December 21st

Sinterklaas!

Today is Sinterklaas (or St. Nicholas Day), this is the day that is celebrated primarily as Christmas here in the Netherlands, it is a very different celebration than our's in the U.S.

Sinterklaas arrived by ship from Spain a few weeks ago, which was then followed by a parade, and since them Sinterklaas and his friends Black Peter have been walking around dutch cities greeting people, asking kids what they want for Sinterklaas, giving you a little kick if you're bad, and of course- hitting the clubs on the weekends :)

Its a fun celebration, and me and some friends watched as his boat pulled into the harbour, surrounded by Black Peters, and thousands of other viewers around us. Through out the time Sinterklaas arrives up until the 5th of December dutch childrem leave their shoes by the fireplace with drawings, snacks, etc. for Sinterklaas, his white horse, and for black Peter with hopes that their shoes will be filled with sweets and presents...

happy thanksgiving

A bit late with my thanksgiving post, but my computer is broken so I've been jumping around borrowing friends' computers, and I've finally been able to upload a few photos (mostly of food) :)

It was an AMAZING thanksgiving! The friend RoAnne is also American, so her and I rounded up all of out non-american friends to celebrate our holiday :) 10 of us in all we had a big feast and shared all of the things we are thankful for. We couldn't arrange a turkey here in the Netherlands, but we roasted 2 chickens instead...

I literally have hundreds of things to be thankful for this year, but here are the mains:

-My amazing family and friends back home who have supported me through everything.

-The chance to take this life-changing trip around Europe.

-My great new friends here in Holland (and others around Europe) who have really made my trip what its been, and have shared so many experiences with me.

-Finding a beautiful girlfriend here to share my time with, and who puts up with my dorky-ness.

-Especially my friend RoAnne who has let me stay with her for much longer than expected.

-And this great planet for all it has to offer!

Definitely a thanksgiving to remember, and a trip to remember :)

(The Aftermath)

"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment."

start your day with some 'hagch'

I was talking to my mom about this the other day- 'hagch' which is the way I spell the phlegm filled hack that you hear frequently in dutch.

Its everywhere... I joke that you can talk in English but throw in some 'hagch' and its Dutch haha

this song is an example of the sounds I hear all over :) (you really only have to listen to the first 15 seconds)

enjoy

psych!

All this time we all thought I was oceans away, but today I woke up and realized I must be in Portland, not Holland! Wow, all this rain... Den Haag and Portland have almost the same weather forecast- except here it's supposed to rain everyday, and Portland has a couple of 'partly cloudy'...

oh well :) as we say in Holland... ALLES GOED!

the only store i frequent..

The Albert Heijn...
funny, and so true

As of today, I've been away from home for 2 months

(feels strange)

31 Oktober 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I spent such a fun night here in the Hague for halloween... surrounded by so many amazing new friends and fun places here. Friday night we all carved pumpkins (which was a first for 2 people) and last night was the night of celebration: kicking off the night at a friends party, and then headed over to a huge club called Paard Van Troje for a giant halloween party with over 900 people!

(mine is the one with the big smile)

today at the beach

:) Scheveningen

Wien!

Thanks to GermanWings airline and their "blind booking" program, my two friends and I flew to Vienna, Austria for 4 days this last weekend!

It was such a fun little trip, we couchsurfed with a nice guy who showed us around, gave us tips, and cooked a little bit for us.

The city is beautiful, more statues than I have seen in my life, amazing architecture, and good food :) We saw things from the U.N. to old palaces, giant cathedrals and flee market, to the biggest permanent carnival in Europe!

the city where anything goes...

AMSTERDAM

wow, what an amazing city... beautiful canals fill the city and you can actually navigate all around the city via boat. Big parks, like Vondel park where literally anything goes (except probably murder). And of course: the redlight district, where you walk down tiny alley's with a pimp or two on each end; and you are face to face with prostitutes, and their suiters who look through the windows and decide who they would like to, uh... do business with...

The amazing restaurants, night life, etc. this city actually has so much to offer.

"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles."

this little village

Last week I went to the oldest village in the Netherlands, it was great!

The people who live there are required to keep things the same- only organic fertilizer and no pesticides on the crops, hay thatched roof, etc.

AND there they make real wooden shoes by hand-

Den Haag

I've spent the last week in Den Haag, Holland, and it's been great!
Last week I went to the Peace Palace
Took a day trip to Rotterdam today and went on a boat cruise of the largest harbors in Europe.
Sunday I spent the sunny day on the beach.
Last Wednesday I went to the largest outdoor market in Europe!
Tomorrow I'm going to North Holland for a couple of nights,
and Saturday I'm going to Amsterdam

1 more week here

Eddie Izzard - Being Bilingual

Really funny, and true...
Language has been a big discussion all throughout my trip

In Holland... you stay up way too late...

Kane - No Surrender (The Opposites - Big2 remix)

the whole picture

On the blog its hard to show all of my photos, so I'll direct you to my facebook photo albums now that I have finished uploading (for now)...

Even if you don't have facebook, you can check them out!

London:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=213537&id=815068329&l=9c2d1b05c7

Ireland:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217254&id=815068329&l=20774084eb

Paris:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217293&id=815068329&l=a16438aa38

Munich:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217460&id=815068329&l=2fdaaf4517

Oktoberfest:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217471&id=815068329&l=bad6adb3b3

Happy Birthday...

I turned 20 in the Hague! :)

on to Holland

taking the train to Den Haag (the Hague) to stay with my friend RoAnne for 2 weeks!

Wiesn aka Oktoberfest!

I have never seen such an amazing event as Oktoberfest (or Wiesn as its called in Germany)...

14 beer "tents" (actually huge buildings), rollercoasters, great food, masses of beer, loud music, and over 6 million new friends- it truely was outstanding. Everyone sings and dances on the tables and benches, you make friends with everyone around you, people are dressed in traditional Lederhosen for the men, and Dirndl's for the women. And you cheers every ten minutes :)

PLUS I got the special treat of this year being the celebrations 200th anniversary! This year Wiesn was bigger, better, and longer than ever.

Such a great time..
PROAST! (cheers)

Surfing in Munich

München

WOW...

I'm in love with Munich, Germany.

The city is amazing, a lot of people, big- but not too big. Nice people, Bavarian culture, music, and food. In the center of the city there is a HUGE 'English Garden' where people walk/run, play games, eat, drink, swim in the river/lay on the beach, swim in the big canal network, even go surfing! In the canal out from under a bridge the water makes one big, continuous wave- which is filled with surfers taking their turn to jump on.

The city itself is really beautiful with nice buildings, and really takes care of itself; I even saw one building that they were renovating so they covered the whole front of it with this big canvas picture of what the building looks like, so you dont have to see the construction!

Beautiful city, people, fun times, and of course... OKTOBERFEST

Cheers

long time no update...

Between sketchy hostel internet and staying so busy- I havent updated in a while, and a lot has been going on.

First off, after 5 amazing days in Ireland I flew to Paris for 2 beautiful nights...

Paris was nice- a big city, a lot going on, and of course... the Eiffel Tower

I landed at Paris Beauvais Airport, 1 hour by bus outside of the city. Driving in I was dozing off in my seat and I opened my eyes and realized we were driving on the right side of the street! After 2 weeks of being in countries that drive on the left, it was so familiar to be back to normal.

I saw the Eiffel tower for the first time at 11:53pm, bright and twinkling with lights. The next day I was determined to visit it... you would think it would be the easiest thing in Paris to find.. its not. Walking around, you can't see it... once you turn the corner its gone. So I walked and walked and looked at my map the wrong directions, asked people around me using broken french, but eventually took a taxi right to it. Wow, it was unreal to be standing below it... the first thought in my head was "Its brown????" I always assumed it was metalic or something.. but no.

The Charles de Gaulle was so beautiful too, huge and picturesque. Notre Dame was almost as I imagined, gothic and medievel, big, but the gargoyles were very small compared to what I thought it would be... odd observations I guess.

I think thats all on Paris, it was a nice stay, but I dont think I was there long enough to form a major opinion... It really is a romantic city though.

and my last day in Ireland...

was spent hiking along ocean cliffs, walking on the beach, and panoramic views of the Irish Sea..