Spring Break: Amsterdam

Main bar we frequented

Anne Frank's House

The canals

A famous foot bridge

Rocking the wooden clogs

Ok, so I am very sorry that I have not updated in forever, but with my birthday, Megan and Katie being here, and midterm week, it has been very hard for me to find time to blog. But do not worry any more, I am back and ready to update you all on my past adventures!!

After a good time in Maastricht, we headed of by train to Amsterdam!! The trip took about two hours and we arrived early in the afternoon to our hotel- the Hotel Nadia. A fun fact to know about Amsterdam is that houses were taxed by the base square footage, so they are very small, but very tall and the staircases are very, very steep. Here is a picture to show a set:

After checking in, we then went on a canal cruise and saw all the main sights by boat. We lucked out cause it was a beautiful day to go around the canals. We then headed over to the Anne Frank house and it was really interesting to see all the information that the museum gathered together. They had video footage, notes, pictures, and floor plans. Having read the book, it was amazing to see the space in real life.

We spent the rest of the evening walking around the town, visiting cafes (if you know what I mean), and even visited the Red Light District briefly. THAT was an interesting place...lots of stores of women and crazy things going on. You are not allowed to take pictures in there, so sorry you can't get a true image of it all.

The next day we went to the Van Gogh Museum, which is one of my favorite painters. I got to see a few of my favorites and learned more about his life. We then stopped for lunch and had a giant pancake that was bigger then the plate it was on!! It was delicious though! After that, we headed to the train station and bought tickets to take us to Berlin.

The train ride was a whole other story.... we originally were planned to arrive in Berlin at 10:30 pm, but we missed our connecting train! We were then assigned to a night train that wouldn't arrive until 4:30 am!! It ended up working out though because we ended up in a handicap room with just the two of us and ended up being then our hostel in Berlin!

Pancake I had

Huge Tulip bulbs from the floating garden

Our beautiful room on the train

Lights marking the Red Light District

Pictures from Maastricht

A church that the city turned into a bookshop

Some of Trish and Chrit's art work

Lucy and I with D'Artagnan

Maggie!!! Their dog who accompanied us on our walks!

Part of the Fort

The castle in the country

The Belgium and Holland Border

Beautiful place right in Maastricht

The main square

Trish and I at the main square

Spring Break: Maastricht

The second leg of my spring break journey brought me to Maastricht, Holland. We stayed with Lucy's family friends, Trish and Chrit and they really made us feel at home. There house is behind their studio, where they sculpt and create illustrations for children's books! Their artwork is really cool and it was fun to see all of the pieces! They put us up in a Bed and Breakfast, which was right across the street from them. It was a beautiful town and is very rich in history. Trish walked us around the town and explained that it is the oldest town in Holland. We saw tons of statues and got to walk along the fort that was built during the 13th century. Maastricht is also the place where D'Artagnan, one of the three musketeers lost his life. After we toured the city, we got some delicious coffees at a small cafe and then went shopping for awhile. At around three o'clock, we headed back to Trish's and her and Chrit took us on a country drive. It was beautiful and really relaxing to get some fresh air. We went on a little hike and was able to see a castle built by Robert Garcet in the past century. It was huge and really Gothic looking! It was really weird to be driving around the country, because where Maastricht is located, we drove through Germany, Belgium, and Holland at many points!! Another interesting thing we saw was a huge fort built underground that protected the city during WWII. They almost made it through the war, but in the last year, the Germans managed to find it and infiltrate the fort. It is ginormous, but when you look around, all you see is the natural landscape because it is so well hidden!

After our country cruise, we went back to the house where they made us a delicious meal!! This is where I fell in love with Maastricht's famous pear and apple butter- one word AMAZING!! We ended up just sitting around the table talking for hours and drinking wine. We met some amazing people here and I was sad to be leaving the next day.

Update on Painter Sister Adventure

Well all of the Painter Girls made it safely to London and we already took advantage of the city!! Today we went on a Big Red Bus Tour and a Thames River Cruise. We then went to the Original Hard Rock and I got a free sundae for my Birthday!! They made me stand on a chair in front of the whole restaurant, while they sang to me! It was really funny and I can not believe that I am 21!!! Get ready to drink with me when I am back in the states!!! Tomorrow the real fun starts and the big celebration begins!!!!

Spring Break: Brussels

The Grand Place

Manneken Pis

Place where I bought lots of Chocolate!

Me with a statue of a Painter

The Royal Palace

Wow, what a week!! Spring Break went by so fast and it was brilliant! The first stage of the trip was Brussels and this was by far my favorite place! It is a hidden jewel in Europe that is not frequented too often. We left on Friday around 5:30 (our original train ended up getting cancelled) and got into Brussels via the Eurostar around 9:00. We found our hostel and let me tell you, it was a beautiful one star place! It was definitely an interesting first hostel experience- a little dirty and definitely not up to date. It did not hinder our traveling adventures however and we managed to squeeze a bunch in. We saw all of the main sights which included; Colonne Du Congres, the Cathedral, the Royal Palace, St Katelijne, Beurs/Bourse, Manneken Pis, Atomium, and the Grand Place!! It was a really small city and we managed to walk around the place a lot. My favorite place to see was the area around Manneken Pis, which is Brussels famous peeing statue!! We came right when they were changing his costume, which was of a student group. The student group and alum were present and were cheering through the streets and marched towards the statue. As soon as they got there, they hooked him up to some kegs and he started peeing beer!! It was a fun atmosphere and very interesting to see. After viewing the main areas, we went into two main museums: The cocoa and chocolate Museum and the Beer Museum!!! (What else would you do while in Belgium!!) We made friends with the Beer Museum bar tender and he gave us some free beers and advice on where to go that evening!

The main part of Brussels was of course, the food and drink! I definitely ate my way through the city and tried some interesting things! I had the famous Frites with mayo, a Belgium waffle. chocolate, an omelette, a gyro, chocolate, chocolate, and a pork tongue!!! Along with the food, we also tried all of the major Belgium beers. We went to a jazz bar and tried their kriek beer (which is cherry beer) and then went to a Irish bar and tried trappist beer, which is made by monks. The coolest bar we went to is called Delirium, which is in the Guiness World Record books for having the most beers offered. They have 24 beers on tap and it is a huge place! It is decorated with all kinds of glasses, different types of money, barrels, and everything else revolving around beer! Here we tried their white beer and delicious Raspberry beer! The Raspberry was my definite favorite, not to sweet and not to dry.

Overall, Brussels was an amazing place and I am so glad I decided to go there. I definitely recommend it to everyone!!! Plus, the chocolate is the BEST, and I mean absolute BEST!!

Delirium Bar

Atomium

Frites with Mayo

Our new best friend!

Start of Spring Break!!

Lucy and I head out for Spring Break today at 2:30 via the Eurostar!! We will be traveling to Brussels, Belgium and stay there for 2 days. We will then get on another train and head to Maastricht, which is in the Netherlands. We will be visiting one of Lucy's family friends there for 2 days and then head off to Amsterdam for a day and a half! After we had some fun there, we will be heading to Berlin to finish off our remaining 3 days. It should be an amazing trip and I can not wait to eat some Belgium waffles and chocolate!!! It will also be cool to try the different beers from around the world (in order to prep me for my 21st!!!)

We will arrive at Heathrow Airport on Saturday the 6th, five minutes after my sister, Katie, arrives! We will pick her up and Megan will arrive the following day. This will start our sister adventures together!! I am really excited that they will be here for my birthday too, should be some "good times"!! Well thats it for now, I will try to update, but it might not be until after my trip!

Aquarium and Chinese New Year

Me being a fishy!!

My favorite stingray- leopard!

Sunday was another day jammed pack with adventure. Lucy and I headed to the Aquarium early on Sunday and got to see a whole bunch of fish! For being the city's major aquarium, it was really small! Pittsburgh's is definitely bigger. My favorite section was the aquarium of fish from the River Thames. It reminded me a lot of the island river, but they were a bit cleaner!

After the aquarium, we headed over to Leicester Square, which was hosting the Chinese New Year celebrations!! We tried dumplings, dragon beard candy, pogo sticks, and got coupons for free year of the tiger beer! It was a fun atmosphere and I am glad we got the chance to witness it!

Lucy and I in front of the Chinese Supermarket

The Dragon Beard Candy!!

Me in front of one of the side streets