London, Paris & Amsterdam-Oh My! Part 3

Hi everyone,

        This is the final post recapping my 2016 spring break trip! After our time in England and France we went to Amsterdam for a couple days. I had never been to the Netherlands before and so I was extra excited for this portion of the trip. We traveled by train from Paris to Amsterdam and I think it took about 5 hours. The time went by pretty quickly though so it wasn't that bad even though the journey seems long at first. It did take us forever to get to the right car of the train when we were trying to board though, the train was very long and our group of thirty Americans lugging our suitcases and rushing down the platform must have looked pretty funny! Also it was a bit of a struggle lifting suitcases onto the train and then on the racks once inside the train, I managed though and we were lucky that there were some very strong people in our group to assist those who needed it. 
          Once we got to Amsterdam and left the train station we were immediately almost run over by a tram and then by people riding bikes. We had thought we were on a sidewalk/pedestrian area but boy were we wrong. And if you need to know one thing about Amsterdam apart from it's lovely canals, tulips, and wooden shoes it is that they have some very serious bikers there (and I'm talking bikers as in bicyclists, not motorcyclist bikers although they are just as tough). 

Picture of me (in the yellow coat) at the letters feat. random people

Took this while on the bus

       We met our coach near the train station and it brought us to our hotel a little ways away from the city. We were to have a bit of time to unwind, settle into our rooms, and get ready before heading into the city. Not all of the rooms for our tour group were ready once we got to the hotel though. All of the boys' and adults' rooms were ready but not all of the girls' yet. Some people were able to bring their luggage up to their rooms and chill for a little while the rest of us waited in the lobby. Our only entertainment was watching people trying to take the temperamental elevators which would sometimes bring them to their floor and other times just open the door again on the bottom floor. So at least we knew which one not to use when we finally had a room. My friends and I of course ended up being the very last ones to be given a room after waiting over an hour. The majority of our group had been done doing what they had to in their rooms and were coming back down to the lobby when we were just bringing our luggage upstairs. At least not everyone was ready yet and we had a little time before we had to leave.  

       Our coach brought us into the city and our guide met our bus to begin our tour. Our driver was named Daniel and we thought that was funny so people started saying Amsterdam Daniel ( I'm sure you get the reference but it was because of "Damn Daniel, back at it again with the white Vans" vine). On our coach tour we traveled through the newer part of the city and saw all of the developments that were happening and how the city was expanding. The tour around the older part of the city was very round about and I mean that literally also because many of the streets are semicircular since they followed the shape of the canals and that is how the city is set up. As well as it being much more of a pedestrian and bike friendly city rather than one made for cars and other vehicles. Due to this, our bus could not drive directly from point A to point B but did have to go around quite a bit. It is not much of a driving city but that is not a problem at all since it is so walk-able. I much more prefer exploring new cities and places by walking rather than driving anyway so it worked out great for me! You have so much more freedom and can just go where you please, maybe turn down that cute street there, pop in to that shop right there, or wander in to a park. You can't really do that if you're in a car. Also parking in Amsterdam does not seem fun, we were amazed by how close to the edge people have to park and there was not always even a fence along the canals. 

      After our bus tour was done, as a group we had a little walking tour around the older part of the

city and the Red Light District. Many of you probably know what this is known for but it was the afternoon so it was not awkward to be walking around that area with faculty and professors from my school. Just do beware that coffee shops are not where you go to buy a cup of coffee, go to a cafe if you want some caffeine. We had some free time after our tour before we were to meet up with the whole group to have dinner at a well known restaurant. It was a nice restaurant and I liked the atmosphere, very old fashioned and quaint, I am not a fan of sausage so I can not comment about the main part of the meal but I liked the mashed potatoes and the desserts (yes, you read that right, desserts-plural, we were given multiple so that was very cool!)

One of the desserts, it was soooo good!

         My friends and I wanted to get souvenirs and found some very nice shops right in Dam Square. We ended up going to the same shop at least 3 times in the 2 days that we were in Amsterdam, we kept thinking of other things to by for our friends and family. We found another nice gift shop and I bought this towel for my mom. I thought it was very cute and a useful gift that also represented the city. (My mom is hard to buy gifts for, she doesn't really wear jewelry that often, or makeup, doesn't use perfume or lotion much or really wear accessories in general actually, she doesn't use candles etc. so I think you get the picture. I was very happy when I saw the towel and I thought it would be perfect to give to her). 

 

These are a well known Dutch sweet called Stroopwafels, they are super sweet and I also like the tin they came in

Key chains I got for my mom and sister

 

The towel I got for my mom (this is not the best lighting though)

I also liked picking up some magnets and postcards from different places throughout the trip as mementos.

This is the outside of the expensive (and very nice) department store

      During our trip I was on the lookout for a new handbag and one of my friends wanted to get a Starbucks city mug from each of the places we traveled to. This meant that we located and visited many Starbucks over the course of our journey and quite a few stores as well. As part of the quest for a bag my friends and I wanted to check out a local mall. We though it would be like what a regular mall was to us but we were wrong. First of all, for the life of us we could not find it! We kept walking around and although we knew it should be right near Dam Square we couldn't get there. Then finally we found it and yup it was right there. It was in a gorgeous old building but had been mostly hidden by another large old building so we didn't feel too bad that it was such a struggle to find since it was covered by that other building. It was a pretty nice shopping center but was much smaller than we initially though it would be. I did not find a bag that I liked but we bought some chocolate so in my eyes I'd say it was still a successful shopping excursion! We also checked out a famous department store and looked for more Starbucks. I loved all of the visual merchandising I was seeing in the windows.  It was too bad that most of the shops were closing so early though, and I'm talking 7 or 8pm. 

Visual merchandising I thought was cool

This one says "Too much of a good thing is a better thing"

This is the Rijksmuseum

      My friends and I were not able to take a canal ride although we had wanted to, (and my mom really wanted me to as well) we just didn't have the time. We weren't able to go in the Van Gogh museum or the Rijksmuseum either. We were also disappointed that we missed out on a market going on. It only happens once a month and we happened to be there on the right day but hadn't known about it. We found out later once we met up with other people from our group who had stumbled upon it. 

             We did visit the Anne Frank house and it was such an experience. Only a certain number of people can go in at a time and while we were waiting outside it started to rain, this time I did have my umbrella in my big bag and I was glad I did, if you read the part one post you'd know why this was significant lol. (My bag was a large nylon one that I had my purse inside, I had a sweater, umbrella, water bottle, snacks, regular items like my wallet etc. and having it all in that big nylon one protected my things from the elements and made me less worried about being pick pocketed).  Once we were in the building there was a bit of a lobby area, going in though the most surreal part was stepping through the hidden doorway in to where the Frank family lived. We were not allowed to take pictures and the pace going through the house was pretty slow. There were photographs and books to look at at well as a few short videos and also plaques to read. One of the videos was of Otto Frank, Anne's father and in it he was talking about Anne's diary. There was one thing he said that stood out to me the most, I can't remember it word for word but it was about him reading the for the first time and how he learned so much about Anne from it, how even though you live with your child/family members and see them everyday there are still things you don't know about them and you will never know everything about them. This resonated with me because it really is true, in some ways that is very sad but it also means that you can be surprised when you discover new facets of a person and keep learning about them.

    As a side trip our coach drove a little bit out of the city so we could visit a cheese farm. Part of the road we were  on had been blocked off due to a race on the river we were driving along but the cop, seeing our tour bus and knowing where we were headed let us by. On the way to the farm we also stopped at windmill. This was a great photo opp, we didn't have too long though (we had to get to the farm at a certain time) and the people that took care of the windmill actually lived in it and we didn't want to be too disruptive although I'm sure they're used to the tourists.

          At the cheese farm we learned how they made Gouda cheese. The person showing us how was very animated and funny and our guide had warned us beforehand about the crazy cheese man and she was not wrong. And of course we were able to taste the cheese and it was very, very good. At the same farm they also make wooden shoes and we were told about that process as well and this time by an even crazier guy. He saw someone from our group taking a picture and then went over to them, took them by the shoulders and instructed someone else how to take the picture of them. Then he proceeded to say how he took the same picture with Whoopi Goldberg and once we were all in the gift shop, showed us said picture with Whoopi. 

         We went back into the city when our time at the farm came to an end and had some free time. After walking around for some time my friends and I were hungry, we found a little sweet shop that sold ice cream and other treats and I had a waffle with Nutella and it was amazing!

        Our coach picked us up at a meeting spot each night to bring the whole group back to the hotel. If people wanted to stay in the city longer they could have but they would have needed to take a tram. No one was feeling that adventurous and so both nights we were in Amsterdam everyone was diligent about meeting on time where the coach would pick us up.         

            This trip was so fun, it was the second time I had left the U.S. And I feel much more comfortable exploring and navigating cities now, (when we had free time my friends had put me in charge of getting us places such as to a certain part of the city or a sight we wanted to see and I also had to get us back to the hotel or meeting spot each day). I love traveling and certainly want to do more in the future. I really encourage you to travel and if you never have before don't be scared to try it. There's a great big world out there to see.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my recap
-Emily

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London, Paris & Amsterdam-Oh My! Part 2

Hi guys,

         Here is the second post about my trip to Europe for spring break. After England our next stop was  France. We took the Eurostar from St. Pancreas to Paris. This train goes under the English Channel and I think the journey was around 2 hours. Once we got to the station in Paris we walked to where our coach was supposed to pick us up. We were waiting on the side of the road where about 10 buses were waiting but none of them was ours. After waiting a while our tour director called the company to see what was going on, they then contacted the driver who said they would be there soon. We waited another 20 minutes and still no bus. Meanwhile the thirty of us were standing in the sun with all of our luggage in not the best part of the city, there was a bit of a smell, trash and graffiti everywhere, not what you picture when you think of Paris. ( I had been to Paris on my previous trip to Europe so I was not as startled by what we saw, for some people though it was their first impression of Paris and it was not nearly as glamorous as they were expecting.) The bus finally arrived after we had been waiting an hour and then the driver was not even going to help load the luggage onto the bus. Our Paris guide had met us while waiting for the bus and she said that had never happened before, she was as annoyed as we were. 

          We then had our bus tour of the city and stopped at a few places to take pictures including the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tour before going to the hotel to drop off our things. While in Paris we visited the areas of Montmarte, and the Latin Quarter. We really liked Place Saint-Michel which is in the Latin Quarter. We got some very delicious Nutella and strawberry crepes there and found some very cute and unique shops there and also found a nice bakery where

we bought some maccarons (of course, because we're basic, but I

mean they are really good so how could we go to Paris and not get any).

I went to Laduree my first time in Paris

A display in the Laduree Bakery

One of the magnificent pastries we got

         We walked along the Seine and the Champs-Élysées. Went into the Notre Dame Cathedral and later to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica which is located on a hill in Montmartre. There is a beautiful view of the city from here but you do have to work for it. There are a lot of steps to get to the basilica. We then had some free time walked around the area behind the basilica which is known for being an artist area. Some people got their portraits drawn. 

          Later our whole group met up to go to the restaurant where we were having dinner. We had boeuf bourguignon (always reminds me of Julia Child when I hear the name of that dish) which I had never had before. It was served over pasta so that made me very happy. And we also had some red wine along with it. Some people in our group we very big fans of that beverage and literally consumed every last drop. There was some left in my glass that I was not going to drink and they (who were sitting at another table) looked at our table and saw who still had wine and then asked us if they could have it if we were not going to. So they ended up finishing almost everyone's wine, at least it didn't go to waste so that was good. 
           Some people went up the Eiffel tower and then on a river

cruise on the Seine. I had done so before and opted not to on this trip. One of my friends wasn't interested in doing those things either and so we explored while our other friend went up the tower. She was not going on the cruise and we did not want her to have to get back to the hotel alone especially since it was night time. We walked around and then went back to the tower around when we thought she'd be down but she was not. Other people from our group had come down but our friend was no where in sight. There was a race happening where people were climbing the stairs of the tower and there was  newscaster so we had some extra entertainment while waiting under the tower. We had gotten a bit worried about not finding our friends but then finally located her. There had been a lot of people up in the tower that wanted to come down and only a certain number of people can fit in the elevators at once. 
          The last time I was in Paris my mom, sister, and I had the hardest time locating the metro stop near the Eiffel Tower. You would think that it would be noticeable and that there was a nice sign but it is quite the contrary actually. I hadn't remembered where it was since I was only there once years ago and so my friends and I had the same issue of finding it. We were walking around for at least half an hour. We finally saw it but the problem was that it was across the street. Well, across more of a highway that we could not walk across. We could also not continue walking where we were because that would have just brought us farther from the metro. We saw a passageway that looked like it went under the highway and allowed you to get to the other side. And an important fact may be that it was after 11pm and that we were just 3 American girls in another country. Our choices we to either walk back half an hour to the Tower and get to the metro that way or use the underground passage. Neither option was very appealing to us, we were tired and annoyed and just wanted to get back to the hotel. So what did we do? We chose to use the passage, our thinking was that it couldn't be too long and the metro was right there and we just wanted to get there asap, we were a bit scared to use the passage but not as scared as we probably should have been. We hadn't thought about how the passage could have been dark, filled with rats, have homeless people in it, have someone waiting with a knife to mug people or any other unpleasant situation. Our judgment was not the best at the time.

        During our time in France we also went to the Palace of Versailles. Walking up to it is amazing and then looking down the road from the front of it also gives you such a feeling.

Standing with the palace at your back this is the view you see down the street

I can't really explain it. It is absolutely breathtaking inside and out.

           I liked that we had a specific tour guide who brought us through the Palace and gave context and more in depth information about what we were seeing. It was also cool that in my fashion history class we had just been learning about the time period when Versailles inhabited by Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV.

         It was so surreal being there and thinking about the royalty who lived there and who stood where I am and walked where I walked. You really do step back in time and in history and it's so cool to see firsthand what you've learned in class and in your textbooks. The Hall of Mirrors is probably the most famous room and it does not disappoint. I also love the outside area in back which overlooks the garden. Both times I have been there, there wasn't enough time to walk around outside as I would have liked.  

   Another tourist trap we went to was the Louvre.

        Walking to the Louvre is great on its own. You go right through the center and see the Jardin des Tuileries, Place de la Concorde and ferris wheel, the Luxor Obelisk, everything but we were in a rush so we weren't able to take too many pictures.

      We went in the side entrance to the museum and through the

mall before ending up in the lobby under the new entrance designed by I.M. Pei, the glass pyramid. In the Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa of course, many statues including Winged Victory, and other sculptures and paintings as well. We had to move quickly through it though as we had a schedule to

keep. The one issue though was that workers were having a strike and so the bathrooms, which had been very nice and clean the last time I was there were pretty disgusting this time. 

         

      We also found a mall, of course and one of my friends and I hung out there and other people walked around it as well while half the group went up a skyscraper for a view of the city. My friend ended up finding a Long Champ bag that she really liked and it was on sale! Checking out was set up differently, she had to take a ticket on the bag to a certain counter and then come bag to the Long Champ area where the sales associate had the bag, looked at the paper my friend got from the other paper after paying and then wrapped up the bag for my friend. It was a system I never saw before (and probably am not explaining too clearly but it worked out well). 
       And this is really random but I didn't want to forget it. I was reminded since it happened to myself and my friend who bought the bag. When we were in Saint-Michel and walking around a lot of people stand outside their restaurants and try to entice people to come in and eat and so they say Hi and start talking to you, and they would always start talking Spanish to my friend and I although neither of us are Spanish. I guess to them we looked it though? I'm not quite sure, it was kind of funny. Anyways, that was what happened while in France. Keep an eye out for my next post where I will be talking about our adventures in Amsterdam!

-Emily
   

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London, Paris, & Amsterdam-Oh My! Part 1

            Hi everyone! I hope that April has been going well for you

so far. The semester is almost over which is great, but the other side of that is that it means final papers, projects, and exams. This past spring break I went on a trip, and by the title of this post you know that I went to Europe. The trip was actually organized by one of the professors at my school and we used EF Tours (which stands for Education First). It was a ten day trip and we packed a lot into it!  We started early every morning and visited multiple sights and areas each day. It is a great way to explore a new place and especially if you haven't traveled much before. Going through a tour company means that everything is already booked and planned out. You have guides on different days and we had our own coach bus to bring us to certain places along with our tour director who stayed with us throughout the whole trip.

( I am also going to include some pictures from my first trip to Europe since I took pictures of some things the first time I saw them and not the second)

           We left the U.S. and first went to London. After we arrived at Heathrow our coach picked us up and we went straight to Windsor Castle. We had a tour and then some free time to explore the rest of the castle grounds and a bit of the town. I love visiting castles and other historic places and sometimes it is hard to fathom just how long something has been standing and all of the things that have taken place there throughout the years. I also always find myself thinking about all of the people that have been here before me, who have seen what I am seeing, and the people that will be coming to visit in the future. For instance, I walked where people who lived over a hundred years ago did and where royalty did, it's kind of crazy to think about.

I had been to Windsor Castle before but enjoyed it just as much the second time. I also find the town very quaint. My friends and I walked around and got a bite to eat.

We weren't able to walk around this inner courtyard but I guess that's how they keep the grass so nice ;)

There is a very cool garden  down where the moat was

We got back on the coach

Here is a shot of a walkway in the town outside of the castle

          We headed into London and kept busy and did many of the

From my first time there, my mom caught me at a great moment right, lol

touristy things such as seeing St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, The London Eye ( I went on it my first time in London, not this time, I also went on a London Duck Tour on the Thames my first time there). We saw Trafalgar Square and Oxford Circus. We had wanted to go to Camden Market but didn't have time. Our other touristy things included scoping out gift shops and buying lots and lots of chocolate! We were even questioned by a group member why we were so obsessed with chocolate, umm excuse me how is that even a question? Chocoholics for the win!

St. Paul's

We saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament, 

Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard. We had a tour guide who brought us around the city and to the changing of the guard. Since it is a popular event and the guide wanted everyone in our group to stay together he wanted to hold something up. My friends and I were at the front of the group and the guide knew our names since  he asked most of the group trivia questions (and kind of made us feel dumb when we were put on the spot but anyways) he asked if I had an umbrella. When I said I did not he questioned what I was carrying in my bag since to him it seemed big. Meanwhile he had on a backpack but yet did not think that it was too big of a bag to not have an umbrella in. He ended up tying his scarf to the end of someone's selfie stick to lead us around. We were all settled in our spots and watching the changing happen when here comes the selfie scarf and we had to move to another spot with no explanation which was not fun, once we got there though we were told that it was a better view so it ended up working out although at first we thought we were missing stuff by having to stop watching and move. 

My sister and I at Buckingham Palace during my first trip to London

            An excursion to the Warner Brother 
Studios to see everything Harry Potter was also part of the trip. Sadly both times I visited it we were on a very tight schedule and had only about an hour to explore. This is definitely not even close to enough time. Because I had been there before I was able to tell my friends that we had to move quickly through it so we'd be able to see almost everything at least a little. (Not everyone in our group though knew this and when we were all at the bus waiting for the last stragglers we found out that they were only about halfway through. And they did not even know that, they thought they were close to the end!)

  There were some new additions since the first time I was there which was nice, including Platform 9 3/4s and the Hogwarts Express. 
     

We also did a little day trip to Bath and Stonehenge (which I had also visited the first time in England). I was thrilled to be going back to Bath because it is such a quaint and beautiful town. I love exploring old towns and such. And this time I was able to get closer to Stonehenge than the previous time (they had been doing construction on the new visitor center). It is a place that gives off such a mystical feeling. I also loved learning more of the history of the area and the people that lived around there so many, many years ago. It is a must see World Heritage Site and Wonder of the World for sure!

              View from a bridge in Bath (it was a bit cloudy in the morning but then cleared up)


Back in London we went to Harrods and did a few other touristy things. I finally had Nandos after hearing how good it is and I was not disappointed! The only con of our time in London was when my friends and I were at another restaurant and the servers were not very nice to us at all. I had gone to said restaurant the first time I was in London and had an enjoyable experience and great food. This second time was different and I will not be going back there again.


I hate to leave off on a bit of a negative note but next post will be up shortly and will bring back the positive vibes.

 
 -Emily

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