AMSTERDAM!
Thursday, Feb 10, 2011
After packing my bag and saying goodbye to Catalina, I headed towards the bus stop. I jumped on the #33 bus that supposedly traveled towards the Granada Bus Station. I ignorantly took this bus in the opposite direction, and after gathering enough courage, I asked the driver if the bus was ever going to turn around and go to the bus station. Obviously, his response was no and I needed to switch to the other 33 bus. I was super panicked for time because my ALSA bus to Malaga was leaving promptly at 9 p.m. I told the second bus driver to go as quickly as possible. My hands started to sweat and my heart was racing the entire way there. Finally, we made it to the station where I hopped out and ran to the bus terminal. Thank god! The bus was still loading people and I was able to catch the bus. Phew! Too close of a call for me. I tried to relax on the 1 ½ bus ride to Malaga but I couldn’t knowing we had a whole night and a morning to kill before our flight to Amsterdam. At the airport in Malaga, I made some strange attempts at sleeping, but eventually gave up. I probably got 20 minutes of sleep that night, if that.
Friday, Feb 11, 2011
As the time approached to go through security at the airport, our plan took action. Since our first flight only allowed one carry-on up to 11 lbs, we decided the best idea was to layer as many clothes on as possible. It was quite the hilarious sight. I wore 4 pairs of socks, boots, jeans, a tank top, a t-shirt, two sweaters, a leather jacket, a pea coat, and my scarf. I would say that’s pretty normal travelers attire. I was literally sweating bullets as we passed through check-in and security. No one even looked twice at our bags! On the plane, I magically fell asleep for the majority of the ride. It was glorious. We made it to Amsterdam! A metro ride away- we found ourselves at our hostel called Shelter City. It’s located in the Red Light District, but I seriously recommend it to anyone visiting Amsterdam because it is super safe (sidenote: It’s a “Christian” hostel- but I think that adds to the safe environment feel). Sarah, Rachel, and I are rooming together in a Harry Potter sized closet and Amanda and Stacy are sharing a room with 2 really sweet German girls. So far, I love the people I have met at the hostel and the city seems super fun too! Tonight at the hostel, there is a free Valentine’s Day party and dinner. They served a strange Asian noodle dish with fresh vegetables and dessert was pudding with stroop waffles! These are the best dessert in the whole wide world: Wafer cookies with caramel in the middle. After dinner, we made friends with David at the front desk. He gave us some awesome advice about where to go in the city. The five of us left Shelter City and headed out to explore Amsterdam. We walked through the Red Light District and man was I shocked! I had heard stories about what to expect, but never really realized these stories to their full extent. Two doors down from the hostel, prostitutes stood staring back at us with only a glass door separating us. Fun fact: Prostitution is legal in Amsterdam. After exploring some more, we decided to play it cool and head to an Irish pub for a beer. Early bed time tonight because tomorrow will be a long day!
Saturday, Feb 12, 2011
Free breakfast! I chose the worst option (bread and ham) but it was still free J Sorry that it reminded me of Spain! The other girls were smarter and ordered the granola, yogurt, and fruit option. I’m doing that tomorrow for sure! Promptly after breakfast, we met up with Wendy Wise and her friend Blake right outside of our hostel. We were headed towards Dam Square for a free walking tour of the city. The tour was fantastic and super informative! Even though it was a bit rainy and cold, we still managed to have a really fun time. We learned a lot about the city’s history and famous “culture” if you will. We later hit up McDonalds for lunch (sorry I’m not sorry) where I ordered chicken nuggets and a stroop waffle McFlurry. Around 4, we left to go to the Heineken factory! The tour was worth every penny because it included some great information, a taste test and lesson on how to correctly taste and drink the beer, a virtual reality ride of being made into Heineken, and two free pints of the brew. Next on the agenda: Run home to get ready and go out! We attended the Amsterdam Ultimate Party Pub Crawl, which was actually kind of a bust, but we got a cool t-shirt! That night, we met some interesting German boys and taught them funny American phrases. I find that to be quite entertaining actually and I also love to learn slang phrases in other languages. We also learned our lesson to always carry our cell phones; it would make things a bit easier J Back to the hostel at the early hour of 3:30 a.m., we happily crashed in our tiny hostel room.
(Overpriced) Bar Crawl in Amsterdam
Sunday, Feb 13, 2011
Free breakfast round 2 at Shelter City! I was super pumped to say no to the stupid toast option and get the granola and yogurt: score! Today, Amanda and Stacy decided to go to the Anne Frank museum and Sarah, Rachel, and I went to the Van Gogh Museum. It was amazing to be able to see some of his most famous works of art. Fun fact: our friend David secretly shared the hostel museum passes with us so we could get in for free!! Once finished with the museum, we had food on the brain so we stopped at a nearby supermarket and purchased a feast for super cheap! We saved tons of money doing it this way instead of eating out at a restaurant. For less than 4 euro, I purchased a loaf of bread, jelly, stroop waffles, and a diet coke. We’re set! We ate our picnic back at the hostel and quickly passed out for a long nap until 9 p.m. We decided to play it cool tonight and hang out at the hostel, play some card games, meet some other travelers, and just chill.
Victoria A.K.A. Christophina :)
Fun facts/observations about Amsterdam:
1) Amsterdam was built on a marsh, which is why the buildings lean over
2) The apartments are super thin because there used to be a tax on building width.
3) The oldest prostitute is 72 and there is a 2-week waiting list to see her.
4) Prostitute Prices: 50 euro=15 minutes but nothing more than just intercourse. Pay more for extra activity, if you will.
5) Weed is illegal, but it’s decriminalized: Can carry up to 5 grams of weed on your body. Only can smoke it at home or in a “coffee shop”
6) Amsterdam was rated the 5th safest city in Europe.
7) It takes 28 days to brew Heineken beer. Ingredients: water, hops, barley, and Grade A yeast.
8) There are more bikes than people in Amsterdam. A drunk game is to find unlocked bicycles and throw them in the river.
Monday, Feb 14, 2011
Even though our Airplane from Amsterdam to Prague was delayed, we still arrived around 9 p.m. to our hostel, Czech Inn. Again, I highly recommend this one. We were spoiled to say the least. The rooms were gigantic and super clean. The whole hostel was super modern and the staff and travelers were all very friendly. We later hung out in the hostel bar and ordered a beer for really cheap. We stayed in and chilled that night.
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011
Around 8:30 a.m., we woke up and got ready for the day. We walked towards the tourist office for our free tour, but ended up getting un poquito lost. Good thing there was a tour later that day. We had an early lunch at a cute outdoor café. I ordered a hamburger and French fries, but it was a joke. It was more the size of a slider that came with 8 small French fries. Good thing we had bread to fill up on! After lunch, we met our tour group. Our guide was James from Ireland and we fell in love with his accent (Can’t wait to visit Ireland!) Prague is such a beautiful city and it was great to be able to learn all about its’ history. When the tour finished, the five of us frolicked along the Charles Bridge and tried to look for the John Lennon wall, but failed. Still really fun though! Our next stop was to go shopping at a grocery store where we bought snacks, dinner, and beer for the equivalent of 3 euro! It was such a great picnic back at the hostel.
Tonight, we had our minds set on going to the famous 5-layer club in Prague. While it was quite difficult getting to the club to say the least, we eventually made it all there and paid cover to get in. A bad thing about Prague is that people can smoke indoors…so needless to say we reeked of smoke when we left. We thought this night was going to be a dud when no one seemed to be having much fun when Sarah and I met these 5 Italian guys. The other three girls decided to call it a night, but Sarah and I stuck around. While Sarah met the love of her life, I chatted it up with the 4 other Italian boys. I eventually directed most of my conversation, ironically, to the only Italian boy who didn’t know any English. Smart, right? I guess it was more of a game for me J Sarah and I partied like Europeans that night and crawled into bed around dawn. A quick 2 hours of sleep and we were ready to start our next Prague adventure!
Our 5 Italian Boys at the 5 Layer Club
Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011
This morning, Sarah and I laughed over our adventures from the night before as we headed out for the day. Before our next tour, we stopped to get lunch at a hotdog and sausage stand, where I strangely chose the hamburger (cheapest option…obvie). I was determined to stick to a strict budget in Prague; 1000 kr which is equivalent to 43 euro. We thought today’s tour was going to be 250 kr, which would have been a large part of my budget, but we magically found the same tour for free!! I turned to Sarah and said something like, “we’re rich!” Even though it was really only a few euro to celebrate over J Another fabulous tour, but we were wiped out and decided to head home early. I decided to hang out at the bar, check out my email, and chill for a while. Instead, I met a 27 year old, extremely interesting British guy. We talked together for nearly 3 hours (I also watched my first full soccer/futbol game on TV. It wasn’t terribly boring, I do admit) We discussed politics, futbol, cultural differences, and spiritual views. I honestly wish I had asked him for his facebook or email so I could keep in contact with him.
Later on, Sarah came down and we attempted to journal, but it turned into a big fail when some Spanish guys joined our table with their bottle of absinthe. NBD. It was the first time I ever saw an absinthe shot with a flaming spoon of sugar on top- I’m still not sure what that does… I invited my English friend to join, but he decided to stick to beer instead of the shots. Sarah and I each only had 1 of the shots, but the others girls came down later and had a few more. Needless to say, they went out and had a crazy night. Sarah and I called it a night around 1 a.m. and the other girls trickled in around 4 or 5. Prague is beautiful and peaceful during the day, but gets quite rowdy at night. Glad we all made it alive out of Prague J
Thursday, Feb 17, 2011
Time to travel to Ireland! Woo! We hoped on a quick plane ride to Dublin and then checked into our hostel at the Paddy’s Palace. This one, I do not recommend because it was super dirty and shady. We only stayed there because it is the pick up point for our amazing Paddywagon Tour (which I definitely recommend!) We chose the 3-day tour of Southern Ireland. That night, we chilled and had dinner out pretty cheaply. Excited for the tour to start!
Friday, Feb 18, 2011
We woke up pretty early around 6:30 a.m. to shower and get ready for our tour. Since we shared the room with 4 other random girls, we were as quiet as possible, but I’m sure they woke up to the 5 of us getting ready. Free breakfast was served but only consisted of toast and cereal. I’ll take it! Promptly at 8 a.m., the Paddywagon pulled up and we boarded the tour bus. On our first day of the tour, Galway was our first city destination. We stopped to see the old Guinness castle and the surround village. Once in Galway, we were dropped off at our hostel where the 5 of us roomed with 3 other super nice girls. One was from Australia and the other 2 were backpackers from Canada. That night, Amanda had her friend Dillen meet up with us so he could show us around Galway. It’s a pretty small downtown area. We walked to the bay and it was a beautiful sight even though it was rainy and windy. Afterwards, we met up with the rest of the Paddywagon group at a local pub for some real Irish food. I had a pint of Irish cider with Irish stew! It was a pricy meal but definitely worth it. I enjoyed the live band and they played great sing a long music, even some American tunes! Around 12, I went back to the hostel to crash.
In Ireland, I definitely feel way more comfortable in my own skin than any other place in Europe. It may just be the red hair and Irish heritage, but I seriously felt at ease and at “home” in a way. I could see coming back later to travel here again or even live here. I adore the Irish accent and so far, all of the people I’ve met have been very friendly and inviting.
I can totally see myself living here someday.
Saturday Feb 19, 2011
I woke up much earlier than the others to shower and get ready for the day. I enjoyed another free breakfast and then set out for one last walk around Galway with Mathila, the Australian girl in our room. She was really nice and I loved getting to know her a little more. That morning was sunny and beautiful so I decided to head back to the bay and show Mathila the amazing view. After our morning walk and back at the hostel, it was time to board the Paddywagon for day two- Cliffs of Moher! On our way, the bus made a stop at the Atlantic Ocean and the group was able to climb up a small rocky hill to get a better view. The view was absolutely breathtaking! We all got back in the bus and drove on towards the Cliffs of Moher. We were able to enjoy the spectacular views and had a good amount of time to do so.
Our next stop after the Cliffs was Killarney! We arrived at our hostel and settled in and later went out to purchase cheap dinner from the local supermarket. We also got huge liters of Irish cider for our pregame later that night. In the hostel, the whole group made dinner in the kitchen and we all ate together! It was nice to really sit down and get to know all of these people. That night at our pregame, we taught the other travelers some American drinking games like flip cup and “never have I ever”. The second game was definitely an interesting way of getting to know some of the dirtiest things that these people have ever done. Some were extremely surprising but the two Dutch boys were definitely the funniest! After our pregame, the paddywagon group headed out together to a bar nearby where it was a pub in the front and a dance club in the back. I eventually began dancing with a local boy from Killarney. He invited me to the bar next door to get a drink. Of course I accepted. This bar was filled with way more people my own age and I was able to meet some of his friends. I know I already said this, but I am in love with the Irish accent! That night I also was serenaded to “Galway Girl” woo! Later that night back at the hostel, the girls in my room all sprawled out together on the floor eating cookies and cheethos and exchanged stories from the night. I’m going to miss everyone on this tour!!
Our amazing Canadian friends. Miss you!
Sunday, Feb 20, 2011
After a restful 3 hours of sleep, we all somehow managed to get ready rather quickly, ate cereal and toast (with nutella- shout out to Jessica Campion!) and hopped onto the paddywagon for our last day on this amazing tour of a lifetime. Unfortunately, I was a bit hung-over and a bus ride was probably the last thing that I needed. I tried to sleep but failed miserably. Oh well, probably much better to view the beautiful scenery of the Irish country. As we traveled along, the excitement continued to build because today we were going to visit the Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone! I was feeling slightly better, and just in time as we arrived to the castle. Our group explored and crawled and shuffled through tunnels in the castle before we finally managed to actually scale the stairs and check out the inside of the castle. We were able to see the rooms of the castle and we imagined how gorgeous it would have been in its prime.
The time finally came to kiss the stone. Apparently, all who kiss the stone are blessed with the gift of gab, but in an eloquent sense. The actual act of kissing the stone was frightening. There was an attendant at the stone, which was situated at the very top of the castle. The attendant had the most interesting job ever; he helped each person to lie down and hang their heads and shoulders off the side of the castle in order to stretch out and give this stone a smooch. I remember screaming a little like a small child, but worth it!
Kissing the stone!
After our excursion to the castle, I instantly got really sad because I knew our Irish adventures were almost over. The bus took us back to our hostel in Dublin, where we (obvi) got ready real quick to go out. We picked up some delicious Irish cider for our pregame and met up with our awesome Canadian friends at their hostel. It must have been happy hour over there because the lobby was super rowdy with people drinking and playing drinking games. We met some pretty cool Brazilian guys and played one of my favorite drinking games- Horse Race (Shout out to my Glen Ellyn Friends at U of I!) Before we knew, we got the entire lobby of people up and cheering for our game! Best. Pregame. Ever. We finished our drinks and headed out to THE Temple Bar in downtown Dublin. Drinks there were pricy (5.50 euro for one) but I’m extremely happy that I got to experience this place. Super touristy, but no pasa nada. Since there was barely any breathing room in the Temple Bar, our group headed across the way to another bar, Fitzsimmons. Shit got crazy to say the least. We danced and hilarity ensued, obviously. Rachel and I danced with our new Brazilian friends and had a ton of fun! We stayed out until morning, and with a full hour of sleep under our belts, our alarms sounded. That was pretty awful, but we needed to pack our bags and head to the airport. Sad day.
I'll miss you Ireland! See you soon hopefully :)
In all honestly, Ireland felt like a second home for me. I definitely want to go back someday, hopefully in the near future. I can now share stories with my family about our Ireland experiences!!
***Time for 2 whole days of school- then Barcelona!
No comments:
Post a Comment