the way in the back of the store, and it was only 19 euros! Gah! Definitely didn’t need more clothes on this trip (I only travel with a small backpack!), but it was definitely too affordable to wave away as a silly purchase. I ran back out to ask Bart if I could try it on. He waved me in as though I was being ridiculous, which I probably was.

It was ‘one size fits all,’ which usually means ‘too big,’ but there was just enough stretchiness, and there was a belt around the waist, so of course it fit perfectly. Darn you, universe! Why couldn’t you have given me this romper back in the States!

I felt guilty for adding more to my pack, so I moped over to hand the romper back before joining Bart again. We began walking as he asked, ‘You didn’t like it?’

I liked it. I just didn’t need it.

But then again, I didn’t need all those gelatos… or those granitas… or that painting I bought in Naples…. Oh, what the heck! I ran back and got it before I could change my mind again. The shop worker actually thought I was crazy. Ha! If only he knew.

Next, it was time to hit up Delft, an equally cozy and picturesque little town.

And the best part was: Delft has a tower!

I. Love. Towers.

I didn’t climb the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and it is one of my biggest regrets from all of my travel time. From then on, I told myself that if there was a tower worth climbing, I would climb it, gosh darnit.

They just make me so happy! I love seeing everything so small and wide and laid out before me like it’s mine for the taking. Like I could just zipline down to any spot in the city in a second. *sigh.* It really is so great.

To top it all off (hehe. Get it? Top like top of a tower…), the tower tickets got us admission to two beautiful churches, one of which had some artwork that I was seriously connecting with.

I’m not sure what it was about the work, but there were two different paintings that had me glued to the spot. I may have cried at one point. No shame. No shame.

The ticket also included free tea at the strangest little shop around the corner. This place was a cafe in the middle of a clothing and gift store, with a hair and nail salon in the basement. Whaaaat? So cute. There should be more of these in the world.

We didn’t have much time before our dinner reservations back in Leiden, so we made our way on the train, savingo time for a little more scenery.

Dinner this time was a pay-once, eat-all-night dealio. Spanish tapas. Was delicious! Got to try a lot of different things and got super full. Plus, 5 euro mojito!

It was rough waking up at five to get to the airport, but I managed, and I caught sight of this kitty cat that reminded me of a painting my mom has in her bedroom. (:

‘Twas a bit of a mess once we got to the train station. We missed my planned train by one minute, which is fine because trains come pretty often. What is not fine is that when I tried to scan my transit card, it wouldn’t let me in because apparently my card did not have the minimum balance loaded, though it had €11.70, and as far as Bart knew, the minimum is ten. Plus, it only takes like seven euros to get to the airport!

I couldn’t add money to my card on a machine because they only take coins and Dutch credit cards, neither of which I had. Bart wanted me to just sneak into the train station, but after last year’s fiasco in Athens where I had my passport held ransom because I hadn’t properly validated my ticket, I have been positively terrified of making mistakes on transit.

Instead, we all but ran to the complete other end of the train station so I could refill my card at the ticket sales counter. But! It was 6am! There were no workers there yet!

I was so confused and flustered. In the end, Bart basically hugged me goodbye and shoved me through the ticket gates after another man scanned his pass and the door opened for him. I’m pretty sure the machine detected my sneakery, because it began beeping madly, but Bart waved like all was right with the world, so I ran to my platform.

It was a pretty terrifying train ride, as far as Dutch train rides go, which are normally quite soothing, but I made it to the airport unscathed and finally relaxed once I had passed through security.

What a mess! Next, to Zurich!

 

Venlig hilsen/ Hartelijke groet,

Lizzy-wa