I've been busy to say the least.

And when I say busy, I actually mean SO BUSY I DON'T HAVE TIME TO THINK OR EAT OR BREATH! Well the last two are lies, but my life has been a non-stop roller coster in the last month. I decided it was time to update the blog and this is going to be a big one! 

barcelona 

So since I last wrote, I have been traveling a lot. I had my first solo trip, that is my first trip not with my program. We had planned to go to Amsterdam and Brussels for a long weekend and the trip turned out to be quite a crazy experience. Our group flew into Amsterdam and Arielle and I flew in separately after having some trouble booking plane tickets. Anyway, we arrived in the Barcelona airport at 7 where we had a layover of 11 hours so Arielle and I decided to go into the city for a little exploring. We had dinner and walked around for a bit and then headed back to the airport to catch some zzzzzsss. Apparently I can sleep anywhere and having bars between seats doesn't stop me from spreading across multiple at once! Arielle says the positions I was in didn't look comfortable but hell, sleep is sleep! When I woke up, I looked up and thought I saw someone I knew so I started waving to them. I then realized that not only was I in Barcelona, where I didn't know anyone, but I also wasn't wearing my glasses! Needless to say, I was ready for the flight to Amsterdam!

In the Barcelona Airport. Eating some delicious Wonkandy! Note the hilarious ladybug advertisement!

amsterdam

 We stepped out of the Central Station in Amsterdam and I took the picture above. I was dumbstruck by the views. Amsterdam was a place I had heard a lot about but I didn't have a concrete idea of what it would look like. Clearly, it was beautiful. The canals and the buildings were so different from Sevilla or from anything I have seen in the states. People have said in the past that Amsterdam is only good for its cultural aspects but I thought it's architecture was even better!

The game plan for Amsterdam was not very concrete but we did have some things figured out upon arrival. Lori and Katie, a couple of UMASS friends, were going to be there at the same time and we managed to hook up with them. It was strange seeing people from back home in the Europe setting and we made the most of being somewhere new together! I took a three hour tour of Amsterdam one day and had a great time with my twin Katie :) The tour was great because it gave us an opportunity to walk the streets with someone who really knew the history and the culture of the place. Our tour guide deserved an Oscar! He was very passionate about his tour and clearly loved his city. Every sentence he spoke was very dramatic and he had a way of making us hang on his every word! Great experience.

Here is our tour guide, I can't remember his name now, but he was very quirky and a little crazy, but in a good way!

Behind the tour guide in the above picture is the old church in Amsterdam. It is an interesting place, mostly because it is right in the center of the Red Light District! Apparently, back in the good old days, sailors would make port in Amsterdam, come into town and get a beer at a bar in this area of the city. After having quenched their thirst, and thus getting sufficiently hammered, the men would go on to quench the other desires that arose from being at sea for months at a time ;) In the morning, after remembering that they had wives and children, the men would stagger into the conveniently located church and confess their sins. It is strange to be walking through a street of windows and women on display and then take a turn to see a church right around the corner!

Amsterdam wasn't just a place of foreign concepts, and here you can see Amsterdam's very own Occupy movement!

Here is our Hostel! It was a great place, good location, nice people, and there was a bar! Perfection.

 

This is going to sound a little funny at first but something that struck me about the city was all the bikes! They were everywhere, literally. People on bikes seemed to overpower the cars on the roads and on all the streets a zillion bikes would be parked. And people didn't even lock them up! I guess people work on an honor code here! And in general I did notice that people were very friendly and less critical than lots of the locals in Spain. Everyone is chill, I don't really know why ;)

 But seriously, the people were great and it was so refreshing to be somewhere with people speaking English. It felt like a breath of fresh air to walk down the streets and see a plethora of pale and tall people (which doesn't really exist in Sevilla). Even the weather was different but a nice change of pace. It was overcast and a little chilly but this didn't stop us from getting out and exploring!

It is no joke when I say around every corner is an amazing view. Here you can see the building are slightly tilted inward. This is due to the fact that the buildings are narrow but tall. In order to get larger or heavier objects to the high floors, the Dutch created a system to help them. They legitimately tilted the buildings and installed a hook apparatus at the top floor and using rope would haul objects to the higher floors. By tilting the buildings, the objects wouldn't swing and crash into the building... But wouldn't it make more sense to extend the hook apparatus slightly further from the building? I'm no architect but this idea seemed funny to me non the less!

This is the Atlas statue. It is supposed to represent the people of Amsterdam who I guess carry heavy burdens but carry on? I'm not sure, but this building is in Dam Square which is the main square of Amsterdam. There were crazy people everywhere and the buildings in the area were all amazing. 

 

Here you can really get a sense of how colorful the streets can be! And the canals you find every couple of blocks are all gorgeous as well. 

  

 Amsterdam was great but because it was my first official trip, I didn't do everything I would have liked to. I wasn't prepared with ideas of what I wanted to do and our group had some general confusion as to how to organize our time there. In addition, Arielle was very sick and even had to make a trip to the hospital! It was scary and I felt so sorry that she was in such a scary position but we all survived to tell the tale and I've just come to decide that I will have to revisit Amsterdam some time in the future!

One thing we got to do was go into Ann Frank's house; the place where she and her family hid during those terrifying years. Growing up, I read the novel of the little girl's deep and many times far too mature thoughts but being in her house was even more unnerving. I was able to stand in her bedroom, where she must have written many pages in her journal, and spent many hours afraid and pensive. The pictures she hung on her wall were still there and although I wasn't able to take photos while in the house, I can clearly see the rooms. I was most struck when walking up the stairs where I couldn't stop thinking about all the people who had walked those steps, including Ann. She wrote a passage in her journal about passing the time by simply going up and down the stairs. I realized she must have been so closely acquainted with those steps and the fact that i was then walking those same steps and seeing them with my own eyes was powerful.

 This photo is taken in a community within Amsterdam called "Begijnhof" where, as I understand it, only women can live. And not only that, you must be single and of a certain age to live here. The space is separated from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam by a dividing wall and once you step through the gates everything is clean and slightly more pristine looking. I felt as if I was back in my college area on Smith's campus! All brick or white sided buildings and even little white picket fences made this area really stand out and helped me realize that not all of Amsterdam is crazy and weird, but some more conservative people call this place home as well!

This red building is the smallest apartment in all of Amsterdam!

Everywhere I looked I saw XXX. At first I thought to myself "Wow, Amsterdam is really very proud of their Red Light and of their general raunchy reputation." But I completely misunderstood the meaning of the triple X's and after seeing them on shields, old buildings, and flags (as pictured above although they are a little hard to make out) I realized I had the wrong impression. They actually are the coat of arms of Amsterdam and represent the three crosses of St. Andrew. 

Three crosses form the core of Amsterdam's city crest. These are St. Andrew's crosses, named after the apostle St. Andrew who is said to have been martyred on such a cross. The shield on which the crosses stand consists of three vertical stripes in the colours red - black - red. The crosses are in the black stripe

brussels 

After a hectic few days in Amsterdam, I thought our trip to Brussels would be boring, but oh was I wrong! Brussels was beautiful and we really planned our time there well.

One of our first stops was at MoKafé for some waffles! We were told that this place had really good ones and indeed they were tasty. The traditional waffles are simple and the people eat it with just powdered sugar on top and that was enough to be delicious! But a few girls also got some bananas and chocolate which looked super yummy! The place was relatively inexpensive also which was surprising due to it's location. It was inside one of the most expensive shopping galleries in Brussels and also one  of the oldest in Europe. 

One of my favorite stops was at St. Goedele-St. Michiels Cathedral. It was unlike any of the other Churches we have seen since getting here. It was slightly confusing to find it because it's located in the middle of a bunch of business buildings that are all very modern and funky. Then there is a garden space in front of the building with some chairs to sit in and these interesting moose statues... I don't really understand the moose still! haha

What I found to be the most interesting aspect of the Cathedral was its oceanic theme. Almost every piece within referenced the ocean and it was beautiful and a refreshing sight from simply having a million Jesus depictions.

And of course, the stained glass was amazing! The Cathedral didn't have many paintings but instead was filled with status, seashells, and some of the most breathtaking stained glass.

hahaha so Keliana was all about the chocolate! We stopped in quite a few chocolate places just to ogle the displays :)

Oh, and did I mention Kel is an excellent photobomber! hahaha
Just in case I haven't mentioned this yet, Kel is one of the girls here in the program who is really cool and has such a fun personality! She is always wanting to explore and looks for a good time :) She is actually my wife here haha

We stopped at the Royal Library not quite knowing what to expect. We found an exhibit there called Librarium, with some really interesting books! They had a plethora of  manuscripts ranging from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables to a series of Kind Arthur and his Knights Templar books and even a large selection of ancient Japanese proverbs written on scrolls! It was a little confusing because nothing was in English but just looking around was enlightening!

We initially went to the Royal Library just to stop in it's cafe and take a break from walking. We heard there was a cafe with some cool aspects, and indeed it was an interesting place. It looked straight from 1975 with these orange seats and formica tables but it had an amazing panoramic view over Brussels!

Did I mention that this building holds a copy of every single Belgium book ever published? Yeah, it was kinda a cool place haha

Arielle tapped into her inner Jimi

This is the Manneken Pis which is the big tourist trap in Brussels. You can't really tell from this photo since its covered in flowers but this is in fact a small statue of a boy pissing. He is the ideal national symbol for a country that is also small and absurd! His suit is changed by a guy named Jean-Marc a few times every month and they keep each outfit of his at their City Museum.

One of the most breath taking places we visited was Grand Place, otherwise known as Grote Markt. Within the area was the 15th century Town Hall, a statue that is rubbed for good luck and, of course, pricy terraces!

And for our next stop, FALAFELS!!! yummm this is a street filled with falafel places! I say yes!

We had been seeing these stands all day and were so excited when lunch time came around so we could enjoy some delicious Mediterranean specialties.

Cari dug it. As did we all! Oh, so this is Cari haha another cool chick I've met here! She is from Tennessee and its funny because I've never hung out with a southern girl before but I think I should do it more often! She is so sweet and has such a warm and friendly personality! Oh, and durhh a great taste in music!

Here is our Hostel in Brussels. It was very nice actually and felt super modern!

We were all excited to visit the botanical gardens and didn't really think about the fact that it was cold and we were slightly disappointed when we found some statues in a green shrubbery garden, but whatever! It was still a good sight!

Everywhere we went there were statues of lions. Perhaps the appeal of power that lions demand is important to Brussels, but for me it was cool just seeing these intense status which demanded attention basically.

Oh, and my favorite part, BEER. Obviously Brussels is a good spot for some Belgium beers and we went to a great bar for some sampling! They call themselves the Beer Specialist at the Moeder Lambic bar and i think they deserve the title. In 2011 they were elected 10th best bar in the world and our waiter was cool. He simply looked at us and knew what we were to drink haha I had the Val-Dieu Grand Cru first and it was sooo good and it had the highest alcohol content so yay for winning! But seriously, the beer was smooth and so delicious! I wish it was more readily available on the East coast of the States! We also bought beer in the convenience stores and the Kriek sweet beer was surprisingly good! I'm not one for super sweet beer but this cherry flavored beverage was great!

The last day, we had a few hours before having to leave for the airport so the group decided to go to a chocolate factory but I caught the metro north and went to the History Museum. It was located in a park nesseled in a highly business area of the city. It was hard to find but wandering through the park was a trip in itself! And once inside the museum I was blown away because they had so much stuff in there! And from so many different areas and times! I guess that's what I should have expected at a history museum haha

I think what surprised me the most was the Tibetan Buddhist section (above) and the Natives section (below).

Overall, I really enjoyed my Brussels trip! The people here are on the same page as me! People here like it if your weird and dressing well is not even on their radar! Their government is confusing and they speak so many languages! I believe that Dutch is the official language although most people were speaking French! But randomly, we encountered English, Arabic, Spanish, Russian and Swahili.