Wednesday night, Claire, Chrsitine, Ramon, and Alex treated me to seeing the Lion King in the West End for my birthday present. It was AMAZING. I had already seen the Lion King off-broadway at Shea's theatre in Buffalo, NY, but this was just spectacular. Because the show I had seen was a traveling production, the sets could not be as elaborate as the ones used in London. Overall, it is still the best musical that I have ever seen, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
After the Lion King, I returned home to work on a paper that was due the following morning, since I am a procrastinator and didn't have it done. I worked until late into the night, went to bed for a few hours, and then woke up early Thursday morning to complete it. At least that is one paper completed. Unfortunately, I still have two 12-page papers, two 5-page papers, a group presentation, a take-home test, and a final exam due. The next two weeks are going to be incredibly stressful...
After my class on Thursday, I met up with Claire and Christine for lunch in Russell Square Garden. It was a beautiful day, and luckily this time no pidgeons attacked me (no, seriously, last time I ate there a pidgeon flew over my head, hit me with its wings, and then landed in my water glass and started splashing around. Needless to say, I'm no longer a fan of pidgeons...) We chatted for about an hour before they both headed to class, and I headed back to my flat for a bit before work.
After work I lounged around my flat, and then made the boys dinner. I have invented what I like to call "salsa chicken" which is exactly what it sounds like, chicken breasts baked with salsa and cheese on top. I dip mine in sour cream. Delicious.
After dinner I was planning on staying in for the night, packing, doing laundry, and going to bed early before I departed for Dorset, but my friends had other plans. After about an hour of persuasion, I got on some nice-looking clothes and headed downtown to O'Neill's with them. I ended up having a much more fun time than I anticipated. Luckily, we only stayed for a few hours before heading home, so I still had enough time to get some sleep before an early 8:30am departure.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
London Day 91: Mixed Feelings
Right now I am procrastinating writing one of my final papers (as usual). However, I'm finding myself more distracted than usual when I try to concentrate. This is due to the fact that I have much more on my mind than the typical finals stress. The semester is coming to a close, which means that I will soon be leaving London.
For the past week or so, I've had bittersweet feelings about returning home. I miss my friends and family terribly, but I love London so much and the new friends that I've made here. I also love the lifestyle here, which is so much different than the lifestyle in Syracuse, NY.
It is a weird realization to think that I haven't seen my dad, sister, or cat Lizzie in over 100 days. Luckily Mom was able to come visit me, but that was only briefly, and it has still been almost two months since then.
I am someone that thrives on my family and friends being around me at all times. Not having that support system here was at first scary, but now isn't so scary anymore. I've formed a new support system of friends and roommates here, and it's worked out very well. I can finally say that I've lived away from home, and I have survived it much better than I could have anticipated.
With all of this, I am actually a little bit afraid to return to the United States. I'm afraid that everything will be different, or that I will be different. Actually, I'm positive that I am different. I'm afraid that adjusting to living under my parents' roof will be more of a challenge than ever. I'm afraid that I will have changed in ways that will make me significantly different from my friends. Or, even worse, they will have changed to be different than me. I'm basically really afraid of not fitting in in Syracuse/Liverpool anymore.
I know that going home is going to be one of the more difficult things that I'm going to have to deal with. (Probably only second to coming to London, or going to college.) The anticipation is killing me, and only time will tell what the outcome is. Luckily, I know that no matter how much I've changed, my amazing friends and family will love me. Despite all of this, though, change is still an inevitably scary part of life, and I'm beginning to believe that I will never be able to fully accept dealing with it.
For the past week or so, I've had bittersweet feelings about returning home. I miss my friends and family terribly, but I love London so much and the new friends that I've made here. I also love the lifestyle here, which is so much different than the lifestyle in Syracuse, NY.
It is a weird realization to think that I haven't seen my dad, sister, or cat Lizzie in over 100 days. Luckily Mom was able to come visit me, but that was only briefly, and it has still been almost two months since then.
I am someone that thrives on my family and friends being around me at all times. Not having that support system here was at first scary, but now isn't so scary anymore. I've formed a new support system of friends and roommates here, and it's worked out very well. I can finally say that I've lived away from home, and I have survived it much better than I could have anticipated.
With all of this, I am actually a little bit afraid to return to the United States. I'm afraid that everything will be different, or that I will be different. Actually, I'm positive that I am different. I'm afraid that adjusting to living under my parents' roof will be more of a challenge than ever. I'm afraid that I will have changed in ways that will make me significantly different from my friends. Or, even worse, they will have changed to be different than me. I'm basically really afraid of not fitting in in Syracuse/Liverpool anymore.
I know that going home is going to be one of the more difficult things that I'm going to have to deal with. (Probably only second to coming to London, or going to college.) The anticipation is killing me, and only time will tell what the outcome is. Luckily, I know that no matter how much I've changed, my amazing friends and family will love me. Despite all of this, though, change is still an inevitably scary part of life, and I'm beginning to believe that I will never be able to fully accept dealing with it.
Monday, April 19, 2010
London Days 96-98: Spring is in the Air!
//Edit: I suck at counting. London Days #86-88...
Despite being unable to go to Istanbul, I tried to make the best of my weekend. Many other people had been scheduled to visit other parts of Europe, so everyone was feeling the disappointment of missing trips.
Friday I spent most of the day taking advantage of the "extra time" that I had by sleeping in. This is something I very rarely get to do (and even more rarely let myself do), so it was quite a treat.
Friday night Christine's flat was hosting a "Beer Olympics" because they had been scheduled to attend Beerfest in Munich this weekend. Alex and I were team Scotland, but we chose to be spectators rather than participants because neither of us were really in the mood to drink. It was a fun night anyways, though, as lots of socializing took place before everyone headed out to a club for the night (I decided to go to bed instead, as a rugby jersey isn't appropriate attire for a dance club).
Saturday I lounged around in the morning before going to a late breakfast/early lunch with Alex at a restaurant called the Forum Cafe near the British Museum. My roommates always rave about its Traditional English Breakfast and bagels served all day, so we decided to try it out. Alex got the English Breakfast, which he claims was really good, and I got a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese, and some hash browns, which were also delicious. Afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream at Baskin Robbins and sat in the sun outside of the British Museum for a few hours enjoying the afternoon. After we left, we both worked on some homework for a bit before going to Wagamama (an Asian noodle place) for dinner with Ramon.
After dinner we hurriedly got ready to go to The Ministry of Sound, a world-renowned club in London. It is allegedly the best club in London and the sixth-best club in the world! It has its own record label, and always has world-famous DJs hosting. Luckily, they have a student discount, so we decided we would try it out. The club was really cool with a bunch of different rooms, all with a different bar and a different soundtrack. It had crazy lights, disco balls, fog machines, and light-up ceilings to complete the feel of a real dance club. The only negative to the club, however, was the bass. The bass beat on all of the songs resonated so loudly that it made the hair on your arms shake (think of the guy sitting next to you at the stop light whose bass makes your car shake...). Unfortunately for me, heavy bass like this makes my heart palpitate, so I had to sit in one of the "chiller" rooms for awhile, before finally deciding to leave because there was no point being at a world-renowned club and sitting in a room in the corner. I did get a chance to do a little bit of dancing and see the whole club, though, so it wasn't a complete loss. Alex came with me and we braved our first successful night bus journey (hooray!) and made it home relatively smoothly (you never know where the night buses are going to stop). Overall? Successful night.
We spent Sunday morning recovering from the club the night before, because although we left "early," it was still pretty late in the night. Alex and I met up for lunch and went to Giraffe in the Brunswick Shopping Centre. Neither of us travel down towards Russell Square very often, so we decided that eating lunch down there might be a nice change. We sat at an outdoor table in order to fully appreciate the sun. Afterwards, we had "Afternoon Tea in the Park"! There is a place near my flat that offers Afternoon Tea in the Park every day from 12-7. You just call ahead and let them know that you're coming, and they prepare a picnic basket complete with tea, biscuits, pastries, cupcakes, scones, and even a blanket! This way, you can take the basket to your favorite park, sit in the sunshine, and enjoy some afternoon tea. We decided to sit in Bloomsbury Square, a park near our flats, for about an hour. It was really enjoyable (and also well-priced), so I'm sure that we'll be doing it again some day soon :)
Despite being unable to go to Istanbul, I tried to make the best of my weekend. Many other people had been scheduled to visit other parts of Europe, so everyone was feeling the disappointment of missing trips.
Friday I spent most of the day taking advantage of the "extra time" that I had by sleeping in. This is something I very rarely get to do (and even more rarely let myself do), so it was quite a treat.
Friday night Christine's flat was hosting a "Beer Olympics" because they had been scheduled to attend Beerfest in Munich this weekend. Alex and I were team Scotland, but we chose to be spectators rather than participants because neither of us were really in the mood to drink. It was a fun night anyways, though, as lots of socializing took place before everyone headed out to a club for the night (I decided to go to bed instead, as a rugby jersey isn't appropriate attire for a dance club).
Saturday I lounged around in the morning before going to a late breakfast/early lunch with Alex at a restaurant called the Forum Cafe near the British Museum. My roommates always rave about its Traditional English Breakfast and bagels served all day, so we decided to try it out. Alex got the English Breakfast, which he claims was really good, and I got a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese, and some hash browns, which were also delicious. Afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream at Baskin Robbins and sat in the sun outside of the British Museum for a few hours enjoying the afternoon. After we left, we both worked on some homework for a bit before going to Wagamama (an Asian noodle place) for dinner with Ramon.
After dinner we hurriedly got ready to go to The Ministry of Sound, a world-renowned club in London. It is allegedly the best club in London and the sixth-best club in the world! It has its own record label, and always has world-famous DJs hosting. Luckily, they have a student discount, so we decided we would try it out. The club was really cool with a bunch of different rooms, all with a different bar and a different soundtrack. It had crazy lights, disco balls, fog machines, and light-up ceilings to complete the feel of a real dance club. The only negative to the club, however, was the bass. The bass beat on all of the songs resonated so loudly that it made the hair on your arms shake (think of the guy sitting next to you at the stop light whose bass makes your car shake...). Unfortunately for me, heavy bass like this makes my heart palpitate, so I had to sit in one of the "chiller" rooms for awhile, before finally deciding to leave because there was no point being at a world-renowned club and sitting in a room in the corner. I did get a chance to do a little bit of dancing and see the whole club, though, so it wasn't a complete loss. Alex came with me and we braved our first successful night bus journey (hooray!) and made it home relatively smoothly (you never know where the night buses are going to stop). Overall? Successful night.
We spent Sunday morning recovering from the club the night before, because although we left "early," it was still pretty late in the night. Alex and I met up for lunch and went to Giraffe in the Brunswick Shopping Centre. Neither of us travel down towards Russell Square very often, so we decided that eating lunch down there might be a nice change. We sat at an outdoor table in order to fully appreciate the sun. Afterwards, we had "Afternoon Tea in the Park"! There is a place near my flat that offers Afternoon Tea in the Park every day from 12-7. You just call ahead and let them know that you're coming, and they prepare a picnic basket complete with tea, biscuits, pastries, cupcakes, scones, and even a blanket! This way, you can take the basket to your favorite park, sit in the sunshine, and enjoy some afternoon tea. We decided to sit in Bloomsbury Square, a park near our flats, for about an hour. It was really enjoyable (and also well-priced), so I'm sure that we'll be doing it again some day soon :)
London Day 95: Istanbul (or not?)
//Edit: Actually Day Number 85...
Thursday I was supposed to go to Istanbul for the weekend. Unfortunately, a volcano in Iceland had other plans for us. Here is a news article about the situation currently, in case you don't keep up on the news (I know I don't!). At the bottom is also a video that I found quite amusing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/18/volcano-iceland-airports-passengers
Thursday I was supposed to go to Istanbul for the weekend. Unfortunately, a volcano in Iceland had other plans for us. Here is a news article about the situation currently, in case you don't keep up on the news (I know I don't!). At the bottom is also a video that I found quite amusing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/18/volcano-iceland-airports-passengers
London Day 93: St. Paul's Cathedral
//Edit: Actually London Day 83. Whoops!
On Tuesdays I get out of class at 1:40pm, which leaves my afternoons free. Usually I meet up with either Christine or Alex and explore a part of London that I have yet to see (or perhaps a part that we want to re-visit). Last Tuesday, April 13, Alex and I decided to go visit St. Paul's Cathedral.
I have been to St. Paul's many times, and the area surrounding it is probably one of my favorite parts of London. Despite all the times that I have visited the area, I have yet to be able to go into the actual Cathedral and walk to the top. The view from the top of St. Paul's is recognized as one of the best views of the city (some say better than the London Eye). Its view is also copyrighted by the Queen, so no one is allowed to build anything that obstructs the view. Therefore, it is one of the only 360-degree views of London.
The cathedral itself was much more beautiful that I had anticipated. In general, I'm not a big fan of cathedrals, and I find them to be dark and dreary. St. Paul's, on the other hand, is bright and beatiful inside. There are gold accents on many of the paintings that line the ceilings, as well as windows that let in a lot of light.
You are able to climb up to three different levels of the Cathedral. The first is the domed ceiling, in which a gallery is located where you can see down into the main Cathedral floor. The dome is also known as the Whispering Gallery because it is constructed so perfectly that the acoustics allow you to whisper at one side of the dome, and someone on the other side can hear what you have said. The second level is located outside the Whispering Gallery. The third is located at the top of the dome, and is also the highest view. You have to walk up a number of spiraled staircases in order to reach the top, but it is totally worth it. The view is outstanding, and we were lucky enough to climb to the top on a day with really nice weather.
Afterwards, we climbed back down and crossed the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern. We went up to the seventh floor cafe and had some coffee while we enjoyed my second-favorite view of the city. The cafe at the Tate Modern has huge glass windows so that you are able to see St. Paul's Cathedral, the Thames, and the surrounding landscape perfectly. I always like to go around sunset, because the colors are really beautiful.
All I can say is that I am so excited Spring has finally reached London, because the nice weather makes it an even better place to be living!
On Tuesdays I get out of class at 1:40pm, which leaves my afternoons free. Usually I meet up with either Christine or Alex and explore a part of London that I have yet to see (or perhaps a part that we want to re-visit). Last Tuesday, April 13, Alex and I decided to go visit St. Paul's Cathedral.
I have been to St. Paul's many times, and the area surrounding it is probably one of my favorite parts of London. Despite all the times that I have visited the area, I have yet to be able to go into the actual Cathedral and walk to the top. The view from the top of St. Paul's is recognized as one of the best views of the city (some say better than the London Eye). Its view is also copyrighted by the Queen, so no one is allowed to build anything that obstructs the view. Therefore, it is one of the only 360-degree views of London.
The cathedral itself was much more beautiful that I had anticipated. In general, I'm not a big fan of cathedrals, and I find them to be dark and dreary. St. Paul's, on the other hand, is bright and beatiful inside. There are gold accents on many of the paintings that line the ceilings, as well as windows that let in a lot of light.
You are able to climb up to three different levels of the Cathedral. The first is the domed ceiling, in which a gallery is located where you can see down into the main Cathedral floor. The dome is also known as the Whispering Gallery because it is constructed so perfectly that the acoustics allow you to whisper at one side of the dome, and someone on the other side can hear what you have said. The second level is located outside the Whispering Gallery. The third is located at the top of the dome, and is also the highest view. You have to walk up a number of spiraled staircases in order to reach the top, but it is totally worth it. The view is outstanding, and we were lucky enough to climb to the top on a day with really nice weather.
Afterwards, we climbed back down and crossed the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern. We went up to the seventh floor cafe and had some coffee while we enjoyed my second-favorite view of the city. The cafe at the Tate Modern has huge glass windows so that you are able to see St. Paul's Cathedral, the Thames, and the surrounding landscape perfectly. I always like to go around sunset, because the colors are really beautiful.
All I can say is that I am so excited Spring has finally reached London, because the nice weather makes it an even better place to be living!
Paris, France Day 3: Le Louvre
Sunday morning we woke up just in time to be checked out of our hostel by 11:00am. We hurried to Le Louvre, one of the last two things on our to-do list for Paris. Unfortunately, we were in a hurry while in Le Louvre, so we only got to see a small part of it. Of course, we made a point to see the Mona Lisa (totally overrated), but we also saw Venus de Milo and many other works. Most of what we saw was Ancient Greek/Roman statues, and Renaissance artwork. What amazed me the most, however, was how beautiful the architecture of the actual building was. Most of the ceilings were painted with gold accents and masterpieces painted on to the ceilings.
After seeing Le Louvre, we hurried down to the Eiffel Tower in hopes of riding all the way to the top. Unfortunately, however, we didn't have enough time to do so without missing our flight home. Instead, we got some crepes (banana and nutella... yum!) and sat next to the Seine and under the Eiffel Tower to enjoy them. It was a beautiful Spring day, so even though we were unable to go up to the top, enjoying the weather and the view from the bottom was enough in itself.
After eating, we hopped on the Metro to get back to our hostel. We grabbed our bags, hopped back on the Metro to the train station. When we arrived at the train station, however, we encountered some problems. The ticket machines only accepted coins and credit cards, and our balance was €17. We obviously didn't have €17 in coins, so we tried using our credit cards (four total between the two of us), and NONE of them would work. We were already running a little bit late for the airport (we were planning to meet Claire there 2.5 hours before our flight), so this wasn't good. We stepped out of line and went to the Information/Help desk to purchase tickets with cash, except that in France it seems to be perfectly acceptable to just leave the desk whenever you feel like it (we encountered this same problem several times throughout the weekend), so there wasn't an attendant there. We tried our credit cards one more time before finally leaving the train station, buying a candy bar, requesting that all our change be in coins, and then hurrying back down to buy our train tickets. Crisis averted. Almost...
We hurried down to the train tracks where our train was supposed to be departing only to find that there was caution tape across the tracks. A sign written only in French (no English translation) explained that this track was closed, and that the train had been re-routed to another track. Good thing I can read French. Unfortunately for us, the track that the train had been re-routed to was at the far end of the train station, so we were hurrying to reach it before it left. We managed to get on it, but not until 4:00pm, the time we were already supposed to BE at the airport. We called Claire and told her to check-in without us. The train was only supposed to take 30 minutes, but it turns out we got on the non-express train, which stopped at every station between where we were and the airport. So, instead of taking 30 minutes, it took 50 minutes. We arrived at the airport at 4:50, checking-in with AirFrance at 5:00, with just 30 minutes to spare before boarding for our flight began. Luckily Passport Control and Security didn't take too long, so we were even able to grab a quick lunch and some souvenirs before arriving at the gate just in time to board. Overall, it was a hectic afternoon, but it worked out well in the end.
We arrived back in London just a few minutes after we left Paris (due to the time zone change, we only lost about 15 minutes of time!), and finally got back to our flats around 7:45.
Looking back, Paris was definitely the best city that I have visited thus far. I'm not sure if it was just because the weather was so nice, but I think it was just a beautiful city. I had heard terrible things about the Parisians, but with the exception of our taxi driver, we encountered no real problems. I think that Paris is a city that I could definitely see myself living in some day, even if just for a short amount of time.
After seeing Le Louvre, we hurried down to the Eiffel Tower in hopes of riding all the way to the top. Unfortunately, however, we didn't have enough time to do so without missing our flight home. Instead, we got some crepes (banana and nutella... yum!) and sat next to the Seine and under the Eiffel Tower to enjoy them. It was a beautiful Spring day, so even though we were unable to go up to the top, enjoying the weather and the view from the bottom was enough in itself.
After eating, we hopped on the Metro to get back to our hostel. We grabbed our bags, hopped back on the Metro to the train station. When we arrived at the train station, however, we encountered some problems. The ticket machines only accepted coins and credit cards, and our balance was €17. We obviously didn't have €17 in coins, so we tried using our credit cards (four total between the two of us), and NONE of them would work. We were already running a little bit late for the airport (we were planning to meet Claire there 2.5 hours before our flight), so this wasn't good. We stepped out of line and went to the Information/Help desk to purchase tickets with cash, except that in France it seems to be perfectly acceptable to just leave the desk whenever you feel like it (we encountered this same problem several times throughout the weekend), so there wasn't an attendant there. We tried our credit cards one more time before finally leaving the train station, buying a candy bar, requesting that all our change be in coins, and then hurrying back down to buy our train tickets. Crisis averted. Almost...
We hurried down to the train tracks where our train was supposed to be departing only to find that there was caution tape across the tracks. A sign written only in French (no English translation) explained that this track was closed, and that the train had been re-routed to another track. Good thing I can read French. Unfortunately for us, the track that the train had been re-routed to was at the far end of the train station, so we were hurrying to reach it before it left. We managed to get on it, but not until 4:00pm, the time we were already supposed to BE at the airport. We called Claire and told her to check-in without us. The train was only supposed to take 30 minutes, but it turns out we got on the non-express train, which stopped at every station between where we were and the airport. So, instead of taking 30 minutes, it took 50 minutes. We arrived at the airport at 4:50, checking-in with AirFrance at 5:00, with just 30 minutes to spare before boarding for our flight began. Luckily Passport Control and Security didn't take too long, so we were even able to grab a quick lunch and some souvenirs before arriving at the gate just in time to board. Overall, it was a hectic afternoon, but it worked out well in the end.
We arrived back in London just a few minutes after we left Paris (due to the time zone change, we only lost about 15 minutes of time!), and finally got back to our flats around 7:45.
Looking back, Paris was definitely the best city that I have visited thus far. I'm not sure if it was just because the weather was so nice, but I think it was just a beautiful city. I had heard terrible things about the Parisians, but with the exception of our taxi driver, we encountered no real problems. I think that Paris is a city that I could definitely see myself living in some day, even if just for a short amount of time.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Paris, France Day 2: City Tours
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early in order to catch a free tour through Paris. We had made friends with one of our German hostel-mates Robert, (we were in a 10-bed dorm), and he joined us for the first half of the day.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hostel's restaurant (yes, there was a restaurant in our hostel), before taking the Metro to Saint-Michel Square to meet up with the tour group. The tour covered TONS of different places all over Paris and was 3.5 hours long. We saw Le Fontaine de Saint-Michel, the Latin Quarter, Le Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, the French Courts of Justice, French Parliament, Le Seine, the "Lock Bridge", Le Louvre, Le Champs-Elysee, L'Obelisque, Le Tour Eiffel, L'Arc de Triomphe, La Grande Palais, et La Petite Palais. (Sorry for jumping from French to English) It was intense, but also very informative.
My favorite place on the tour was definitely the "lock bridge" (I can't remember its official name) because of the story behind it. Basically, there is a bridge over the Seine that has walls/railings made out of a material similar to chain-link. All over the fence there are locks hanging. Apparently, in Paris it is traditional for a group of friends to buy wine at the grocery store and sit next to the Seine on warm evenings instead of going to bars (there isn't an open-container law in Paris - you can carry alcohol anywhere!). So, sometimes couples do this as well. The tradition of the locks on the bridge stems off of this wine-drinking tradition. Basically, if you are a couple and are in love, you can go to the store and buy a lock and a bottle of wine. Then, you sit on the bridge, share the wine, and confess your love for one another. You write a small note on the lock (usually "Je t'aime", which translates to "I love you"), lock it on the bridge, and throw the key into the river, thus "locking" your love in Paris. HOW ROMANTIC! I am determined to do this some day...
After the tour, we grabbed lunch at a pub, and then Robert had to leave us to register for the Paris Marathon (side note: the Paris Marathon was taking place Sunday, which was a cool thing to experience. Wee!), so Alex and I decided to re-visit Le Cathedrale de Notre-Dame so that we could go inside. I was especially excited about this, because when I took AP French in high school, we did an entire unit on La Cathedrale de Notre-Dame and Notre-Dame de Paris (a novel and musical based on the cathedral). The interior was every bit as beautiful as it had been potrayed, and the stained glass windows were simply amazing. We were able to walk around the inside, however, the upstairs was closed when we went. This meant that I wasn't able to get up-close-and-personal with the gargoyles, however, I did get to see them from a few stories down.
After Notre-Dame, we headed to Paris' Red Light District for another tour. This tour brought us all around the Montmarte area in Paris. The first stop on our tour was the Moulin Rouge, which was not quite as ritzy and glamorous as it was portrayed in the movie. It was, however, still a cabaret house, and was also ridiculously expensive. We then were able to see La Moulin de la Galette (the last remaining windmill in Paris), the only vineyard in Paris, a cabaret/restaurant where Pablo Picasso used to frequent (and pay for his meals with his paintings rather than with money), the Red Light District, and Le Sacre-Coeur. The view from Le Sacre-Coeur was absolutely stunning, as it is located at the highest natural point of Paris (second highest only to the Eiffel Tower). Something interesting about the building as well is that parts of it were stark-white, while others were so dirty they were black. Our tour guide informed us that this is because of the stone used to build Le Sacre-Coeur. It is a self-cleansing stone because whenever it rains, calcium is released, thus producing a white color. Since the rain does not reach certain areas of the building, these areas are contrasted with the black color, which gives the building a sort of unreal depth which I found to be very pretty.
We ended up leaving the tour early and missing the last few stops because the sun was beginning to set, and we wanted to have time to change into nice clothes and go out to dinner. After returning to the hostel and changing, we ended up going out to a restaurant called Le Jaures for dinner. A woman at our hostel recommended it if we wanted some good traditional French cuisine. We split a casque of Merlot, an appetizer of escargots, and then I had scallops Provencale and Alex had a steak. The food was fabulous and also not too expensive, which was nice.
After dinner, we caught the Metro to the Eiffel Tower so that we could hopefully ride to the top, but unfortunately by that time the elevators had already closed. Instead, we found a cute park that was situated next to the Eiffel Tower, and sat there for awhile until the light show. (There is a light show on the Eiffel Tower every hour on the hour after dark.) The light show was pretty overrated, as they just had a crazy amount of white lightbulbs flashing at an unnecessarily fast speed for ten minutes (it was an epileptic seizure waiting to happen), but it was still nice to be able to see, especially since it was so nice out.
Since it had taken us so long to get to the Eiffel Tower (much of Paris' metro requires you needing to take very round-about routes in order to get places), it was 1:00am by the time we saw the light show. So, after hanging out for a little while afterwards, we had to run the the metro, and after getting lost, didn't get there until about 1:30am. Since our trip required two line changes, we ended up not making it home because the Metro closed at 2:00am. Therefore, we were stuck trying to flag down a Taxi outside the giant traffic circle surrounding L'Arc de Triomphe. After about 40-minutes of trying to hail a taxi, we were finally successful. Unfortunately, our cab driver was not the nicest Parisian that we encountered (to say the least), and he ended up doing everything in his power to make us feel uncomfortable/to charge us as much as possible for the ride. In the end, the fare ended up being an arm and a leg, but we made it home safely after a long and exhausting day.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hostel's restaurant (yes, there was a restaurant in our hostel), before taking the Metro to Saint-Michel Square to meet up with the tour group. The tour covered TONS of different places all over Paris and was 3.5 hours long. We saw Le Fontaine de Saint-Michel, the Latin Quarter, Le Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, the French Courts of Justice, French Parliament, Le Seine, the "Lock Bridge", Le Louvre, Le Champs-Elysee, L'Obelisque, Le Tour Eiffel, L'Arc de Triomphe, La Grande Palais, et La Petite Palais. (Sorry for jumping from French to English) It was intense, but also very informative.
My favorite place on the tour was definitely the "lock bridge" (I can't remember its official name) because of the story behind it. Basically, there is a bridge over the Seine that has walls/railings made out of a material similar to chain-link. All over the fence there are locks hanging. Apparently, in Paris it is traditional for a group of friends to buy wine at the grocery store and sit next to the Seine on warm evenings instead of going to bars (there isn't an open-container law in Paris - you can carry alcohol anywhere!). So, sometimes couples do this as well. The tradition of the locks on the bridge stems off of this wine-drinking tradition. Basically, if you are a couple and are in love, you can go to the store and buy a lock and a bottle of wine. Then, you sit on the bridge, share the wine, and confess your love for one another. You write a small note on the lock (usually "Je t'aime", which translates to "I love you"), lock it on the bridge, and throw the key into the river, thus "locking" your love in Paris. HOW ROMANTIC! I am determined to do this some day...
After the tour, we grabbed lunch at a pub, and then Robert had to leave us to register for the Paris Marathon (side note: the Paris Marathon was taking place Sunday, which was a cool thing to experience. Wee!), so Alex and I decided to re-visit Le Cathedrale de Notre-Dame so that we could go inside. I was especially excited about this, because when I took AP French in high school, we did an entire unit on La Cathedrale de Notre-Dame and Notre-Dame de Paris (a novel and musical based on the cathedral). The interior was every bit as beautiful as it had been potrayed, and the stained glass windows were simply amazing. We were able to walk around the inside, however, the upstairs was closed when we went. This meant that I wasn't able to get up-close-and-personal with the gargoyles, however, I did get to see them from a few stories down.
After Notre-Dame, we headed to Paris' Red Light District for another tour. This tour brought us all around the Montmarte area in Paris. The first stop on our tour was the Moulin Rouge, which was not quite as ritzy and glamorous as it was portrayed in the movie. It was, however, still a cabaret house, and was also ridiculously expensive. We then were able to see La Moulin de la Galette (the last remaining windmill in Paris), the only vineyard in Paris, a cabaret/restaurant where Pablo Picasso used to frequent (and pay for his meals with his paintings rather than with money), the Red Light District, and Le Sacre-Coeur. The view from Le Sacre-Coeur was absolutely stunning, as it is located at the highest natural point of Paris (second highest only to the Eiffel Tower). Something interesting about the building as well is that parts of it were stark-white, while others were so dirty they were black. Our tour guide informed us that this is because of the stone used to build Le Sacre-Coeur. It is a self-cleansing stone because whenever it rains, calcium is released, thus producing a white color. Since the rain does not reach certain areas of the building, these areas are contrasted with the black color, which gives the building a sort of unreal depth which I found to be very pretty.
We ended up leaving the tour early and missing the last few stops because the sun was beginning to set, and we wanted to have time to change into nice clothes and go out to dinner. After returning to the hostel and changing, we ended up going out to a restaurant called Le Jaures for dinner. A woman at our hostel recommended it if we wanted some good traditional French cuisine. We split a casque of Merlot, an appetizer of escargots, and then I had scallops Provencale and Alex had a steak. The food was fabulous and also not too expensive, which was nice.
After dinner, we caught the Metro to the Eiffel Tower so that we could hopefully ride to the top, but unfortunately by that time the elevators had already closed. Instead, we found a cute park that was situated next to the Eiffel Tower, and sat there for awhile until the light show. (There is a light show on the Eiffel Tower every hour on the hour after dark.) The light show was pretty overrated, as they just had a crazy amount of white lightbulbs flashing at an unnecessarily fast speed for ten minutes (it was an epileptic seizure waiting to happen), but it was still nice to be able to see, especially since it was so nice out.
Since it had taken us so long to get to the Eiffel Tower (much of Paris' metro requires you needing to take very round-about routes in order to get places), it was 1:00am by the time we saw the light show. So, after hanging out for a little while afterwards, we had to run the the metro, and after getting lost, didn't get there until about 1:30am. Since our trip required two line changes, we ended up not making it home because the Metro closed at 2:00am. Therefore, we were stuck trying to flag down a Taxi outside the giant traffic circle surrounding L'Arc de Triomphe. After about 40-minutes of trying to hail a taxi, we were finally successful. Unfortunately, our cab driver was not the nicest Parisian that we encountered (to say the least), and he ended up doing everything in his power to make us feel uncomfortable/to charge us as much as possible for the ride. In the end, the fare ended up being an arm and a leg, but we made it home safely after a long and exhausting day.
Paris, France Day 1: Le Champs-Elysee
I have had two life goals for a very long time:
1. See a tornado
2. Go to Paris
(Honorable Mention #3: See Billy Joel in concert)
I can now say that I have successfully completed number two, and it was just as amazing an experience as I ever could have imagined. (I have also completed Honorable Mention #3... but that is another story in itself...) The weather in Paris was perfect; it was mid-60s (Fahrenheit) and sunny all weekend.
Alex, Claire, and I caught a taxi to the airport at 3:30 am on Friday morning. Our flight departed at 7:20, which got us to Paris a little after 9:00 am. After getting Claire on a bus to where her friend lived, Alex and I hopped on the train to our hostel. We arrived around 11:00 and were told that we couldn't check-in yet, so we decided to walk along the Seine toward the Champs-Elysee. Once we realized the walk would probably take an hour or two, we grabbed lunch at a little cafe (where the server didn't speak any English, so I got to bust out my French!), and then hopped on the Metro to Le Louvre.
We arrived at Le Louvre, descended into the Pyramid, got our admission tickets, and then decided that we wanted to wait and go a different day because it was so beautiful out (luckily, we were given free admission since we were students studying in London, so it wasn't a big deal). Random Fact: The architect who designed the Pyramid at Le Louvre also designed the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications building at Syracuse University (where I go to school!)
So anyways, when we came out of Le Louvre, we decided to walk down the Champs-Elysee to L'Arc de Triomphe. This was also a farther walk than we expected, but it was enjoyable because of the scenery. We first walked through Le Louvre's grounds to an arch created by Napoleon. Then, we walked through some gardens and fountains that were really beautiful. Something that they do in Paris is that in these little parks they have chairs that are available for the public to use. They look like chairs you would have on your porch, and you are able to pick them up and move them to wherever you would like to sit. So, there were people sitting, reading, writing, drawing, and enjoying the sunshine all over this portion of the walk. We then reached the halfway point of the Champs-Elysee, where the Obelisque (Obelisk) is located. We continued walking into the shopping district on the Champs-Elysee, where we saw many designer stores including the original Louis-Vuitton store! Finally, after about an hour of walking, we reached L'Arc de Triomphe. It sat in the middle of a major traffic circle, which required an underground tunnel in order to "cross". We climbed to the top in order to enjoy a beautiful view of the Champs-Elysees and the surrounding areas of Paris. This is also when we had our first views of the Eiffel Tower.
After climbing back down L'Arc de Triomphe, we headed in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. It took us about 20-30 minutes to get there, and by the time we arrived, we were starving. We admired its beauty for a little while before finding a nearby restaurant to eat at. We were originally planning on going up the Eiffel Tower once it got dark, however, by the time we finished eating the sun hadn't even set yet, and we were both exhausted from pulling an all-nighter the night before. So, we decided to retire early so that we could have a full day of sight-seeing on Saturday.
1. See a tornado
2. Go to Paris
(Honorable Mention #3: See Billy Joel in concert)
I can now say that I have successfully completed number two, and it was just as amazing an experience as I ever could have imagined. (I have also completed Honorable Mention #3... but that is another story in itself...) The weather in Paris was perfect; it was mid-60s (Fahrenheit) and sunny all weekend.
Alex, Claire, and I caught a taxi to the airport at 3:30 am on Friday morning. Our flight departed at 7:20, which got us to Paris a little after 9:00 am. After getting Claire on a bus to where her friend lived, Alex and I hopped on the train to our hostel. We arrived around 11:00 and were told that we couldn't check-in yet, so we decided to walk along the Seine toward the Champs-Elysee. Once we realized the walk would probably take an hour or two, we grabbed lunch at a little cafe (where the server didn't speak any English, so I got to bust out my French!), and then hopped on the Metro to Le Louvre.
We arrived at Le Louvre, descended into the Pyramid, got our admission tickets, and then decided that we wanted to wait and go a different day because it was so beautiful out (luckily, we were given free admission since we were students studying in London, so it wasn't a big deal). Random Fact: The architect who designed the Pyramid at Le Louvre also designed the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications building at Syracuse University (where I go to school!)
So anyways, when we came out of Le Louvre, we decided to walk down the Champs-Elysee to L'Arc de Triomphe. This was also a farther walk than we expected, but it was enjoyable because of the scenery. We first walked through Le Louvre's grounds to an arch created by Napoleon. Then, we walked through some gardens and fountains that were really beautiful. Something that they do in Paris is that in these little parks they have chairs that are available for the public to use. They look like chairs you would have on your porch, and you are able to pick them up and move them to wherever you would like to sit. So, there were people sitting, reading, writing, drawing, and enjoying the sunshine all over this portion of the walk. We then reached the halfway point of the Champs-Elysee, where the Obelisque (Obelisk) is located. We continued walking into the shopping district on the Champs-Elysee, where we saw many designer stores including the original Louis-Vuitton store! Finally, after about an hour of walking, we reached L'Arc de Triomphe. It sat in the middle of a major traffic circle, which required an underground tunnel in order to "cross". We climbed to the top in order to enjoy a beautiful view of the Champs-Elysees and the surrounding areas of Paris. This is also when we had our first views of the Eiffel Tower.
After climbing back down L'Arc de Triomphe, we headed in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. It took us about 20-30 minutes to get there, and by the time we arrived, we were starving. We admired its beauty for a little while before finding a nearby restaurant to eat at. We were originally planning on going up the Eiffel Tower once it got dark, however, by the time we finished eating the sun hadn't even set yet, and we were both exhausted from pulling an all-nighter the night before. So, we decided to retire early so that we could have a full day of sight-seeing on Saturday.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
London Day 39: Claire's 21st Birthday!
Here is another incredibly out-of-order post that I've been meaning to get around to writing. So... flashback to February 26th!
February 26th was the date of Claire's 21st birthday! Woohoo! In honor of it, she wanted to have a zoo-themed day, so we did! We started off by going to the London Zoo in the morning and seeing tons of cute animals. All my favorites were there including giraffes, meerkats, penguins, tigers, and lions (missing, unfortunately, were Boston Terriers). The zoo was really big and also wasn't very busy, so we had a chance to really explore everything. It was set up by regions of the world, and had special exhibits for some animals such as the gorillas. We also made a point to visit the children's section of the zoo, where you could climb into these tunnels and pop your head into the exhibits:
After the zoo, we headed back to our flats to get the boys and get ready for dinner. We also gave Claire her birthday presents: 21 tulips (her favorite flower) and tickets to see Wicked!! Yayy for presents!! At 6:00pm, we went out to a restaurant called 'Giraffe' by Russell Square tube. It was really delicious. Afterwards, we headed back to Claire's to pregame while we waited for everyone else that was going out with us. We had bought jungle masks at the zoo, so we put those one while we pregamed. I was a giraffe, Claire a zebra, Christine a lion, Alex an elephant, and Ramon a monkey. Yeehaw! While we waited we played a cute game that Christine came up with called '21 Questions'. Basically, a tradition in the United States when you turn 21 is to take 21 shots, however, this is incredibly dangerous/no fun. So, '21 Questions' is a take on this that makes it more fun and more safe. Basically, you put 21 shots on the table, and you ask the birthday person 21 questions, some which they know the answers to, and some which they don't. Any question they get right, they get to give away a shot to someone else in the room. Any question that they get wrong, they have to take. This way, you're keeping with the 21 shot theme, however, one person isn't taking all 21 of the shots. There were lots of people there at the time, too, so we each only ended up taking 2-3 each, which was perfect.
After everyone arrived, we headed out to the club we were going to for the night: TigerTiger (do you see the recurring zoo theme?). All of the floors had different themes, and we spent most of our time on the '80's floor' which was really fun, and in the basement where they were playing popular dance music with strobe lights, fog machines, etc. Personally, I liked the 80's room the best because it was well-lit and everyone was more focused on having a good time than dancing, but that's just me.
A few hours later we left the club and Christine and I had a sleepover at Claire's as the epic end to her 21st birthday. Overall, I would call it a success!
February 26th was the date of Claire's 21st birthday! Woohoo! In honor of it, she wanted to have a zoo-themed day, so we did! We started off by going to the London Zoo in the morning and seeing tons of cute animals. All my favorites were there including giraffes, meerkats, penguins, tigers, and lions (missing, unfortunately, were Boston Terriers). The zoo was really big and also wasn't very busy, so we had a chance to really explore everything. It was set up by regions of the world, and had special exhibits for some animals such as the gorillas. We also made a point to visit the children's section of the zoo, where you could climb into these tunnels and pop your head into the exhibits:
After the zoo, we headed back to our flats to get the boys and get ready for dinner. We also gave Claire her birthday presents: 21 tulips (her favorite flower) and tickets to see Wicked!! Yayy for presents!! At 6:00pm, we went out to a restaurant called 'Giraffe' by Russell Square tube. It was really delicious. Afterwards, we headed back to Claire's to pregame while we waited for everyone else that was going out with us. We had bought jungle masks at the zoo, so we put those one while we pregamed. I was a giraffe, Claire a zebra, Christine a lion, Alex an elephant, and Ramon a monkey. Yeehaw! While we waited we played a cute game that Christine came up with called '21 Questions'. Basically, a tradition in the United States when you turn 21 is to take 21 shots, however, this is incredibly dangerous/no fun. So, '21 Questions' is a take on this that makes it more fun and more safe. Basically, you put 21 shots on the table, and you ask the birthday person 21 questions, some which they know the answers to, and some which they don't. Any question they get right, they get to give away a shot to someone else in the room. Any question that they get wrong, they have to take. This way, you're keeping with the 21 shot theme, however, one person isn't taking all 21 of the shots. There were lots of people there at the time, too, so we each only ended up taking 2-3 each, which was perfect.
After everyone arrived, we headed out to the club we were going to for the night: TigerTiger (do you see the recurring zoo theme?). All of the floors had different themes, and we spent most of our time on the '80's floor' which was really fun, and in the basement where they were playing popular dance music with strobe lights, fog machines, etc. Personally, I liked the 80's room the best because it was well-lit and everyone was more focused on having a good time than dancing, but that's just me.
A few hours later we left the club and Christine and I had a sleepover at Claire's as the epic end to her 21st birthday. Overall, I would call it a success!
Amsterdam Days 3&4: Van Gogh, Anne Frank, and the Red Light District
Sunday morning Claire and Christine went to church (it was Easter Sunday), while Ramon, Alex, and I decided to sleep in a little bit later. After we woke up, we headed to the Van Gogh museum.
I really liked the Van Gogh museum because I really like Van Gogh. Along with his works, they also had a lot of works by other artists that influenced him. One of these artists was Paul Gaugin, another French Impressionist painter who had a traveling exhibit in the basement of the museum. These artists were particularly of interest to me because I did an intensive unit on French Impressionism (l'Impressionisme) in my AP French class in high school. My favorite painting in the museum was a portrait that Gaugin painted of Van Gogh. I thought it was humorous. The background of it is that Gaugin painted Van Gogh painting the sunflowers, but the painting shows Van Gogh literally painting on some sunflowers. Apparently Gaugin was making a statement about the fact that other artists of the time believed that Van Gogh could not paint from memory, and since he was painting sunflowers in the winter, he must not have been creating a painting of sunflowers, but literally painting them. (I hope that made sense...)
After the museum, we wandered around the canals for a bit because it wasn't raining. (This weekend was particularly rainy and cold, which is why we spent a great deal of time in our hotel instead of sitting outside in a square or exploring). We then went back to the hotel room to get ready for the second of our pub crawls, this time through the Red Light District. We tried to convince the other girls to come, but they wanted to stay in, so Ramon, Alex, and I headed down to Dam Square for the beginning of the crawl.
We caught the pub crawl and managed to follow it to the first two pubs, however, we missed it when it left for the third pub. We decided to walk around for a little while trying to find it, before deciding to just explore the Red Light District ourselves. The Amsterdam Red Light District is a crazy place because prostitution, as well as marijuana, are legal (In order to get the full effect of the area, I recommend searching 'Red Light District Amsterdam' on Google Images). Therefore, the Red Light District was full of sex shops, sex shows, drug shops, and prostitutes. It is called the Red Light District because of, well, the red lights. Most of the shops have red neon lights in their storefronts depicting the names of their shops or services that they offer. The prostitutes aren't what you would expect, however. Instead of wandering the streets and soliciting themselves, they are all behind glass doors with red lights above them, which illuminate the girls. They stand in lingerie and try to get men to come into their room for their services. When a room is taken, a curtain is used to cover the glass door so that you cannot see what is going on inside. The sketchier the alleyway, the more risque the prostitutes. Needless to say, it was quite an interesting experience.
Monday morning we woke ourselves up early in order to catch the free tour that was being offered. Unfortunately, however, when we arrived they told us that the tour was full. This was really disappointing, but we decided to do some exploring ourselves instead. We brought Claire and Christine to the Red Light District (drastically different during the day, but still prostitutes in the windows). After wandering around there for awhile, Claire and Christine wanted to go to another art museum, but the boys and I wanted to continue to wander. We walked around the canals, got lunch (Wok to Walk, of course), and then headed back to the hotel room to eat, pack, and relax. The girls came back after awhile as well, and we ended up playing some cards in the room.
Monday night we had reservations to tour the Anne Frank house. I think that this was by far the most interesting thing that I did while in Amsterdam. Although many people don't realize it, Anne Frank was in Amsterdam while she hid out with her family. They now have the house on display as a memorium to Anne and her family, along with the many others, who died during the Holocaust. It was really interesting to see the rooms that the families stayed in, the back passageway to get to the attic, and the way that it felt. There were quotes from her diary on the walls, translated from Dutch into English. They also tried to make the atmosphere simliar to that of what it was like for the families, for example, they covered the windows with thick, black curtains so that it felt gloomy and dark. It is hard to describe what the house was like, but it really moved me and was eye-opening to see it in real life. I think it is an important piece of history, and I plan to re-read Anne Frank's diary this summer when I return home.
After the Anne Frank House, we got poffertjes (again) at the Pancake Corner (again) before heading back to the hotel room to sleep for a few hours and finish packing. At 3:30am we had to catch a taxi to the airport. We were back in London by 7:15am, just in time to be given a hard time at customs/immigration and only be able to take a 30-minute power-nap before class. Hoorah, hoorah.
Overall, it was a successful and fun weekend. I highly recommend Amsterdam, especially if you are looking for good night life. Woo!
I really liked the Van Gogh museum because I really like Van Gogh. Along with his works, they also had a lot of works by other artists that influenced him. One of these artists was Paul Gaugin, another French Impressionist painter who had a traveling exhibit in the basement of the museum. These artists were particularly of interest to me because I did an intensive unit on French Impressionism (l'Impressionisme) in my AP French class in high school. My favorite painting in the museum was a portrait that Gaugin painted of Van Gogh. I thought it was humorous. The background of it is that Gaugin painted Van Gogh painting the sunflowers, but the painting shows Van Gogh literally painting on some sunflowers. Apparently Gaugin was making a statement about the fact that other artists of the time believed that Van Gogh could not paint from memory, and since he was painting sunflowers in the winter, he must not have been creating a painting of sunflowers, but literally painting them. (I hope that made sense...)
After the museum, we wandered around the canals for a bit because it wasn't raining. (This weekend was particularly rainy and cold, which is why we spent a great deal of time in our hotel instead of sitting outside in a square or exploring). We then went back to the hotel room to get ready for the second of our pub crawls, this time through the Red Light District. We tried to convince the other girls to come, but they wanted to stay in, so Ramon, Alex, and I headed down to Dam Square for the beginning of the crawl.
We caught the pub crawl and managed to follow it to the first two pubs, however, we missed it when it left for the third pub. We decided to walk around for a little while trying to find it, before deciding to just explore the Red Light District ourselves. The Amsterdam Red Light District is a crazy place because prostitution, as well as marijuana, are legal (In order to get the full effect of the area, I recommend searching 'Red Light District Amsterdam' on Google Images). Therefore, the Red Light District was full of sex shops, sex shows, drug shops, and prostitutes. It is called the Red Light District because of, well, the red lights. Most of the shops have red neon lights in their storefronts depicting the names of their shops or services that they offer. The prostitutes aren't what you would expect, however. Instead of wandering the streets and soliciting themselves, they are all behind glass doors with red lights above them, which illuminate the girls. They stand in lingerie and try to get men to come into their room for their services. When a room is taken, a curtain is used to cover the glass door so that you cannot see what is going on inside. The sketchier the alleyway, the more risque the prostitutes. Needless to say, it was quite an interesting experience.
Monday morning we woke ourselves up early in order to catch the free tour that was being offered. Unfortunately, however, when we arrived they told us that the tour was full. This was really disappointing, but we decided to do some exploring ourselves instead. We brought Claire and Christine to the Red Light District (drastically different during the day, but still prostitutes in the windows). After wandering around there for awhile, Claire and Christine wanted to go to another art museum, but the boys and I wanted to continue to wander. We walked around the canals, got lunch (Wok to Walk, of course), and then headed back to the hotel room to eat, pack, and relax. The girls came back after awhile as well, and we ended up playing some cards in the room.
Monday night we had reservations to tour the Anne Frank house. I think that this was by far the most interesting thing that I did while in Amsterdam. Although many people don't realize it, Anne Frank was in Amsterdam while she hid out with her family. They now have the house on display as a memorium to Anne and her family, along with the many others, who died during the Holocaust. It was really interesting to see the rooms that the families stayed in, the back passageway to get to the attic, and the way that it felt. There were quotes from her diary on the walls, translated from Dutch into English. They also tried to make the atmosphere simliar to that of what it was like for the families, for example, they covered the windows with thick, black curtains so that it felt gloomy and dark. It is hard to describe what the house was like, but it really moved me and was eye-opening to see it in real life. I think it is an important piece of history, and I plan to re-read Anne Frank's diary this summer when I return home.
After the Anne Frank House, we got poffertjes (again) at the Pancake Corner (again) before heading back to the hotel room to sleep for a few hours and finish packing. At 3:30am we had to catch a taxi to the airport. We were back in London by 7:15am, just in time to be given a hard time at customs/immigration and only be able to take a 30-minute power-nap before class. Hoorah, hoorah.
Overall, it was a successful and fun weekend. I highly recommend Amsterdam, especially if you are looking for good night life. Woo!
Amsterdam Days 1&2: Leidseplein, Pancakes, and Heineken
Easter weekend my friends and I decided to make the trek over to Amsterdam, Holland, in the Netherlands. Christine, Claire, Alex, Ramon, and I caught a bus to a train to the airport at 3:28 am on Friday. Our flight took off at 7:25, and we arrived in Amsterdam around 9:30.
After landing, I realized that there were no directions to our hotel on the hotel confirmation. Therefore, we had a small fiasco when we were trying to buy train tickets, tram tickets, etc., especially because most of the signs were written in Dutch. Finally, after a train ride and a tram ride (oh yea, and leaving Alex behind at one point), we managed to make it to our hotel. All of the hostels in Amsterdam were either sketchy or expensive, so we decided to use some of my dad's hotel points to reserve a room at the Hilton for the four nights that we would be there. We ended up with a room with one King-size bed for five people. Needless to say, some people ended upon the floor each night, but I think it worked out well nonetheless.
By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were all starving, so we asked the concierge where the best place to get food would be. He pointed us in the direction of the Leidseplein, which is the entertainment district in Amsterdam (not to be confused with the Red Light District). Here there are lots of places to eat, drink, and shop. We ended up eating at an Irish pub that served a variety of foods (for example, I got Thai food). Afterwards we were all pretty exhausted from pulling a near all-nighter, so we decided to take a nap before going out. After our nap we got ready and headed back to the Leidseplein for a pub crawl that we had hear about when we were there earlier. It was really, really fun! It brought us to 6 different bars/clubs throughout the Leidseplein (the boys & I only lasted through 5)and we got lots of free drinks (mostly Jagermeister shots and half-pints of Heineken or Grolsch - all native to the Netherlands) and a free t-shirt! Oh yes, and I can't forget that we discovered the downfall of the entire weekend on our way home: Wok to Walk. It is a fast-food Chinese restaurant that is absolutely delicious, however, I think we ate 50% of our meals there over the course of the weekend (the other 50% were probably poffertjes at Pancake Corner). Not one of our better choices...
Anyways, the following morning (Saturday), we woke up early to head over to the Heineken Brouwery. But, before we went there, we had to have Wok to Walk for lunch (see, there's a pattern developing already...). The Heineken Brouwery was really fun, and took up a larger chunk of our day than I had anticipated. The whole thing was very interactive, which made it really, really fun. You got to see the actual beer being brewed, help brew some beer yourself, sit in these really weird chairs to watch old commercials, pose for pictures with old advertisements, create-your-own Heineken commercial/video, bottle your own beer, and finally, you got to "brew yourself". This consisted of a little motion-simulator-esque ride where you stood up and they pretended that you were the beer being brewed, so you got to move through the giant copper things, be heated up, be stirred, be bottled, be transported, etc. It was pretty cool. It all ended at a bar where you could redeem your ticket for a free pint of Heineken (which, I must add, is a thousand times more delicious in Amsterdam than it is in the States). The ceiling there was made completely out of Henieken bottles, and all the tables had virtual coasters that detected the bottom of your glass and created a coaster underneath that moved when you moved your glass. COOL!
After the Heineken Brouwery, we went back to the Leidseplein and I had poffertjes for lunch at the Pancake Corner. Now, for a description: poffertjes are basically really delicious little pancakes (about the size of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) that you can get topped with whipped cream, ice cream, and fruit (yes, please!) They also had really delicious syrup there that tasted more like caramel than maple syrup, which made the poffertjes that much more delightful. It is possible that over the course of the weekend I ate my weight in poffertjes. Oops.
That evening we were all pretty exhausted, so we just stayed at Pancake Corner for drinks because they have a special on Jagermeister shots. However, we realized that none of us were very enthusiastic about drinking, so we just headed back to the hotel for an early night.
After landing, I realized that there were no directions to our hotel on the hotel confirmation. Therefore, we had a small fiasco when we were trying to buy train tickets, tram tickets, etc., especially because most of the signs were written in Dutch. Finally, after a train ride and a tram ride (oh yea, and leaving Alex behind at one point), we managed to make it to our hotel. All of the hostels in Amsterdam were either sketchy or expensive, so we decided to use some of my dad's hotel points to reserve a room at the Hilton for the four nights that we would be there. We ended up with a room with one King-size bed for five people. Needless to say, some people ended upon the floor each night, but I think it worked out well nonetheless.
By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were all starving, so we asked the concierge where the best place to get food would be. He pointed us in the direction of the Leidseplein, which is the entertainment district in Amsterdam (not to be confused with the Red Light District). Here there are lots of places to eat, drink, and shop. We ended up eating at an Irish pub that served a variety of foods (for example, I got Thai food). Afterwards we were all pretty exhausted from pulling a near all-nighter, so we decided to take a nap before going out. After our nap we got ready and headed back to the Leidseplein for a pub crawl that we had hear about when we were there earlier. It was really, really fun! It brought us to 6 different bars/clubs throughout the Leidseplein (the boys & I only lasted through 5)and we got lots of free drinks (mostly Jagermeister shots and half-pints of Heineken or Grolsch - all native to the Netherlands) and a free t-shirt! Oh yes, and I can't forget that we discovered the downfall of the entire weekend on our way home: Wok to Walk. It is a fast-food Chinese restaurant that is absolutely delicious, however, I think we ate 50% of our meals there over the course of the weekend (the other 50% were probably poffertjes at Pancake Corner). Not one of our better choices...
Anyways, the following morning (Saturday), we woke up early to head over to the Heineken Brouwery. But, before we went there, we had to have Wok to Walk for lunch (see, there's a pattern developing already...). The Heineken Brouwery was really fun, and took up a larger chunk of our day than I had anticipated. The whole thing was very interactive, which made it really, really fun. You got to see the actual beer being brewed, help brew some beer yourself, sit in these really weird chairs to watch old commercials, pose for pictures with old advertisements, create-your-own Heineken commercial/video, bottle your own beer, and finally, you got to "brew yourself". This consisted of a little motion-simulator-esque ride where you stood up and they pretended that you were the beer being brewed, so you got to move through the giant copper things, be heated up, be stirred, be bottled, be transported, etc. It was pretty cool. It all ended at a bar where you could redeem your ticket for a free pint of Heineken (which, I must add, is a thousand times more delicious in Amsterdam than it is in the States). The ceiling there was made completely out of Henieken bottles, and all the tables had virtual coasters that detected the bottom of your glass and created a coaster underneath that moved when you moved your glass. COOL!
After the Heineken Brouwery, we went back to the Leidseplein and I had poffertjes for lunch at the Pancake Corner. Now, for a description: poffertjes are basically really delicious little pancakes (about the size of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) that you can get topped with whipped cream, ice cream, and fruit (yes, please!) They also had really delicious syrup there that tasted more like caramel than maple syrup, which made the poffertjes that much more delightful. It is possible that over the course of the weekend I ate my weight in poffertjes. Oops.
That evening we were all pretty exhausted, so we just stayed at Pancake Corner for drinks because they have a special on Jagermeister shots. However, we realized that none of us were very enthusiastic about drinking, so we just headed back to the hotel for an early night.
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