Bicycles everywhere!!!

First thing I noticed upon arriving in the Netherlands. I knew this was a country known for being bike crazy, but they are REALLY BICYCLE CRAZY. And by that I also mean, they are crazy on their bicycles- as in constantly having to dodge them so as not to be run over. Although that may just be the tourists. Amsterdam is the only place I've been that had tri-level parking garages entirely devoted to bicycles. Amazing.

I know you want to hear all about the coffee shops and the Red Light District, but I'm just going to keep you wondering...

We went on a lovely canal boat, took an informative tour of the city, visited numerous monuments, and spent some time in the Anne Frank house. It was also extremely nice to just roam around the city, crossing bridges, walking alongside canals. So pretty!

And yes, of course we partied. How could you spend a weekend in Amsterdam and not?

We did not eat brussels sprouts

But we were greeted by a picture of a big bowl of them upon getting to the airport. Brussels is a fun little city filled with all sorts of quirky things. We made sure to have our fill of waffles, fries with mayonnaise (which really wasn't as revolting as it sounds), chocolate, and Belgian beers. The sights Brussels is famous for are quite absurd - an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion times, comic book street art, and peeing statues.

One of the most interesting things we did while there was visit a brewery which makes beer using natural yeast from the air (the same process people used thousands of years ago). The beer was sour and kind of a mix between wine and beer. The tour was interesting and the beverage was unlike anything we had had before.

We also spent some time in a museum of musical instruments. It was a fun museum experience because whenever you walked up to a display case, you plugged your headphones in and got to listen to music which used those instruments. There were instruments from all different time periods and from all over the world.

A fun little stopover in a fun little city!

Voila!

Everyone says that in France. And "bon appetit." Really. After Barcelona we returned to France (this time the south) and I was given another chance to work on my French. I nearly got through the entire sentence "I would like stamps for 6 postcards to the United States," but I pronounced the word for "stamps" so horribly I resorted to pointing to the little rectangle in the corner of the postcard with a look of desperation on my face. The man helping me shook his head and smiled. The word for "stamp" is hard to say!

We stayed in a small city called Aix en Provence and derived a good deal of enjoyment from just roaming the streets. There was something so beautiful about the way the sunlight struck the buildings. There were also some 200 fountains or so which were fun to discover.

We did take one day trip out to the seaside town of Cassis. I feel silly because all I do is talk about how beautiful everything is... But it is! Lizzie and I were mesmerized merely by the color of the water (check out the pictures, you'll see). We also got to share the beach with some nude sunbathers (no pictures sorry, although you wouldn't want to see them anyway). We hiked down a trail called Le Petit Prince and came across a giant copy of the book!! No, I kid! But we actually did go to a library to check out (no pun intended) a giant copy of Le Petit Prince.

On our last night we went out to watch European football at a bar (Lizzie got really into it) and enjoyed one last glass of French wine. Au revoir France!

You WILL get lost in Barcelona

But when you do you'll probably end up somewhere really cool because there is no shortage of amazing things to see and do. We definitely didn't give ourselves enough time to take in everything the city has to offer (but that's okay because we'll just have to go back). Also, I took approximately a billion pictures.

So here's the CliffsNotes version of our Barcelona trip. We stayed the first (and last) night in a hostel that was run by an old couple who didn't speak any English. The place felt very much like an old person's home (complete with knic knacs, loud snoring, a cat) and very little like a hostel. Definitely an interesting experience. The second night we spent at a hostel and because it took a little longer than normal to check us in we got free sangria! On our second night, Lizzie's sister, brother-in-law, and friends were incredibly generous and took us out for a dinner that came directly from the sea that day. This brought my carnivorous ways to a whole new level. I tore apart the bodies and legs of creatures, ripped off their heads and devoured their insides. I guess this is pretty normal for seafood but it felt especially brutal for me. After dinner we went to Bar Marsella, supposedly the oldest bar in Barcelona and a place where Dalí and Hemingway (amongst others) hung out. They also haven't changed a thing since then and every surface was covered in a thick coating of dust. The ceiling was peeling and cockroaches roamed across the ceiling. Very authentically historic I guess...

The two biggest excursions we took were to Parc Güell and the Dalí museum, both rather incredible experiences. Gaudi's architecture is magnificent beyond words, and pictures do it no justice, so basically what I'm saying is, book a flight to Barcelona. The Dalí museum was definitely the most fun art museum I've ever been to. Very good art mixed in with very weird stuff - pretty typical Dalí I suppose!

In our down time (of which we had very little) we puzzled over the Catalan language and played Count the Hipsters (final count: a lot).

Fun and Frolicking in France

We crammed a lot into the few days we had in Paris, so here are just some highlights:

We spent our time checking out museums and touristy sites (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, walking along the Seine) and hanging out with our new friends from couch surfing.

Every time we turned a corner we came face to face with an unusual building or something strange (see a few examples below, such as one of the many mannequin stores which featured the "superhero" mannequin).

We had to achieve the perfect balance between wine and coffee consumption. It was lovely to see people at little cafés everywhere sipping espresso (or wine).

Trying to communicate with no knowledge of French and a terrible accent was an experience all its own. I'm ready to start leaning French!

There was one evening, after Lizzie and I had wandered all over Paris, that we decided to check out the city sights at night. Although it was off in the distance, we knew we just had to make it to the Eiffel tower. When we were about halfway there it started to sparkle, with little tiny lights going on and off all over it. Not expecting this at all Lizzie and I looked at each other incredulously. We had heard about something that happens to the Eiffel tower every hour but didn't realize it was as magical as this. Now we knew we really had to get there! We arrived shortly before one, enjoyed a late night snack (chocolate whipped cream crepe mmm). Right at one o'clock two things happened simultaneously: the tower started sparkling again, and it started pouring. It felt like the universe was laughing at us. But it was a good joke and we laughed along with it (albeit soaked through and through).

Our last day in Paris was full of disappointments but somehow everything came back around to work out for us. We had planned to go to Centre Pompidou (the crazy looking building with pipes all over it) for the day but it just happened to be the one day it was closed. We chose Musée d'Orsay instead. After the museum we wanted to go to Père Lachaise to visit the grave of Jim Morrison. We arrived ten minutes after it closed (really, who closes a cemetery at 6pm?). That night we ran into a guy from NYC on the street who was lost and in search of a particular dance club. We joined him in his search which led us down all of these narrow streets, asking all kinds of people for directions. We finally found the place, only to see a paper attached to the door saying that it had been closed that night for some random reason. We had made a new friend though, and all went out for wine together. The restaurant we were at played The Doors all night and it was as if Jim Morrison were visiting us because he felt bad that we had missed out on the cemetery. We even ended up back at the Centre Pompidou as our new friend, upon seeing the fountain filled with crazy moving art/statue things, just had to jump in it to dance with them. Even with all the disappointments, it was an incredibly enjoyable last night in Paris.

I know I've said this about every place we've been but I REALLY enjoyed Paris. So much so I would even consider living there for some time. Definitely NEED to learn French though!

First Night in Paris

Sorry for the long delay! I fell off the blog-wagon there for a bit...

So our first night in Paris was magical, as first nights in Paris should be. Our absolutely incredible couch surfing host served us all the staples of a stereotypical (but not typical) French meal... Red wine, 3 types of cheese, baguette, some sort of sausage called "saucisson" (fun to say with a French accent), and...escargot! (AHH I ATE SNAILS! SNAILS ARE ONE OF MY FAVORITE ANIMALS! WHAT SORT OF MONSTER HAVE I BECOME !?) Truly a trip of culinary adventures...

After wining and dining us, our host brought us to explore beautiful Montmartre, stopping by the Moulin Rouge on the way. Right around the Moulin Rouge the streets are lined with sex stores, sex hotels, sex shows- the neon and seediness is fascinating to behold. Montmartre is the complete opposite. We walked up the narrow cobblestone streets and stopped by the bar that's featured in the film Amelie. Then we spent some time in a tiny local bar where two men were playing acoustic guitar. I watched while a man sitting at the bar made an ink rendering of one of the guitarists. After he finished the drawing, he put it in the top hat that had been placed on the bar for tips. Without understanding French at all I picked up that the other guitar player was playing at being upset that he hadn't had his picture drawn. It was an interaction infused with so much joy I was so happy to have witnessed it. We left the bar, walked up to the top of the hill and took in the lights of the city below. All around us people were playing music and drinking and enjoying the night. It was a perfect introduction to Paris.