A XXX kind of day in the city

Well seeing as I do live in Holland, Nina and I had to eventually make the trip up to Amsterdam for the day.  And of course we had a blast.  I’ve never actually been to Amsterdam as a “tourist.”  I’ve always gone with people, usually who live in the city, maybe visit a museum, and then hang out in Vondelpark, or o to Cocos, or eat stir-fry.  But this time we were touristing-ing it up!

Ok to be fair, first we got there early enough so that I could run to an H&M and try and find this bathing suit I had been on the lookout for…success!  But then we got into tourist mode…

Tourist thing #1: we took the free walking tour.  And I learned tons of things about my city that I never knew.  Like people used to be executioned in squares.  And that they built a DAM on the river AMSTEL(R) which gave them the name.  Fascinating no?  Oh and I walk by this all the time…

And on that day I learned that it was NOT Einstein, but rather some guy who went abroad and wrote about the horrible goings ons by the Dutch East India Trading Company.  Also I learned that that was real.  The Pirates did not make it up (kidding…about the not know…not about the Pirates)  And we saw the skinniest house whose inhabitant is taller than the house is wide…

We also learned about these…

They’re pee deflectors.  So people don’t pee on buildings.  Or if they do, they get pee on their shoes.

And we ventured into the red light district and saw BOOBS!

It was an art piece placed by an unknown artist in the middle of the night to represent the anonymity and happenings of the Red Light District.

It was a nice little tour and it gave Nina to see Amsterdam for the first time and me too see things I never knew about.

When we were done, we grabbed some lunch at the local Albert Heijn and had lunch by the canal, but then it was on to tourist thing #2: Eating poffertjes!

These are Nina’s new favorite food and I’ve always loved them.  They’re little Dutch pancakes cooked on a griddle with tiny holes and covered in butter, powdered sugar, and in our case…chocolate…mmm.

Then it was on to probably the most touristy things ever at #3: The I amsterdam sign.  We proceeded to do as the tourists do and climb all over it…

Then we couldn’t do without #4: a visit to see some great Dutch paintings.  So we opted for the Rijks Museum…

Here we saw a drunk guy, a milkmaid, and a ship…not particularly in that order.  It’s a huge museum with many paintings, but we kind of did a run through only stopping to make fun of the occasional crazy person in a painting.

To put a little break in our run through the city, we stopped for ice cream with Lily reveling in our air conditioned break form the city.  But we had little time for that, so after a quick pic with the sunshine bike...

 It was on to our last stop at #5…one more museum…

That’s right.  We couldn’t help it.  Seeing as we wouldn’t be partaking of any of the vices Amsterdam had to offer, we figured we could at least learn about the History of it.  And boy did we…Marilyn Monroe, fetishes, chastity belts, a chair with six foot penes on either side that humped you (unbeknownst to me…until I sat down) and the piece de resistance: a recreation of the 1930s Red Light District with moving animatronics.  Oh it was fun.  And all presented rather light heartedly so we got a kick out of it.

I’m glad I got to take a moment and be a tourist in Holland.  Sometimes I feel like I’ve been here to long to do things like that, but then I think, why not?  I enjoy visiting Pier 39 every chance I get and pictures in Disneyland are always common on my facebook profile.   So why shouldn’t I enjoy all the things that make Amsterdam the city that I want to be in?  I just won’t be carrying around the Nikon every day.

note: the XXX reference in the title is because the symbol of Amsterdam is three Xs. No one is quite sure what they stand for..but they're on everything...the flag, buildings, signs, cars, tattoos, etc.

Word of the day: toerist - tourist

A Trip Back in Time

Well…did you all enjoy your trip to Spain?  Because we’ve now left Spain…we are back in Holland and on our way to a typical Dutch town.  Well…used to be typical.  Now it’s a little weird.  By typical…yes…I’m talking windmills, cheese, and clogs.  It’s the little town of Zaans Schaans (pronounced…Zonz Schufbgsdluganvakvonz…it’s Dutch don’t look at me.)  Anyway, this trip was actually the first little trip Nina and I took, even before Spain.  We went the day after she arrived after taking Fien to Oma’s.  So after a quick train ride and a heavenly walk past a chocolate factory, we arrived at the village that looks exactly as it was bunches of years ago…like Brigadoon…but with less kilts...

In Zaans Schaans there are seven working windmills.  Here's four of them...

One for mustard, one for water, one for grain or something or other, and four more other things.  We learned them that day but after deciding that the information was not of use to us we forfeited the knowledge to make room for the lyrics to Katy Perry’s “California Gurlz.”

After taking the obligatory picture in front of the windmills…

We traveled along seeing what living in the bulb land was like back in the day.  Our trip took us to bridges…

Gardens…

Cheese…

Award winning mustard…

And clogs…

Lots and lots of clogs…

In fact there was a museum of clogs...

Which meant of course that we had to take the tourist pictures...

On our way out we stopped by the very first Albert Heijn – the major supermarket in the Netherlands.  It was so tiny and sold candy and had an exhibition on coffee (yes please!)

It was a nice little side trip and I think the best way to introduce Holland to Nina.  Of course by mid afternoon jet lag was starting to set in so after a quick stop at a bakery for some broodje lunches, we headed back to Noordwijk for a little nap and Arrested Development.

Word of the day: windmolen - windmill

Top Ten: Nina and Noordwijk

Well I'm on a mission to finish this travelling section of my blog, so I didn't want to waste time with a Top Ten.  But then I didn't want to reveal too many secrets as to the blogs to come...also I didn't sort all the pictures yet, so I have no idea where half of them are.  But what I did sort is the pictures from noordwijk.  And since I was planning on doing a post, but really there's not much actually to say other than I had to work sometimes (obviously) and here's what we did in Noordwijk...I decided to do...

THE TOP THEN THINGS NINA, FIEN, AND I DID WHILE HANGING OUT IN NOORDWIJK

Went to the beach...

Discovered Poffertjes...

Took Fien grocery shopping...

Went shoe shopping...

Got ice cream...

Practiced our poker face...

Watched a World Cup game...

Cooked Dinner...

Went on walks...

Tried on glasses...

Word of the Day: werk - work

We were allowed to relax right?

After a very long (and delayed) plane ride, we arrived in Malaga airport to attempt to find our hostel.
So with very broken Spanish and thankfully enough credit on my mobile, I got a hold of the after house service at our car rental and waited patiently (and by patiently, I mean on the verge of tears from sheer exhaustion) for shuttle service.  Once we had gotten our car, we put in our GPS coordinates and I shifted the car into gear…for the first time in eight months.  Nina was scared for her life as I yelled at the GPS for making me get on the freeway and at the passing cars that couldn’t understand why 100 km/hr seemed like a ludicrous speed.  But we made it in one piece and thankfully found a parking spot (which almost had to be reversed into and in my current state, I was unable to figure out that you had to pull/push at the same time in order to shift into it.)

So at two in the morning we rang the bell of our quaint little hostel to be greeted by the camel-faced (and I mean that in the most adorable way possible) Sam who insisted on giving us a tour and an explanation of the hostels workings even though I wasn’t processing anything he said and Nina was swaying a little, close to falling asleep while standing…backpack and all.

But the next day, we slept in as late as we wanted, got our free coffee and breakfast and headed literally just across the street and onto the beach to increase our Vitamin D levels for the day.  After immediately making friends with several of the current hostel visitors, we made plans and drinks together for the night of the Festival of San Juan…of the bonfire jumping/ocean diving/beach spectacular that was about to take place upon sundown.  Discovering cheap boxed sangria, and a love for the game of “Spoons” made it easy to get into the party mood and soon we headed down to the Mediterranean to enjoy the new friends, hot fire, and the start of the end of summer.  And it was fantastic.

The next morning we woke up with no plans except to once again enjoy the sun.  And we succeeded.  Of course we also made friends with the hostel owners, one being Jorge...

An adorable grandpa with a passion for creating new shots, making paella, and cheering for the Spanish Soccer team…all three of which were experienced the next night.  Now those of you who know the results of the World Cup can understand my need to not cheer for Spain ever again, but at the time, they were not against the Orange, and it was fun to cheer for the home team…

It was also Flavio, another hostel worker’s birthday so during half time we enjoyed yummy chocolate cake.  Plus a dip into the ocean at around two in the morning.  Because we were on the beach and the water was nice and really what other reason do you need?

We did finally manage to check out the actually city of Malaga as seven girls from London, Australia, and the US went on a search to curb the incredible craving for a very authentic Spanish food…the Big Mac.  No seriously…

However we did also get to stop at the Malagan Picasso Museum which, in my opinion, far surpassed the Barcelona one.  It was filled with much more of the “Picasso” painting if you know what I mean…arm when the ear should go, triangle boobs, etc.  And there was a special exhibition on "Picasso's horses" and the importance the animal played in many of his paintings.

On our way back to the hostel we stopped into a pub to watch Germany kicked England’s butt in the semi’s.  I had no urging need for either to win but I found the British boys surrounding me hilarious as they yelled at the TV for the entire two hours…even half time.

The worst part was having to leave around 3 in the morning and then sort of sleep a little at the airport waiting for our plane, but instead eating M&Ms, almost losing our passports after almost leaving them in a bathroom stall, skillfully passing my 15kilo backpackers pack for a 10 kilo carry on, while slowly going crazy from lack of sleep then finally getting into Noordwijk with plans for a quick nap and then watching the Netherlands game, but instead sleeping for six hours, waking up, having dinner, and falling back to sleep for the rest of the night.

We made a couple treks to other cities which I'll tell you all about tomorrow.  Although we went because we had a car and it would have been a waste not to use it.  However we both wish we could have just laid on the beach for the entire week.  Malaga was truly a wonderful and much needed break for both my sister and I.  The hostel was incredible and I can’t wait to go back for some more rest and relaxation.

(View from our room)

Word of the day:  playa - beach (Spanish)

The Barc Parks

Yes I know above doesn't necessarily actually rhyme because the c in Barcelona is not a "k" sound.  But when you read it really fast you can't tell.  And seeing as it's been three weeks since I've even written about Barcelona chances are you forgot what this post was supposed to be about so you read it as a rhyme anyway.
So here goes my last Barkelona Post.  And this one is all about parks and outdoor type things.

On Sunday(as in like five weeks ago) we visited the Parc de la Ciutadella…a really cool park in the center of the city.We had read that Sunday was the day to go to see vendors and performers galore (but I think we saw one...sort of...) 

so we stopped at a local supermarket and picked up some crackers, meat, and cheese and went for a nice picnic…

(nina is covering her feet because she suffers from podiaphobia)

We enjoyed a lazy afternoon of just sitting around munching with the occasional cat nap thrown in.  When we were done lazing around, we walked around the park taking pictures. park with just about everything – a Natural History Museum…

a Zoo…

With an awesome mascot btw...

A palace type thing of some sort...

Some art...

A giant mammoth (which was in no way close to the vicinity of the natural history museum)...

and an Aquarium with a really cool fountain in front.  Nina says the fountain was her favorite thing.  It was pretty awesome…

But even better was climbing up all the stairs on the side and taking pictures from the backside...

After a good couple hours we left the oasis of the city and headed back into tourist mode…we had two museums to visit and were on a mission!

On Monday, we headed to Montjuic – the forest on the outskirts of the city.  We took the tram up with the intention of hopping on the skyway to find the palace in the sky.  But after we found out the skyway (the only way to get there) cost twice as much as entrance into the palace itself, we skipped it and headed towards the Olympic Stadium instead.  On the way were some gorgeous photo gardens that we wandered through in the attempt to find food.  We never did… Finally we arrived at the Olympic Museum…which was closed due to refurbishment...so here's the outside...

But there café was open and at that point, it’s really all we cared about.  So after  quick hot dog, and a couple pictures of posters, we headed across the street to the stadium.  No as you know, I love the Olympics.  And I think I’ve decided to make it my life’s goal to visit every single one.  Yep…decided that right now.  So I’ve got three down…and way too many to go.  Anyway, we wandered around the stadium, pausing in the front for some pictures of the stadium, and the surrounding sights…

We even got to go in, even though there wasn’t much to see since most of it was closed off…

And finally we went around the corner to see the torch…

After the Stadium we headed to Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.  This building was GORGEOUS!

It housed an art museum (also closed…ugh) but it didn’t matter because the outside is where it’s at.  From here you can see all of Barcelona, and we had fun switching to the big lens on my camera and taking photos…

Then we had a quick break where we enjoyed a “clara cerveza" (beer with frozen lemonade…delicious!) And then made the trek down the numerous stairs, pausing at every level to get yet another photo of the continuing fountain.  This fountain goes off at night in a big light show, but of course (because this is our luck) it wasn’t going to go off that night due to cleaning.  Anyway, we’ve seen the Disneyworld and the Bellagio ones...

Once we got back down to city level, we saw advertisements for a big Harley Convention.  Which I guess explains what we saw the morning before for twenty minutes…

Our last day we had a half day before we had to get ready to fly to Malaga, so we saved what was supposed to be the best for last – Gaudi’s Casa Mila and Parc Guell. Casa Mila is the apartment in which there are no straight lines…at all.  The inside of the apartment is cool enough, and the attic area was a fun wander, but the real amazing part is the roof…absolutely breath taking.  No really…it took my breath for a few seconds.  Again, fun views of the city were also had, but this time with interesting shapes to frame it…

Another of Gaudi’s masterpieces, (because really, how can you name just one?) Park Guell, was commissioned by a guy named Eusebi Guell, one of Gaudi’s biggest patrons.  The park is a natural park with hiking trails and views of the city.  But in the center is a very large…er…decoration thing going on.  Sure that’s what we’ll call it.  Gaudi basically decorated a forest.  There’s mosaic tiles everywhere, pillars decorated with stones, stones made into pillars, and a very large entrance façade with the famous mosaic-ed “gecko.”  My aunt just got a bottle opener of it :-D

There was lots and LOTS to discover which made leaving the park till the last day a HUGE mistake.  By this time, we were tired and worn out from walking, and even our best shoes weren’t doing anything to quell the aching pains in our feet.  But we did enjoy a quick catnap on what is said to be the longest bench in the world…

We still saw most of the “decorated” park, but I know there was much more to be seen even though as soon as we found an exit with a bus heading in our direction, we hopped on that thing and sped back towards civilization and a very aggravating flight down South.

Finally you know all about our trip to Barcelona.  And later (who knows…maybe even tomorrow...gasp!) you’ll hear all about Malaga!

Word of the Day: parc - park (Catalan)