Two things that light up my life!! hahah so its been awhile so I thought I should start off as corny (cornily?) as possible. Lots has been happening, March literally flew by and I can't believe its almost April. The highlights, as the title of this post clearly states, have been my visitors who just left today and the sun. I'll start with the visitors.
So Eurofest 09 (we decided that if there are at least 3 of us in a place that involves getting fucked up...may have made up that second part...but anyway if there are 3 of us it can be called a fest) finally happened. Funny to think that I was informed that Avery and Zhanna would be arriving in Amsterdam on March 27th before I even got here. But it came and went faster than I cant believe. Friday we went to the Heineken Experience, which I had heard bad things about but it was actually pretty fun. Especially the room where you sit and watch Heineken commercials that surround you!!! Haha just kidding that part was useless...but the rest was pretty cool. Then I took the group (9 Pitt people total) to the Red Light District, and then Barneys, one of the few places where you can drink and smoke in the same place. However, milkshakes seemed more appetizing than beer to everyone at the moment. The next day we went to the Anne Frank house, pancake bakery, and Van Gogh (my second time, but obviously I can't get enough of the guy. I have even started saying his name the proper Dutch way.. Van Ho-HHGGHHH. Thats a throaty H sound in case you were wondering). Saturday night they all wanted to watch the Pitt game (ouch), and to my surprise they were actually playing it a sports cafe in Leidesplein. It was showing after the Scotland-Holland soccer game, so the entire bar was filled with people in kilts (as was the rest of the city) singing various traditional Scottish songs, intermixed with Sweet Caroline and Mr. Brightside. It was quite a scene. Sunday we went on a boat tour, where we saw another boat named the "Anne Frank" and said LOVERS on the front. Whoeever thought of that one has lots of taste...
Oh and we also partook in Amsterdam's favorite pastime pretty much nonstop throughout the weekend. Best quote I've ever heard: "My favorite part of being high is that no one really listens to anyone, everyone just talks to themselves"
Besides for visitors, my other favorite part of this month has been the sun. I don't think I saw it for more than 15 minutes at a time all of February, so it has been quite a change to see it for hours, even days, at a time. Its funny how much of a difference the weather affects moods, but I have been constantly happy the days that the sun is shining. Riding my bike around is so much more fun, and I'm much more motivated to get outside and explore the city. I'm really going to miss living in a place where I can always discover an area I have never seen before, but still know how to get home.
This weekend my mom and sister come, and on Tuesday we are going to Barcelona!! April may fly by even faster than March...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Travels
I'm back! It's been a crazy two weeks with Prague and Paris two weekends in a row, but I had the most amazing time. The entire time I kept thinking about how lucky I am to be spending my semester like this, and I was grateful for every minute. ANYWAY... I will tell you some highlights of my travels!
Prague: I can probably just cut to the chase and say that I finally got to see MAGGIEEEEE and it was so great to see a familiar face. And what a face!!! hahahaha love you. As soon as she met me at the metro stop, the first thing on our mind was obviously food...even though it was around 10 we went to a restaurant. Typical. The next day Maggie had class so I wandered around "Nova Mesto" or something like that...which I only remember because it's almost like Russian and means "New Place" literally in Russian, but maybe in Czech it means something more like New Town. Anyway, I got lost of course, and had my notions of Czechs in public being unfriendly AFFIRMED...no one would make eye contact with me for me to ask where I am. Until I spotted a smiling American man who automatically knew that I was also an American who happened to be lost. So he helped me get back...somehow I was like a 40 minute walk away from where I needed to be. Again, typical.
That night we went to Radost, where Rihanna filmed "Please don't stop the music." It was great, especially the Usher-wannabee that tried to hog the attention from the rapper that was supposed to be performing, only to be outdone by a couple making out, also in the middle of the stage. Maybe you just had to see it.
The next day we saw all of the sights, Prague castle and such. It was all beautiful, like a fairy tale. You can check out the pictures because I can't do it justice with words. Or you should probably just go. That night, if I remember correctly, we went to Cross Club, which is where the drug dealers and shadiest people in Prague (or the world?) hang out! Perfect. It was so cool on the inside, dark with moving lit up car parts hanging from the ceiling. We had an unwelcome guest, somewhere between 30 and 70 years old, who invited himself to our table and bought us drinks which we were too scared to drink. Maybe because his first topic of conversation was "Did you know someone was murdered here last month?" Oh, by you? And we're next? Another shot please!!
The next day we mostly rested and of course ate a lot, and then went to THE LARGEST CLUB IN CENTRAL EUROPE!!! Five stories, different music on every floor, very cool club. Besides for the fact that everyone was about 16 and I felt like I was at a Bar Mitzvah and someone was going to start a game of coke and pepsi at any moment. Or maybe I was just hoping that they would... It was an experience at the least. Oh and at some point that night I lost my phone. Once again, typical.
Overall, it was an amazingggggggg time! Cant wait for Italy, Maggie :)
Paris: Woke up at 4:45 to catch the 6:26 train. Walked to the train station (40 mins away) in the RAIN (of course). Four hour train ride, slept for maybe two hours? Actually a good ride, I'm glad we left that early because we got A LOT done on Friday. When we stepped out of the train station were basically blinded by the sunlight because we are not used to it in Amsterdam. It was a beautiful day. First we went to the Champs Elysees, which has the Arc de Triumph at the end of it. We went to the top, amazing view. Then we went to Notre Dame, saw a line, and assumed we should be in it to get inside. Turns out it was a line to go the to top of Notre Dame, and going inside is just free with no line. Its ok though, worth the 5 euros, because we got another great view. Oh, and ate banana nutella crepes in line. AMAZING. Thennnn we went to the Louvre, I was exhausted by this point, but the Louvre is pretty much breathtaking. And I saw Taylor there!!!!! What are the odds? Oh and the Mona Lisa...slightly dissapointing.
This is getting really long...so basically Saturday we went to the catacombs (creepy), Musee d'Orsay (amazing) and the top of the eiffel tower at night (pretty much as great as you would imagine, but better). At night we were going to go to an Irish pub with some of Dan's friends who are studying in Paris, but it was really full and there were like 10 of us so, of course, we each bought a bottle of wine and drank it on the canal. There was also some Camembert cheese, so the perfect French experience. Then we were going to go to the hookah lounge, so I had to finish my bottle on the metro. Or maybe I purposely saved some so I could act homeless and drink it on the metro...who knows. It was great nonetheless. And I love/really missed hookah.
Sunday we went to Versailles, which was SO beautiful. Too bad it was raining though so the gardens were kind of lame. But it was ok because it gave us an excuse to not spend so much time in them and...eat a Tex Mex restaurant!!! Haha the only real restaurant I ate in in Paris was a poor attempt at Mexican food. But we all missed it so much, we had to at least try. At least my Mango Mojito was delicious. Then we got on the train and came back to the Dam!
Phew this is an intense entry. Closing thoughts: I really loved both of these cities, my first impressions of both were, "wow, these buildings are so much more grand and amazing than in Amsterdam." But then after a few days in both I realized how happy I am I chose to study here. It is beautiful in a more quaint way, and the best part is that it is small enough that I almost never use public transportation, I can just ride my bike! I HATE the metro, I got a little more used to it when I had to take it everywhere in Paris and Prague, but I am still so happy I never have to deal with that here. Also I think the people here are much more friendly and accepting of foreigners, so its just a really nice atmosphere to live in.
Thats all for now, next exciting things to look forward to: Girl Talk at Paradiso March 19, and AVERY AND ZHANNA ARE VISITING MARCH 27TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait :)
Prague: I can probably just cut to the chase and say that I finally got to see MAGGIEEEEE and it was so great to see a familiar face. And what a face!!! hahahaha love you. As soon as she met me at the metro stop, the first thing on our mind was obviously food...even though it was around 10 we went to a restaurant. Typical. The next day Maggie had class so I wandered around "Nova Mesto" or something like that...which I only remember because it's almost like Russian and means "New Place" literally in Russian, but maybe in Czech it means something more like New Town. Anyway, I got lost of course, and had my notions of Czechs in public being unfriendly AFFIRMED...no one would make eye contact with me for me to ask where I am. Until I spotted a smiling American man who automatically knew that I was also an American who happened to be lost. So he helped me get back...somehow I was like a 40 minute walk away from where I needed to be. Again, typical.
That night we went to Radost, where Rihanna filmed "Please don't stop the music." It was great, especially the Usher-wannabee that tried to hog the attention from the rapper that was supposed to be performing, only to be outdone by a couple making out, also in the middle of the stage. Maybe you just had to see it.
The next day we saw all of the sights, Prague castle and such. It was all beautiful, like a fairy tale. You can check out the pictures because I can't do it justice with words. Or you should probably just go. That night, if I remember correctly, we went to Cross Club, which is where the drug dealers and shadiest people in Prague (or the world?) hang out! Perfect. It was so cool on the inside, dark with moving lit up car parts hanging from the ceiling. We had an unwelcome guest, somewhere between 30 and 70 years old, who invited himself to our table and bought us drinks which we were too scared to drink. Maybe because his first topic of conversation was "Did you know someone was murdered here last month?" Oh, by you? And we're next? Another shot please!!
The next day we mostly rested and of course ate a lot, and then went to THE LARGEST CLUB IN CENTRAL EUROPE!!! Five stories, different music on every floor, very cool club. Besides for the fact that everyone was about 16 and I felt like I was at a Bar Mitzvah and someone was going to start a game of coke and pepsi at any moment. Or maybe I was just hoping that they would... It was an experience at the least. Oh and at some point that night I lost my phone. Once again, typical.
Overall, it was an amazingggggggg time! Cant wait for Italy, Maggie :)
Paris: Woke up at 4:45 to catch the 6:26 train. Walked to the train station (40 mins away) in the RAIN (of course). Four hour train ride, slept for maybe two hours? Actually a good ride, I'm glad we left that early because we got A LOT done on Friday. When we stepped out of the train station were basically blinded by the sunlight because we are not used to it in Amsterdam. It was a beautiful day. First we went to the Champs Elysees, which has the Arc de Triumph at the end of it. We went to the top, amazing view. Then we went to Notre Dame, saw a line, and assumed we should be in it to get inside. Turns out it was a line to go the to top of Notre Dame, and going inside is just free with no line. Its ok though, worth the 5 euros, because we got another great view. Oh, and ate banana nutella crepes in line. AMAZING. Thennnn we went to the Louvre, I was exhausted by this point, but the Louvre is pretty much breathtaking. And I saw Taylor there!!!!! What are the odds? Oh and the Mona Lisa...slightly dissapointing.
This is getting really long...so basically Saturday we went to the catacombs (creepy), Musee d'Orsay (amazing) and the top of the eiffel tower at night (pretty much as great as you would imagine, but better). At night we were going to go to an Irish pub with some of Dan's friends who are studying in Paris, but it was really full and there were like 10 of us so, of course, we each bought a bottle of wine and drank it on the canal. There was also some Camembert cheese, so the perfect French experience. Then we were going to go to the hookah lounge, so I had to finish my bottle on the metro. Or maybe I purposely saved some so I could act homeless and drink it on the metro...who knows. It was great nonetheless. And I love/really missed hookah.
Sunday we went to Versailles, which was SO beautiful. Too bad it was raining though so the gardens were kind of lame. But it was ok because it gave us an excuse to not spend so much time in them and...eat a Tex Mex restaurant!!! Haha the only real restaurant I ate in in Paris was a poor attempt at Mexican food. But we all missed it so much, we had to at least try. At least my Mango Mojito was delicious. Then we got on the train and came back to the Dam!
Phew this is an intense entry. Closing thoughts: I really loved both of these cities, my first impressions of both were, "wow, these buildings are so much more grand and amazing than in Amsterdam." But then after a few days in both I realized how happy I am I chose to study here. It is beautiful in a more quaint way, and the best part is that it is small enough that I almost never use public transportation, I can just ride my bike! I HATE the metro, I got a little more used to it when I had to take it everywhere in Paris and Prague, but I am still so happy I never have to deal with that here. Also I think the people here are much more friendly and accepting of foreigners, so its just a really nice atmosphere to live in.
Thats all for now, next exciting things to look forward to: Girl Talk at Paradiso March 19, and AVERY AND ZHANNA ARE VISITING MARCH 27TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait :)
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