Amsterdam!!

AMSTERDAM!!

The weekend I got back from Italy for spring break I hopped on another train to Amsterdam. Because Amsterdam is part of the Benelux, trains there are especially cheap and easy. I met my friend Dan there in the morning. We got some Thai food for lunch and then started exploring the city.

Our first stop was the House of Bols, which shows you the process of making cocktails. It was a very interactive experience. We got to smell and taste the different liqueurs, practice flair bar tending, and sample our own special cocktail. You can watch me below. It's basically me laughing at how horrible I am at flair bar tending.




Lori flair bartending

Next we paid the expensive price to go see the Van Gogh Museum, but I thought it was worth it. You got to see how his work evolved and my favorite part was the temporary exhibit of his starry nights work.

For the rest of the afternoon we took it easy and hung out and explored.

The next day we went to the Keukenhof Gardens. After standing in multiple lines for what seemed like hours we finally made it to the gardens. It was packed!! I was really surprised. The gardens were huge and had millions of flowers! On our bus ride there (and my train ride), you could see the colorful fields with rows of flowers. It was really beautiful!


After a stressful day at the gardens we relaxed in a park and then went and got Wok n Walk which is my new favorite place. Basically you order whatever you want, noodles or rice, and then chose what kind of veggies you want in it and what sauce you want and they make it in a wok right there! It was delicious and a brilliant idea! I wish we had something like that in the States. They took out my favorite stir fry station in Danforth last year. :(

That night we found an Irish pub called Mulligans (which alsoppens to be a nickname of mine) and listening to some live music and sipped some cider.

The next day we walked around the canals and went to the Ann Frank House. I really liked this museum. I especially liked all the quotes and the video clips of people talking about trying to keep the Franks hidden. It is actually really sad what happened in the end though.

After that we went to the Pancake Bakery as per my friend Glenalyn's suggestion. Basically the idea is to make giant pancakes and put whatever you want in them. I had chocolate, bananas, and whip cream and Dan had something a little more hearty.



In the afternoon, we went to the Heinekin Brewery. The highlight for this was not the beer (Belgians make beer so much better), but a little ride they have where they Brew You! I felt like I was in Disneyland for a second.

A little bit of Belgian Pride

Spring Break Italy

So because there is so much to say and you probably don't want to spend a lot of time reading this I will just do highlights for each city.

Milan.



Appertivo
Balconies in hotel rooms
Having the same gellato guy recognise us (our first and last gellato in italy)
sun bathing on top of the Cathedral and the really awesome architecture of the cathedral
people watching-seeing the fashionable Italians


Lake Como

Spending 2 and a half hours on a ferry
Enjoying the beautiful views of the Alp
Good lunch and good wine
Taking a nap


Verona


View from the top of the hill!!
Mexican food
My wonderful hostel. It felt like I had an apartment in the city.
Meeting tons of old Italian men trying to figure out how to get to my hostel
Traveling by myself. It could be quite rewarding and quite frustrating at times.

Bologna



Laughing from all the comments I got from old people regarding my clothing (Isnt it a little cold to be wearing a tank top) It almost reminded my of California when the weather goes below 50, people break out their winter coats.
An Italian man asking me to cafe

Rome



Getting into Rome at 10 and being told our hostel has water problems so attempting to find our new hostel at 11pm in Rome.
Meeting loud Irish people on the way to find the new hostel. Also meeting some fun people at Texas and all just chilling.
The hotel people moving in a new bed at 1am to accomodate a couple who found themselves sharing a room with 3 girls.
Getting a blessing from the Pope


Florence



Piazza Michelangelo at sunset with a beautiful view of the city
Haggling over a poster of Venice.
Delicious food/wine. Tuscany bread soup
Our hostel with an amazing shower!!
Ponte Vecchio at night with the flowers lining the pathway and live music plus a gorgeous full moon!

San Gimngagno (not hyped up enough, but probably a good thing because its so peaceful)



View of Tuscany
Excellent Bruschetta
Relaxing afternoon

Siena


Cute old Italian men hanging out and chatting and then moving out of the way so I could take a picture of their neighborhood Elephant statue
Lowlight: Getting fined because we couldn't figure out where to buy tickets.

Cinque Terre: I loved everything!!



Watching the sun set (even though it wasnt a very good one) on some rocks by the water.
Hiking through all five towns. Going up and down thousands of stairs.
Getting to the horribly uncomfortable beach with rocks.
Our cute and very pink hostel room.
Seeing all the cats!

Dublin!!

One day in February I was randomly searching travel websites (I do this from time to time when I have the urge to travel somewhere) and I came across incredibly cheap travel to Ireland (yahh Ryanair). I quickly asked everyone in the house if they wanted to come and Emily immediately jumped in with me. We bought our tickets within minutes of finding the cheap, tax free fare. Eventually Judith would come to realize that Dublin sounded kinda cool and also bought her tickets to come.

We woke up incredibly early (are you sensing a pattern) and proceeded to the train station so we could take the Charloi bus to the airport that's about an hour outside of town. We checked in, making sure our ONE carry on bag could fit into the TINY lugguge restrictions and we were off.

Our first interaction with the Irish people was at border control in Ireland. Originally I was nervous because the people in Brussels told me I wouldn't be able to get back in the country if I left, but I thought I would chance it anyway. The Irish man stamped my passport and wished me well on my weekend.

Because we were all hungry, I immediately suggested we find an Irish breakfast. Best decision of my life. Most Europeans don't eat breakfast. The Italians have an expresso, the French a croissant, and so on. The English have a good breakfast, but I3m sorry but Ireland just wins best breakfast of the year for European countries.

The Irish breakfast consists of eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatos, toast, beans and black pudding. (Note* I just found out that black pudding is made with animal blood. Everything in the Irish Breakfast is good except for that...oh man..I cant believe I ate dried up pig's blood) I had it all and wiped the grease off with my bread it was that delicious. The others don't seem to know how I did it, but I think it might have something to so with my dad's delicious breakfasts of bacon, eggs, and fried potatos. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and the most important. I get hungry just picturing it in my mind.

Moving on from food...Friday we walked around Dublin a little bit. Saw St. Patrick's, Christ Church, the Guiness Factory, and Temple Bar.

Saturday however was my favorite day!! We decided to book a tour of Wicklow and Glendough. It was reallly funn and super beautiful! Our bus driver was super nice and funny and very informative. We got to see the place where they filmed PS I Love You where she meets her future husband. We also heard about these two snowboarders who got stuck in a snow storm on the top of the hills and the Irish government rescued them for free. We also learned about their community housing that puts low income housing and regular housing in the same communities (novel idea eh?).

With recommendations from our driver, we also went to Howth which is in Dublin but its right on the water because its a yacht club and fishing port. We had fish and chips, went to a local bar to watch Bulgaria v Ireland, and met the captain of a boat. He was such a cute old man and from the moment he walked in the door he looked like he could be a captain. He was wearing a navy blue peacoat, a cute little hat, and a scarf. He had his pint of Guiness, talked to us and some of his other friends, and then went home to his wife.

Other excitement of the day included being almost flashed by a 12 year old drunk boy, learning to put Black Currant into Guiness, finding the best cider ever...Bulmers, and just having good conversation and good fun with people who speak english as their first language!!

Getting back into Brussels was actually no problem. I think the border patrol just wanted to scare me. I am glad I took the chance because Ireland was a blast!!

Strasbourg

A very short excerpt. The European Parliament has their plenary session once a month in Strasbourg, France. You might be wondering why the parliament would waste tax payers money (they spend hundreds of millions on transporting everything), and waste their time (it takes about 4 hours to drive and 5 hours on the train), but there is only one reason: the French. the French are definitely one of the dominant players in the EU. It brings business for the Strasbourg area and France as a whole. However, the rooms are much smaller (there is only one room), and it wastes money and time of people who don't have a lot to spare of either.

While I was there I watched a little bit of the plenary session-they were talking about the upcoming G20 Summit. I also went to lunch with Anneli and her friend from home who is now a successful businessman in Russia. They were talking about the upcoming elections and how best to deal with the economic crisis when talking during the election season.

To pay for our expenses the program gave us some money, but to maximize that money I tried to get a ride from someone who was driving. I ended up with this nice French woman who works for an English MEP in the unattached. She has been working in the EU for over 20 years so she had many stories to tell me. It was nice to get a different persepctive on the EU. I feel like I'm missing out on that aspect in my office because my superviser is usually "too busy" to tell me about how the EU works. I guess that just makes me more self-sufficient in the end, but for now I wish I could learn a little more.

I was in Strasbourg for 3 days total and I spent an afternoon just exploring the town. Strasbourg is very pretty. There is a river running through it and all the buildings look like they could be from Shakespeare's time. I was a little sick and it was actually kinda cold so I didn`'t stay out for too long.

J'adore Paris!

My first visit to Paris was the summer of 2005. I was 17 and went with my mom and brother. This past weekend I also got a chance to go, this time spending the majority of my time with Emily.

We woke up at 4:30am on Friday to catch the tram, then the metro, and finally the train to Paris. The train ride was only about an hour and a half and it went by rather quickly. When we arrived, we split off into different directions. Celeste was staying with a friend, Judith her boyfriend, which left Emily and I to go check in at our hostel. After spending 20 minutes trying to find it wishing we had a map, I realized that my guidebook had one. This would become a future occurence. With a good map, we found the hostel no problem. We left our bags there and started our adventures in Paris.

We started at the Arc de Triumph and walked around the whole thing while waiting for Judith and then we decided it would be the cheapest view of the weekend so we walked up the 200 steps to the top! It was a great panaromic view of the city!

After we walked down the Champs de Lysees, and grabbed lunch at a cafe and continued our walk. We ran into a few gardens and streered right to the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. From there we walked across the bridge which gave us a beautiful view of the Seine River and the Eiffel Tower. While Judith and Emily talked, I walked around the bridge and took pictures. I took over 500 pictures of Paris this weekend. It is just such a beautiful city!

We continued on our journey and arrived at the Place de le Concorde where the American embassy is (no pictures), the most exclusive hotel in Paris, and some fountains. We also went down the street to Le Madelaine, which is a very pretty church which looks like a Greek temple, but is not one.

We also went to an underground bathroom expecting it to be disgusting and smell bad, but instead it was like enetering a magical world. Each stall was decorated and had its own sink. They had a sign that says no pictures so I couldnt take photos, but it was kinda like your grandma's bathroom. We also didnt have to pay which was amazing!!

The afternoon we spent in the Parc de Tuluries in front of the Louvre where we pretended we were Harry Potter. We also watched some people show off their fancy footwork while rollerblading around cones and jumping over obstacles. We also went around the royal gardens and dropped Judith off at the metro.

Emily and I took off to find crepes and ended up in McDonalds. lol. It is actually pretty hard to find creperies that don't want all your money. We also stopped briefly at the opera for some photos and then dashed off to the Louvre.

The Louvre is free for youth under 26 on Friday evenings so we skipped the line and headed straight for the Mona Lisa. Some people say the Mona Lisa is dissapointing, but I dont agree. Yes, she is behind a glass barrier, yes she is far away, and yes there are hordes of tourists snapping pictures, but you can always admire her from afar. Im not sure what has made her such a stark icon, but she is interesting to look at.

We spent about 2 hours total in the Louvre taking many breaks because we had been up since 4:30am. I was exhausted as was Emily. We walked through a few rooms and were delighted when we came across Reubens artwork (Antwerp represent) because we actually recognized an artist probably most others wouldn`t.

When we finally got back to our hostel, there was a mix up with the beds. We were a little scared that the Argentinian man who lived there before us would come attack us in the middle of the night, but we lived to see another day.

DAY II

This morning we spent a good 2 hours at the Eiffel Tower taking pictures of the Iron Lady in as many positions as possible. I had fun...and Im sure emily did too. :)

Because it is difficult writing so much and you probably don't want to read about every little detail i will just let you know some highlights.

-Musee d'Orsay: beatiful artwork, very managaable, cool clock and building. Hightslights included Degas pantings of ballerinas.

-Garden of Luxembourg: Loved lounging around near the pond where little kids were playing with wooden sailboats. Old man came up and welcomed Emily to Paris.

-Being cheap at a Parisian cafe and having the waiters play around with us.

-Nutella Crepe

-Having drinks with Judiths' boyfriend and friends.

-a romantic stroll along the Seine river at night




Day III

-being freaked out by the Erotic Museum

-Seeing the Monmarte artists gathered trying to sell their paintings to make some money.

-cute parisian dogs and their owners who do not clean up after their dogs

-Getting a sun tan

-watching the street performers and their lovers

-watching the performances in front of the Museum of Modern Art

-Going to the graveyard and lowlight: not seeing Oscar Wilde's grave

-delicious Indian food

-watching the sun set on Paris and watching the Eiffel Tower glitter at night

-meeting up with Judith and Celeste to share our experiences. :)

Balloon Parade

A couple years ago my family and I went to NYC for Thanksgiving. I was really excited about the Thanksgiving day parade. Because Im an idiot I didnt listen to my mom when she said we had to get downtown by 6 am to get a spot to see the parade. At 8 or 10, whenever the parade started we took the subway down to see the parade and she was right...we were 30 feet away from the parade and could barely see anything. This was my chance to make up for the parade, Belgian style.

Like I said in my post about Binche Carnivale, Belgians dont have any rules to parades. We got there early and scoped out a place to stand...the Belgians just stood wherever and walk around and dodged giant balloons. Eventually we did the same because Belgian parades aren't efficient either. BUT in their defense, this was the FIRST annual balloon parade and they had to call in the experts from America to teach them how to do it. Where we were was right under the cables, so the balooners (is that what they're called) had to pull down the balloon far enough so they could go under the cables. This made it hard to see the balloons so we decided to move to get a better look.

Also in Belgian fashion, the Mannekin Pis has to be somewhere!! He was the second balloon! The Atonium was the second! Of course they had to represent Brussels! They also had balloons to represent Clifford the big red dog, Dr. Seuss, the Smurfs, a giant dinosaur, and other interesting balloons. I will post pictures when my computer gets fixed. :(

After the balloon parade, Olivia took us to get some super good hot chocolate! It was delicious and very strong!

After that we are went are separate ways and since it was actually a nice day out, I decided to explore Brussels a little more. I went to the Grand Place once again and walked by the Mannekin Pis, in costume, saw a few of the cartoon murals, and bought some souvenirs. It was nice just to walk around the city and not get lost! Brussels is finally beginning to feel a bit more like home. I can't wait for my friend Jasmine to come visit March 20th!!

The weekend

Nothing exciting really happens during the week so I will skip the last 5 days and just talk about the weekend.

All week I had been craving Thai food so finally on Friday, Emily, Celeste, and I went to St. Gery for some awesome Thai food. St Gery is across from the Burg and contains a lot of Brussels ethnic food so I have deemed it my favorite street. It just so happens to be next to O'Reilly's...my least favorite bar. I had chicken with yellow curry and Celeste had the same with red curry. Emily got rice noodles and everything was soo soo delicious!

Saturday we decided we would do some more exploring in Brussels. We took our tram line, in the opposite direction of where we normally go, to a huge park. When we got there we couldn't figure out how to get in so we hopped on the tram again and headed towards the Atonium. For those of you who don't know, the Atonium was built in 1958 for the World Fair held in Brussels. It is basically a 335 foot metal magnification of an atom. I actually don't know why they chose to construct an atom, but I do know original plans were supposed to be for an upside town Eiffel Tower. However, the Atonium has become a symbol of Brussels for everyone to recognize.

Although you can go inside the Atonium, we were going to save that for a nicer day. We also went to explore the parks around the Atonium. As we went further we found more and more sparks and one in particular we had a lot of fun in!! We were the only ones there and had fun taking jumping pictures on a small bridge over a pond.

I wont bore you with the rest of the details about us getting lost taking the long route to the Chinese park, but I will say there is lots of cool grafitti near the Chinoise Tram stop.

My last highlight for the afternoon was eating the best Dorum of my life!!! Just try to imagine this (I should've taken a picture). A tortilla with chicken, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, ranch-like sauce, and FRENCH FRIES!! It was seriously the best thing I've ever eaten.

That night we all wanted to do something, but not be out super late so we searched through some websites with things to do in Brussels. We found out that we can go to the Phil Harmonic for really cheap so we decided to do that. We got all dressed up, got directions, and then rushed out. As luck would have it, we had to wait a while for both the tram and the metro leaving us with 10 minutes to find the place and get our tickets. We got there right at 8pm, but decided we would rather wait for another show then come in late. The rest of the evening turned out good though because we ended up going to Chi-Chis and getting Margaritas, quesadillas, and fried ice cream.


Sunday
Most of you probably know Carnivale has been going on and today we decided to go to Binche to celebrate. Binche is one of the biggest Carnivales in Brussels. When we got there, I was almost surprised to see an empty town. No shops were open and there weren't many people around except for in a small bar which we could hear a mile away with their loud music and shouting. We walked around town only to stumble upon the main town square where the whole town was. Bars were packed! The streets were packed! There were tons of people in costumes with their kids and drummers. Confetti was flying everywhere and there was a small coat of confetti on the ground.

We decided we needed to fit in more so we went to a little makeshift costume shop and I bought a crown (which other people liked to make reference of) and my two friends got a mask.

Feeling much more celebatory we wandered around trying to figure out what carnivale was all about. I think at some point the original idea had something to do with religion, but like many religious holidays got turned into something different. While tons of kids were dressed up and having fun, there were also adults gargling beer and hanging out in bars (with their children). It seemed like the kind of event any person could enjoy.

Finally the parade started. One thing about Belgian parades is nobody cares about standing or sitting on the curb and waving to the people in the parade and clapping....no...people walk whereever they want and do whatever they want. As the parade came down people were dancing and walking right in front of, beside, and behind all the performers so we couldn't really see anything. But we werent too worried because the parade moved slowly, very slowly.

How the parade was set up was there were probably at least 10-20 different groups with similiar themes..or sometimes they didnt have themes they were just crazy. The first group was a bunch of kids dressed as everything under the sun. They would walk 20 meters and then do this little dance where you kinda switch the weight your foot is on and do that a bunch of times and then turn around and face the band (every group had their own drummers and horn blowers). Then they would turn around and do it again and then they would walk another 20 meters and do the same thing. You can imagine why this was a 3 hour parade. Everyone also had a stick associated with their costume. I will post pictures later to show you how elaborate some of these outfits really were.

By the time the parade ended we were exhausted. We grabbed some hot chocolate and dessert and we boarded the train home. The train was littered with confetti and tired kids still dressed up and with confetti in their hair. It was a wonderful afternoon getting a glimpse into real Belgian culture.