Nuevas Amigas

Last night was a good one. I finally made some friends here. Just in time considering I leave tomorrow for the beach and will only be back in Madrid for one more day in August. I hate how that worked out.

But last night was fun. We went out for pizza and ended up just sitting there for three hours talking. Which then led to getting Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Pretty good night all around.

Oh and did I mention that we spoke only in Spanish? Yeah. Don't know how I managed to pick it up so quickly, but I can understand almost everything. Can I speak a lot of Spanish? No. But following conversations and being able to input a little is wonderful. Much better than just sitting there silently like an idiot.

The only problem with learning Spanish is that my mind doesn't know when to shut it off. I find myself thinking in Spanish which is extremely frustrating when I'm trying to go to sleep.

And now I'm having to remind myself that when I watch a video of American children, I'm actually able to understand what they're saying. Allie sent me a video of the kids she babysits. I watched it once and didn't even realize that they were speaking English. I was just tuning them out because I didn't want to think about what they were saying. That's crazy. I'm going nuts.

Amsterdam

Oh how I loved Amsterdam. There is just something so charming about the city. All the canals, bikes, flowers, cute houses...I love it.

I got a lot of recommendations from Liz on things to do in the city. My favorite thing we did, by far, was rent bikes for the day. You have to do this if you're in Amsterdam. It's the best way to see the city and get around town.

My second favorite thing was the Anne Frank Museum.

This place was incredible. I LOVE history and the Holocaust has always been one of the most interesting things for me to study. It was such a humbling experience to walk through the actual house. The original bookshelf is still there. When we came to the bookshelf and the stairs, that's when it hit me: I was walking through history. Such a crazy feeling.

The pictures Anne put up on her walls are still there. The original pictures! On one doorframe is the markings that show how much Anne and her sister grew during their time spent in the annex. Seeing those kinds of things just makes the history come alive.

If you can't tell, I HIGHLY recommend this if you ever go to Amsterdam. You have to see it.

After riding through Vondel Park, we found an outdoor market. So fun.

On the edge of the city, there is a brewery in a windmill. I don't like beer (and Rachel doesn't really either), but if you do, this is the place for you. There are tons of picnic tables outside. The locals come here after work so it's not a huge touristy area. Even if you don't want to try the beer, it's still a great photo op. Definitely a fun, relaxing atmosphere!

I can't wait to go back and explore some more!

Eating our way through Amsterdam

Amsterdam was one of my favorite places we visited. Before I talk about anything else, here is some of the delicious food we ate.

Bagels and Beans

This place had so many good options to choose from. I went with a cinnamon raisin bagel with bananas, cinnamon, and maple syrup. With a cappuccino to drink. Yummm.

Burger Meester

This place was sooo good. And I don't even like meat that much. The burgers were ginormous. I tried to take a bite like normal but it hurt my neck (not even lying). So I ate the rest with a fork and knife.

Thank you, Liz, for the recommendation!

Screaming Beans

We stumbled upon this hole-in-the-wall by accident. I only got a croissant and orange juice. But man was that juice good. Freshley squeezed deliciousness.

Rachel got a filtered coffee and she said it was great. I don't really drink coffee but this girl knows her stuff. So I trust her.

Last but not least, dutch apple pie. It was good, but I like American apple pie better. I'm more of a hot pie/thick crust with ice cream kind of girl. Dutch apple pie is cold with hardly any crust and a lot of raisins.

In summary: it was dessert so of course I liked it. But it's not for everyone.

Kindness of Strangers

Brussels to Amsterdam

Method of Travel: Bus

At this point, we used planes, trains, and automobiles. Success.

Yes, we took a bus to Amsterdam. It was only 15 euros so we snatched that up. Once we got to the city, we had to take the metro to our hostel. We sat down across from a man who could have been Joseph Gordon-Levitt's twin. Score.

He asked us where we were from and made small-talk. We got to one stop and he got up to get off. We told him goodbye and he said, "Why are you not getting off? This is the last stop."

Uhhhh great. We were supposed to be going in the opposite direction. He was nice enough to show us where to go and told us which stop we needed. 

So once we got to the stop we needed, it was raining and we were tired. We were in the middle of an arena and there was a line of taxis. We walked to the first one to ask him to take us to our hostel. When he saw where it was, he told us it would be much quicker and cheaper for us to walk. He didn't want to take our money since it was so close. Apparently our map was completely wrong on the distance!

Praise the Lord for kind strangers!!

On our second day in the Netherlands, we went to the Hague to visit one of Rachel's family friends. It was so incredibly nice to be in an actual home and cook a real meal in a real kitchen. I'm so thankful they let me (a complete stranger) come into their home. It was such a nice relaxing day.

Belgium

London to Brussels

Method of Travel: Plane

When we were in London, there was a big sporting event between Belgium and some other country. Honestly I didn't pay much attention. But I couldn't miss the hoards of people dressed in their team's colors and chanting across the street to fellow fans. The city was cRaZy.

On the flight to Belgium, I sat next to a man who was in London for the event. He didn't speak English at all but he was so sweet. Took my trash, made sure I had enough room, just super nice. I love when you meet kind strangers like that.

We landed in Brussels to possibly the most stunning sunset I've ever seen. It was a great welcome.

But things went south pretty quickly. We had to take the metro to our hostel. It was really late...like 11 pm late. We (again) didn't think that one through.

{Word of advice: Make sure you think about what time you will be arriving in a city. While it was great to have a full day in London before our flight left, it was also pretty dangerous for us once we got to Belgium.}

We saw a woman get pick pocketed and we had to walk in the dark down a quiet, sketchy street to our hostel. Not the best way to arrive in a new place.

I've already talked about my feelings for Brussels. 

And my love for Brugge.

The best thing about Belgium is their chocolate. Of which I bought a lot.

Westminster

We were fortunate to be in London on a Sunday so we took advantage of Westminster Abbey and went to a morning service. Honestly I expected to be bored. I figured I would just admire all the gorgeous architecture while a monotone priest talked for an hour. But no. It was actually great.

We arrived in London the day after the terrorist attack (the one in front of the army base by two Muslims). The message that morning was about how Christians should respond to these acts of violence. The message definitely got me thinking about how I view people and judgmental thoughts I may have that are not warranted. The sermon was very relevant and applicable to life today. At the end of the service, we sang the song "Holy, Holy, Holy" which is one of my favorites. It was so special to be able to worship in a different country in such a historical place.

And I was also thinking about the fact that Will and Kate got married about 20 feet from where I was sitting. I was basically at their wedding.

After the service, we went to the National History Museum. Pretty cool.

We were hungry at this point so we went off to find PRET. Fortunately we ran into Muriel's Kitchen before we made it there. You can read about that experience here.

I highly recommend this place if you ever go to London. It's right around the corner from the Museum!

Boat Tour and Cupcakes

London Day Three:

We started our day with a little shopping. I've mentioned a few times that it was cold on our trip. We stupidly packed mostly summer clothes. 60 degrees in Georgia is most definitely not the same as 60 degrees in the UK. In Georgia, when the sun goes behind the clouds, the heat still stays. In the UK, not so much. When the sun goes away, the temperature drops immediately. So strange.

Anyways, we were on a mission to find scarves. Would you believe that H&M was the only store not selling summer clothes?! We bought matching wool scarves and were happy campers.

We did a boat tour of the River Thames. The weather was soooo much better than the previous day. Which in turn meant our attitudes were much better!

Just realized I'm wearing two scarves in this picture. Awesome. 

Scarf twins! 

After the tour we found an adorable bakery. We had to buy a cupcake. Obviously.
Then we found a Starbucks so we had a nice little cupcake/coffee break.

After this we went to Harrods. You can read about that and our picnic dinner here. There's a sequence of pictures of me eating a sandwich. I know you don't want to miss that.

Day three was extremely better than the previous two days! London, you might be worth all the hype after all.

Lots of Rain, Wicked, and Kind Strangers

Edinburgh to London.

Method of Travel: Train

Day One:

Our first stop after arriving in London was our hostel. We took a bus most of the way and then walked for what felt like forever. Note to self: Make sure you get off at the right bus stop next time.

Next stop? Food. We walked one street over and were lucky to find PRET. This Panera-like fast food restaurant was our lifesaver. I'm pretty sure we ate here at least once everyday we were in London.

Our two favorites: PRET and Starbucks

Our hostel was right next to Hyde Park so we walked around that for a bit. We walked down a beautiful street with all the consulate houses. We then turned by Kensington Palace. Which...no big deal...is where Wills and Kate are going to live. (PS I'm hearing the royal baby is on the way. So excited!!) If you know me, you know I absolutely love Kate Middleton so this was so cool for me.

Day Two:

It pretty much sucked. It was cold. It was rainy. We didn't have a lot of warm clothes. We didn't have rain boots. And we didn't have umbrellas. All of that combined just made for a miserable day.

Our plan was to go to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. Along the way, we realized our feet were soaked so we stopped in a sports store to buy rainboots. Ten pounds for boots? Yes, please.

We were a little late to get a good view of the guards, but we did get to see a horse freak out, fall, and then run off. The guard on the horse fortunately was okay but it was touch and go for a minute.

We spent the rest of the day inside museums. We saw the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and something else that I can't remember. I'm telling you...it was a long, miserable day. There was one point when we stopped in someone's front stoop and about gave up. We were not loving London so far.

We had tickets to see Wicked that night. I had never seen it before so I was really excited. We finally made it to the theater. We were wet, tired, and just a little down. The show did wonders for our mood, however. I absolutely loved it! We sat beside a couple from Connecticut and struck up a conversation during intermission. The woman worked in London a lot so we were asking her the best way to get home on the tube. Unfortunately the show started again just as she was starting to answer us.

At the end of the show, she immediately grabbed my hand and said, "Follow us outside. We're going to pay for your taxi home."

Oh my word. Seriously?! I almost started crying. We were so incredibly thankful for that sweet gesture and could not give her enough thanks and hugs. That a complete stranger would pay for a taxi ride home was just the best way to end the night.

London started to grow on us after that :)

Missing My Small Group!

Sometimes I forget that I graduated college. I left for Europe exactly a week after graduation so I didn't really have time to process it. While I'm very glad to be done with school, there are some things that I am missing!

One of those things is my small group. I was blessed to be a part of the same small group for all four years of college. My small group leader, Mrs. Susan, was such an incredible blessing. I cannot even imagine what college would have been like without her. I am so thankful to have spent four amazing years growing spiritually with her. She is like a mom away from home. I will never be able to repay her for the countless meals, prayers, conversations, leadership, and support she has given me. I was so sad to leave her small group but I know she'll be a part of my life forever! Love you, Mrs. Susan!!

Terremoto...Take Two

I was looking back through my journal of my trip and came across the last day of camp in Italy. We had just taken the kids outside for lunch. Maggie and I walked back into the school to grab our food when all of a sudden, TERREMOTO!! Everything started shaking...just like last year. We ran out of the building as fast as we could.

What are the chances that I would be in Italy for earthquakes two years in a row. I mean, come on!

Last year, I was on the study abroad trip and they sent us home early. This year, I fortunately did not have to be sent home. Instead, we went to the sea.

I'm so glad my Italian family is very relaxed about earthquakes. After they make sure everyone is okay, they just laugh about it. I know it's not a joking matter, but it's a little comical to me. There really isn't anything you can do. As long as there isn't anything to fall on your head, you just have to wait it out.

Can't believe I forgot to mention this when I was posting about Italy. See...it really isn't a big deal in my head! Except for when the earth is actually shaking. It's a big deal for those few seconds :)

Monsters, Mountains, and Massacres

We took a day tour in Scotland just like we did in Ireland. Our tour was called Monsters, Mountains, and Massacres. It was an all-day trip that took us to Loch Ness, through gorgeous mountains, and to a few castles. We spent most of the day in the bus. Fortunately, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and told us a lot of stories. I took a lot of pictures of the mountains but they don't do them justice. Everything is just so big that a camera can't capture it's beauty and grandeur.

Tennis shoes with jeans, camera, and Starbucks.
If this doesn't scream "American tourist"...I don't know what does.

At our first stop, our tour guide told us that we had to be back at 12. If we were late, we would have to sing our national anthem in front of the bus. Rachel and I were five minutes late. We blamed it on our watches being wrong and fortunately she didn't make us sing. But it was a close one!

Below is our tour guide for the day. In the cup holder is an Irn Brw...a typical soda in Scotland. She drank five of these while we were with her. Plus one fanta. That girl likes her carbonated beverages.

A highlight of the day was getting to see where many of the Harry Potter scenes were filmed. We passed by the Forbidden Forest, the place where Hagrid's house was, and even the area where the Hogwarts train traveled. This country was so beautiful. And so untouched! It was incredible to think that there is so much land that has not been touched by man. Gorgeous.