Finally, almost a week after I got home, I am posting about my first week long break. If you were not in the know, Mac and I went to Amsterdam and Copenhagen. And since we are Dutch and Danish, respectively, we were checking out the mother countries. Besides being ties to our lineage, they also reminded us a lot of the California cities we are missing. It was kind of like, instead of a vacation, I got to go home for a week. And it was so cold! I may claim to be a minion of Satan, but I am still not at all adapted to the fiery pit of hell that is Rome. No, I'm kidding. It isn't hell. But northern Europe really beat Italy's weather in my book.
We started in Amsterdam. So that is where I will start these posts. Logic, I've got it. Warning: self-image heavy. For once, I didn't break the camera. So you all are forced to look at my face a lot.
decadent Dutch architecture giving Rome a run for its money!
first place Mac and I go exploring is a bakery
the next place is a cute little place on Singel canal for club sandwiches
too hipster to function in my many layers (I thought that sweater would never see the light of day)
photo cred: Mac Witmer - and any other photos of me, due credit to her
boats docked in the canal where we stayed for two nights
Our second morning, we decided to do Sandeman's New Europe tour. If you don't know what these are, and have any plans to travel, stop reading this blog post and click that link. It is a brilliant concept: 3 hour tours (yes, start singing the Gilligan's Island theme tune...) that are completely free and show you both the historical and the cultural hotspots of major cities. They are tip-based and their tour guides are knowledgable and pretty hilarious. You can tell when they've done so many tours they're starting to get creative. We tested them for the first time in Amsterdam, and loved it so much we later did another in Copenhagen. It is a great way to ensure you see the best parts of a city and to get your bearings for future mulling about.
Rob, our tour guide, showed us this hidden piece of street art from the 1970s that was installed, removed by the government, and then protested back into installation - and conveys the idea of free will and Amsterdam's liberal prostitution laws (no one is forced into the line of work nor participation otherwise)
the headquarters of the now defunct but once all-powerful Dutch East India Trading Company (all I could think of was Pirates of the Caribbean)
hanging out in the hidden gardens
After the tour, Rob recommended a cafe with traditional Dutch treats. We discovered Strongbow Gold (a Bulmer's cider) for the first time, and rediscovered carbs. Where did they go in Italy? We just don't know, but we do know that we missed them.
apple cider with booze! my favorite thing!
a Dutch lunch - tomato soup and french fries
After the first two days, Mac and I met up with the "Zachs" (you've seen them on this blog before, check Mac's birthday post) who coincidentally were in Amsterdam the same days as us. We spent the first part of the Netherlands seeing history; we spent the second part having fun!
on a one-woman quest to hug every cat in Euroland
pancake breakfast was a must!
no photos were allowed inside but I did, of course, go into the Van Gogh museum
I present to y'all, a photo series entitled "Defeat"
the 'I Amsterdam' letters which, at your own risk, you can climb on for a photo shoot, proved to get the better of me (the "I" did, anyway)
but I am unstoppable!
cartwheels were done...
...books were read...
...rainbows appeared at my command
But then, we had to say goodbye to our most recent favorite city to say hello to some place new...Denmark! A 20 hour bus ride - full of German border police, wanted fugitives, a bottle of pills, and a bus on a boat - was in store before we arrived in the "merchant's harbor" aka Copenhagen. I'm leaving you on the edge of your seat, I know, but all of this will be explained in the next post. Until then, here is an accurate representation of getting to nordic Europe.
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