Canals, Canals, and more Canals

Well seeing as though I was in Amsterdam a week ago already, I should probably write my blog post about it.  It was a long, but absolutely wonderful weekend.  Even though it was a bit chilly, the sun was shining and it was very beautiful.  I went there with Bridget and Jenna and we all had a lot of fun.  Now let's dive into those details of what I did and the delicious food that I ate :).

We left for Amsterdam Friday night at 10pm and we were in for a very long ride, about 11 hours to be exact.  That was literally the longest bus ride of my life and I couldn't wait to get up and walk, or at least try haha.  After we made our way to Sloterdijk Station, we did our best to figure out there transportation system and made our way to our hotel.  Our hotel wasn't in the ideal location, but it wasn't completely horrible.  We dropped off our luggage and were on our way to explore the city. 

Amsterdam is very beautiful.  Everywhere you look is a canal and coming from living right on the shore of  Lake Michigan almost all my life, it was refreshing being surrounded by water again.  We stopped for homemade ice cream at a little shop on a street corner; I got strawberry cheesecake and it was delicious. 

Our nest stop was to got to the Heineken Brewery and do the Heineken Experience.  At first I didn't really feel like doing this, but it was actually a lot of fun.  We got to learn about the history of Heineken and its founder.  We then learned about all of the ingredients and what makes it "the best brand of beer," as they said about ten times throughout the tour.  There was also a section in the tour where we got to take pictures with different back drop and make little music videos.  My absolute favorite part of the tour was when we had did the virtual experience.  They put us in a room with a group of people and we all stood on a platform.  Before starting the video they warned us that the platform was going to move.  It turns out that we were going to see how it would feel like to become a bottle of Heineken, sounds weird I know.  The platform shook, we got water sprinkled on us from above, and it was actually really fun.  I would definitely recommend doing this if you are ever in Amsterdam!

After the Heineken Experience we went on a canal boat ride, because you just have to.  The ride lasted for about an hour and a half and we saw a large majority of the city.  After we got off the boat we wandered around to find some place to eat.  We stumbled upon a bar called Myrabelle.  The upstairs had a little dining area, while the downstairs had the bar.  We all got schnitzel with chips and salad.  It was very good.  Following our very delicious meal, we decided to go and explore more of the central part of the city.  It consisted mainly of us getting lost and Bridget feeding ducks.  After about a few hours, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep, because we were all very tired from having a long day.

On Saturday, we were all planning on getting up early, because we had a walking tour that we signed up for, but we all ended up sleeping through our alarms.  It is a good thing we got to go at a later time.  I really enjoyed the tour.  We got to see a lot of things that we probably couldn't have found on our own and learning about the history of the city was very interesting.  At the end of the tour we all got to sample a piece of traditional Dutch cheese.  I'm not a huge cheese fan, but nothing can beat Wisconsin cheese.

 That night we were planning to go visit the Anne Frank house, because that was the number one thing on all of our lists.  We were going to do it right after the tour, but the line was extremely long, so we decided to get dinner.  The only thing we were looking for was a place that had pancakes and there was one right across from the House.  I decided to try something different and got bacon and banana pancakes.  It was so good!  They were a little thicker than a crepe, but tasted like a pancake.

Then we made our way to the Anne Frank House.  The line was still the same length than before, but it was even colder.  After waiting in the chilly wind for over an hour and a half, we finally got in.  I read Anne Frank's Diary in sixth grade and ever since then I was intrigued by the story.  It was so surreal being in the exact house that all of those events happened in and seeing the real pages of her diary. I thought the museum was put together very well and I really enjoyed the experience.

On the final Day in Amsterdam, we checked out of our hotel and made our way to the I am Amsterdam sign outside of the Rijkmuseum.  When coming to this city, you of course have to stop by and take a picture of this.  After doing this, Jenna had to go catch her bus, because she decided to leave early. 

While in Amsterdam, one of my main missions was to try traditional Dutch food, and I definitely had my share.  I tried a stroopwaffel, which consists of to very thin crisp wafer-like waffles with a caramel syrup in the middle. After leaving the museum, we went to look for a place to get brunch.  We stopped at a place called  Café Hans En Grietje.  Here I ordered tomato soup and ossenwurst, which is raw meat sausage.  Although it sounds weird, it was actually really good, besides the strang texture.   Later on in the day, I also tried Dutch apple pie and it was one of the best slices of pie I have ever tasted. 

To waste some time until we had to catch our bus, we visited the Rijkmuseum.  It had a little bit of everything.  It probably would have been a lot more fun if we were not exhausted.  The most popular thing there was the self-portrait painting by Van Gough.  It was almost impossible to go up to it and take a photo.  In over two hours, we literally walked and saw everything in the museum. 

At the back of the museum was Vandel Park, which is one of the most well-known parks in Amsterdam.  The sun was shining and we decided to sit on the grass and relax.  We were watching the dogs run around and people playing Frisbee.  After lounging around for about an hour, we got up and went to find our bus stop.  After a few stop we got off to find someplace for dinner.  We ended up going to a little fast food place.  I got a hamburger and bitterballen, which is a fired or breaded meat-based snack.  It was interesting but really flavorful.  After eating we made our way back to Sloterdijk station to catch the bus.  We ended up going there with a couple hours to spare, so we ordered tea at Starbucks and relaxed until 8pm.  Then it was on the bus again to head home.  I ended up getting back to my room at around 6:30am and had to get ready to go to work at 9am.  Although tiring, it was well worth the extra hours in Amsterdam.

I loved visiting Amsterdam and it was a lot more beautiful than I thought it would be.  I will leave you with five things that stuck out to me on this trip.
1. There are literally bikes everywhere and they even have a separate lane on the roads and sidewalks. 
2. I don't know if the people there have a thing with fat beagle/basset hounds, but we saw quite a few.
3. Walking around is very confusing, probably from the way that the canals surround the center of the city.
4. The people there are so nice and a lot of them speak English and are very helpful.
5. The food is absolutely delicious and out of all of the places I have visited it definitely sticks out as one of my favorites.
Next week we are going to Italy and I can not believe it!!! I hope you all have a great next couple weeks and I can't wait to see you all! -Cheers, Heather

Just a little Catch Up

Before I share with you about my absolute wonderful time in Amsterdam this past weekend, I wanted to catch you up on what went on during the week!  So in the previous post, I had mistakenly said that Spring had arrived...well its back to being cold and windy outside, I think I jinxed it.  Well here is to hoping that the weather turns around before we leave.

Anyways, I will tell you about my classes.  For British Art and Architecture we visited the National Gallery and Tate Britain again, nothing new here.  As for Shakespeare, we read the play Doctor Faulstus.  I had never read this, but I liked it; it kind of reminded me of Dante's Inferno, which I enjoyed reading in High school.  As for my internship, I did a lot of the same things that I have been doing, and I look forward to learning more from my co-workers.

Well that all.  Wow I think that is the shortest post I have written thus far.  But that is because there will be a very lengthy Amsterdam post!  Oh! And I almost forgot.  We booked flight tickets this week for Italy.  I am over the moon beyond excited and it has been one of my dream ever since I was very little to visit Italy and I can't believe it is coming true!  Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying whatever you are up to, and don't hesitate to throw me a message!  Cheers -Heather

Spring is Finally Here!!!

As you can tell by my title, spring has arrived :).  Be prepared to see a lot of photos of flowers blooming and leaves growing!  Last time I left you, I just got back from Germany, wow was that already two weeks ago?!?  As the time is coming closer to the day I depart to come back to the States, it is going faster and faster.  I wish it would just take a pause, or I wish I could go back to when we first got here.  It's funny, I was talking with Ashley this week and we were discussing how we should all plan trip next summer to come back here after we graduate.  We haven't even left yet, but we all know that we are going to miss it so much.  Anyways, let me share with you how the last couple of weeks have been.

After coming back sleep deprived from Germany, I of course had a long day of work and classes; it was about an eleven hour day...  For my internship I started a SketchUp model of an exterior of a building that they are building an addition to.  I have never really created the outside of a building, so it was beneficial to learn this and I also learned little tips and tricks along the way.  As for my British Art and Architecture class, we visited Kenwood House which is in Hampstead, London.  The landscape of the house was absolutely gorgeous.  At the back of the house is a giant hill, and if you look really close, you can see the skyline of the city.  As for my Shakespeare class, we read Macbeth.  I had already read this in High school, so it was a review for me, just like a couple of the other plays we have read. 

To take a little relaxing break before our Shakespeare class on Thursday, Taylor and I decided to go take a walk through Regents Park, since it is literally our "backyard."  I have been wanting to walk through this park, but every time I want to it is either rainy or chilly.  This morning was perfect; it was warm and the sun was shining.  The park is so beautiful and their are birds everywhere!!! There is so much to see here.  For lunch we decided to try the market that we always pass walking through Birkbeck University.  We both got a hog roll that had apple sauce and stuffing, it was so delicious!

 

 

 At after this very long week, it was finally a much needed weekend.  On Friday a group of us went to get brunch at a place called the Riding House Café.  I had found this the day before, and the pancakes I got were some of the best pancakes I had ever eaten.  We are deciding to make this a thing and get brunch at a new place every Friday morning.  It will help us discover more of the city before we leave.

  

 

 

On Saturday we left early to go see the changing of the guards.  When we got there, there were so many people and we ended up leaving, because there was no way we were going to see anything anyways.  We then had a nice relaxing day.  We walked through Hyde Park, saw where Ashley interned, and then Ashley and I went to go see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.  As soon as we walked in, it was like we were kids again.  One of the first things we saw was a three-horn, and then there was a little model next to it.  Both Ashley and I said to each other, "look it's a baby!"  As we were walking away we heard a little girl say the same thing we did, and then her father corrected her and said "no honey, it is just a model of how the dinosaur would look with it's skin on."  Both of us then looked at each other again and said, "Oooh" at about the same time.  The dad then looked at us and laughed, it was pretty funny.  There were a lot of cool things in this exhibit and it was definitely worth waiting in line.  Before going to the museum, we also went to Café Vienna again and I got spinach dumplings in a mushroom sauce with a apple pie for dessert.  So good!  And then before heading home we got ice cream at a neat little ice cream truck.  The ice cream must have been some kind of traditional English ice cream, because it was very think and rich; interesting, but still good.  After a long day of walking, we headed home.

On Sunday, we decided to go explore Covent Garden Market.  It was located in a neat building that had a lot of shops and restaurants.  Our first mission was to find a place that had brunch.  We happened to find a creperie, I think we ware a little obsessed with crepes haha.  Anyways I got a crepe called 'Rumble in the Crumple,' it had apples with cinnamon crumble and I also got a berry smoothie.  it was so good and definitely satisfied our hunger.  Then we deiced to walk around the market.  As we were about to leave I saw a group of guys that were all starting to put on bright yellow blazers.  I joking said to Ashley and Taylor that they look like an acapella group, and sure enough they were!  And to make it even better they were from Rochester, New York!  What are the odds???  They are called the Yellow Jackets.  They were very entertaining and of course we had to stop and watch.  That was a very good end to a good day.

Monday marked another beginning to another week and we were going to go visit the Somerset House for our British Art and Architecture class.  I was excited to go here, because I had written my essay on it, and just like the photos it was beautiful.  For Shakespeare we read the Tempest, and I actually really enjoyed this play.  It had to do a lot with magic and was 'cooky' as Taylor would say.  As for my internship, I continued to work in SketchUp and I learned how to make windows very easily.  I will for sure be using the techniques I learned for projects I do in the future.

Thursday, we took another adventure before class, but this time we went to the British Museum.  We of course had to go here to see the iconic lobby.  It was so pretty.  We also had to go and see the mummies.  Again, we got lunch at the little market, I got a venison burger for the first time, and I really enjoyed it!  We also got brownie sundaes before heading to class.

As for the weekend, on Friday we went to get our weekly brunch at a place called the diner.  It kind of reminded me of George Webbs and I loved it!  I got banana pancakes with butterscotch syrup and a coconut and pistachio shake.  We all looked at each other, and said we should definitely come back before we leave.

On Saturday we took another trip to Spitalfields Market and ate at a cute little Mexican restaurant.  We split nachos, fish tacos, and turkey empanadas and for dessert we got churros with a dulce de leche dipping sauce.  After we were finish looking around for about an hour or two, we went to Patisserie Valerie to get a slice of cake.  I of course had to get the tiramisu that also had chocolate mousse in the middle; very good.  We then sat down and tried to find something else to do for the rest of the day.  We ended up going to the Museum of London and on the way we happened to see the old wall of London.  At the museum it was interesting see all of London's history and on the way out we popped into a room, because it had dim lighting and we were curious as to what was in there.  It turned out to be the cauldron that was at the 2012 Summer Olympics.  It was very large and very beautiful.

At finally I will tell you what I was up to today.  In London they celebrated St. Patrick's Day.  We went to the parade that was held near Trafalgar Square.  It was very cold and all throughout the parade we were waiting for it to rain, it finally did start to pour near the end.  The parade was kind of cool, I still think we have better parades in the States.  But I liked seeing all of the people dressed up and in cheery moods.  For lunch...we got Chinese haha.  It was very good, I do kind of wish we got Irish food, but oh well, we can get some on the 17th.

Wow, okay I believe I am done with this post.  We are almost at the one month left mark, I don't want to leave.  Don't get me wrong, I do want to see everyone, but I sure will miss being able to do something different everyday.  As for next weekend I am going to Amsterdam!  I am very excited and I cant wait to eat some traditional Dutch food.  Until then, cheers! -Heather