Category: Netherlands

Back on the road! In the skies? Out of the country?

Either way, I’m not home, and this time, I have my main squeeze with me. Unclear why my hair looks so greasy in the title photo, but I cannot go back and wash it. Lol.

Sean has time off between jobs, and half my team was taking big chunks of vacation time this summer, so I decided a two-week trip was in order.

We’ve been loosely planning this for nearly a year, and that is the longest I’ve ever thought about a trip. It all started last August when I booked tickets to see Taylor Swift in Munich at the end of July. It was silly and expensive, but I later lucked out with tickets to Vancouver, BC for a quarter of the price. Once that was all in order, I decided I would re-sell the Munich tickets. Sean’s never been to Europe, though, so I still wanted to do the trip anyway.

Ridiculously, even with eleven months to plan, we didn’t book our main flight until a week or two ago, and I booked everything else last week. Not my best performance, but we made it here!

After a week with Sean’s family in Idaho, we flew from Spokane to Minneapolis for a layover before continuing on to Amsterdam. Delta’s basic economy was playing major mind games with us, and they booked us purposefully separated from each other on both legs. Luckily, on the first leg, we both got window seats. Mine was directly in front of his, but it was oddly attached to an emergency exit, so there was no chair in front of me. That meant no space to store my bag and no movie screen, which for some reason sent me into a mild panic.

After lots of discussion, Sean and I decided to switch seats. (Okay, I decided, haha.) But he wasn’t planning on using the TV screen, and that way he got a bunch of extra leg room! Seems like a win-win.

I watched the Odd Life of Timothy Green before reading a bit, but I was uber stressed about our 50 minute layover in an unfamiliar airport. Then, to add misery to madness, there were some weather delays that meant our plane landed twenty minutes late.

Sean was not pleased with my insistence on skipping a bathroom break, but we made it onto the plane and were able to pee before boarding closed.

Once boarding closed, there were plenty of empty seats around us. So, despite our terrible seat assignments, so we were able to rearrange and sit next to each other near the aisle. I was VERY happy and relieved.

I treated myself to a rum and coke (for free!) and read for many hours on this flight, so the time just flew by. I did regret pushing through one serious pull of sleep because I was hooked on my book. By the time I put the book down and tried to sleep a bit, the window had passed. I didn’t manage to fall asleep until about thirty minutes before breakfast service. Bummer.

We landed in Amsterdam at 11am, weary and woozy, and made our way straight for the Rijksmuseum. I can’t remember if I’ve been here before, but it was a treat, nonetheless. We were able to store our bags in the coat check and wander unencumbered.

Delirious with fatigue, we slodged through the first wing and a fun stop-motion exhibition before beelining for the cafe. I needed food and Sean needed caffeine, stat!

Sean’s hazelnut iced latte did not disappoint, nor did my lemongrass lemonade, spring vegetable curry, or Sean’s chicken sandwich. Museum cafes are one of my favorite indulgences!

Mildly invigorated (or maybe we were just fooling ourselves), we soldiered on. Please enjoy this barrage of model ships and art.

I took a nice long pause in the library. I love me a good library.

For some reason, I was also very intrigued by these ink drawings of major naval battles. I mean, there have to be a hundred ships out there. Is that really possible? Was that possible? In that kind of proximity to each other and in those numbers? My mind was boggled.

The great hall had some fun paintings by Rembrandt and others, but the architecture of the space (and the benches to rest on) were my favorite parts.

By this point, Sean had essentially given up fighting his body’s insistent desire to sleep, so I ran through the last floor (and possibly my favorite floor) by myself.

I’m not gonna lie – my body felt it too. It’s a very specific and unpleasant feeling, the certainty that a night of sleep has been squandered or missed entirely. I’ve felt it on many travel days and after many exams. It’s not fun!

We boarded a tram, unwilling or unable to walk the twenty minutes to our Airbnb, and then spent a few minutes enjoying the canals in the area.

We were thoroughly underwhelmed by our lodgings (small room, shared bathroom, nowhere to hang our towels, mild smell of sewage), but our bodies were indifferent. I’m not proud of this, but I decided to let Sean take the wheel, so it was decided that we would go to bed then and there, at 5 o’clock in the evening.

There was plenty of tossing and turning. I woke up around 6:30, then again at 9, and then we both woke up for a while at 2. But all said and done, we finally woke for real at 7, and I guess we probably deserved it.

As much as I have never been and probably never will be a morning person, I sure do love early mornings when my body allows it. The sun was bright, the air was crisp, and the streets were quiet.

Let it be known that Amsterdam is not an early-rise town! It was actually quite challenging to find a place open for breakfast at 8! But we managed, and I had my first fresh OJ of the trip. Spilled half of it on myself, too, haha.

Sean and I got into a small squabble because I didn’t want to stop reading, but I eventually pried myself away long enough to continue our adventure.

I delighted in the spring and summer flowers lining the streets and canals. So many varieties and colors! We acknowledged how impressive it is that the city has so much green since it’s mostly made of bricks and concrete. They really put a lot of effort into stocking the streets with pots and planters.

I hope you enjoy this tiny car as much as I did:

We visited Centraal Station and passed the Anne Frank House on our way.

And then we walked along the water to Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder, a Catholic church hidden in the top floors of a home from a time when non-protestant religions were banned from public practice.

There was some interesting detective work done on the paint so they could restore the church to its 1800’s style!

Some fun features besides the church included nice views of the city and rooms furnished like the 1800s, including some “box bed” bedrooms.

Sean noticed that all of the canal houses have hooks for pulley systems, and once we noticed, we couldn’t stop seeing it! Turns out it was (and probably still is) the only way to get large furniture to the top floors of the canal houses because the staircases are so steep and narrow!

We had another coffee in the museum cafe (did I mention the jet lag was hitting Sean?), and then we took a walk through the red light district. (Not too active during the day, but there were a couple of bored ladies sitting in their rooms on their phones, haha).

We also so a guy almost get hit by a motorcycle because he was walking in the middle of the street. The biker had to swerve and his bike fell on him. He was physically fine, but he was NOT happy and chased the pedestrian down yelling in Dutch that I don’t think the pedestrian understood. He just kept saying, “Sorry! Sorry!” Sean tried to help, but it was fruitless because the guy was so angry. Yikes!

At the Nieumarkt (New Market), we stopped at a juice stand. We asked the seller for his recommendation, and I opted for the beet and ginger juice that “makes his wife very happy.” Rather than mixing the juices together, though, he simply poured me a shot of ginger and handed it to me, saying, “I bet you are hard core, yes?”

Let’s just say my mouth burned and my tummy hurt for a while after that, hahahaha. I guess I wasn’t as hard core as he thought!

After another long walk along the water, we ended up at NEMO, a science museum recommended by my Dutch friend Bart.

Technically, he suggested we try out the rooftop restaurant and skip the museum, but Sean wanted the full experience, so I (somewhat reluctantly) relented.

The museum was definitely targeted for kids and families, but I’ll admit I had fun once I got into it. Basically everything was interactive. There was a giant Rube Goldberg machine and five levels of themed exhibitions all about electronics, the senses, building techniques, etc.

Several exhibits required a partner. One space had boxes filled with 3 device components, and you had to show your partner the pieces one at a time and see if they could guess what the device was. I was frustrated that I never guessed correctly before the final piece (which always gave it away), whereas Sean correctly guessed the electric toothbrush and one other device. Mine were a bike bell and a computer mouse. Some mechanical engineer, huh?

We tried to build a dam at one point using little silicone blocks, but we were also not very good at that and had to cheat by copying some kids farther upriver.

There was also a little laboratory where you did some kind of experiment with chemicals. We didn’t try it, but it was pretty cute that you had to wear a lab coat inside.

My favorite zone, by far, was the fifth floor. It was all about humans – our tendencies, our senses, our bodies. It was so fun! There was a small area about sex that was QUITE explicit – pretty surprising in a kids’ museum! (Does the g-spot exist, how big is the clitoris, etc…. lolol.)

One exhibit had some interesting cameras that allowed you to look directly at your own ear or to look closely at your own iris. Very cool.

Another had you walk in a straight line towards a Kinect and then had you try to guess which motion-detected skeleton was you. I was fascinated to learn that Sean has quite the swagger to his walk, which I’d never noticed before. His little skeleton head dramatically swung side to side with each step, whereas my head stays basically in one place the whole time.

Quite possibly the most hilarious experience was one where you took a picture of yourself, input information about your parents’ appearance, and then the computer spit out images of alternative versions of yourself based on genetic possibilities.

Why I decided to take the photo with this dumb look on my face is beyond me, but the results had us laughing out loud for a loooonnngg time, bahahahaha.

All-in-all, a pretty fun and hilarious experience. I kind of wish we’d just spent all of our time up on the fifth floor, though. I won’t explain every single exhibit, but I kind of want to, haha. The fact that I only took eight photos the entire time is evidence that I was having too much fun, I guess.

Hours later, we made it to the roof for a nice lunch with a view.

After we ate, I stood to watch the view and heard some loud clinking at our table behind me. I assumed it was a staff member cleaning our table, but when I turned around, I saw it was two pigeons going to TOWN on our scraps! Lol!

Sean humored me by allowing a visit to the library. I love me a good library, and this one had some nice water views.

We were both pretty exhausted at this point, so we had one more walk before breaking down and taking a bus back to our Airbnb for a nap.

Why did I stop putting my hand on my hip for photos? This straight-arm pose makes me look like a doofus! Haha.

Around eight, we rolled out of bed and forced ourselves to get some dinner.

One of the annoying things about Sean is that he never tells me when my hair is crazy. Either he thinks I’m always gorgeous or always insane-looking, but the result is the same.

Who in their right mind takes this picture without telling me to fix my hair or my face first? Bahahahah.

Oh, it was quite funny! We kept seeing people with Taylor Swift merch on, and it turns out she had just played Amsterdam the weekend before we arrived. This restaurant had a special that was, “I knew you were truffle when you walked in” omelette, “we are never ever getting back to cheddar” cheese, and “taters gonna tate tate tate” rosti, hahaha.

After dinner, we were treated with the most gorgeous sunset!

And then we braved the city one last time to visit the Red Light District by night. It’s not permitted to take photos in the area, for obvious reasons, but trust me that it was an interesting experience!

There were also several “live sex show” theaters and “sexy” public toilets, lol. We did chance the erotic museum, just for fun. There were surprisingly several original sketches by Picasso and John Lennon.

We finally made it back home for bed after a nice walk in the dark.

It wasn’t even too painful to wake up at 5 for our flight. Thanks, jet lag!

Do you see the pulleys lining the top of this building? So fun!

As much as I am not a morning person, I sure do love being outside in the quiet early hours.

Until next time!

Venlig hilsen/ Hartelijke groet,

 

Lizzy-wa

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