Holland

A couple weekends ago, Meredith and I spent the weekend in our home country of Holland and surounding areas. It was a nice change to relax and focus on school- it has been a lot tougher than expected- and to rest from the exhausting life we've been living for the past month. In one day, we visited Rotterdam, Hoek van Holland and Amsterdam. Rotterdam and Hoek van Holland weren't anything special. It was neat to see other parts of the Netherlands, but, I wasn't very impressed.

Amsterdam, on the other hand, was beautiful once again. I enjoyed my first dutch pancake, apple cinnamon to be exact! It was delicious!! Before leaving I'd like to have another one. We walked through the red light district which was just plain sad (but still entertaining). It was still daylight so it wasn't as dirty as I would expect it to be during the late hours, but there were still girls selling themselves through windows. Sure, we think, it's Amsterdam.. there's supposed to be prostitutes in every corner, but in reality, these girls are still real humans and must have gone through some crazy times to end up where they are today. Sad.

On Sunday, Meredith and I took a train ride to Antwerp, Belgium to visit the Mode Museum of Fashion. The city was very clean but the weather was cold! I don't think I've EVER had to wear long jeans and a jacket in the middle of June in my life!

Do you ever smell something, hear a song, or taste a food that takes you back to a certain place? A thought that kept passing through my mind was Thanksgiving time.. The feeling of autumn surrounded me and took over my thoughts. It was cold outside, but I refused to wear warmer clothes because it's summer time! This is a recurring event in November when the weather begins to turn cold and I hold out until I end up getting sick from wearing shorts and t-shirts in freezing weather. Nevertheless, it made me realize how much I love that time of year. Lots of time with the family, a feeling of renewal comes about because of the changing weather, and stress starts to roll away as another year comes to an end. I've always answered Christmas to the question, "What's your favorite holiday?" without hesitation. Thanksgiving is my favorite time. It brings a feeling of peace, warmth, and brings together family and friends. Who could ask for more?

Yes, it's a random thought, but "Thanksgiving" was a constant feeling or thought throughout the whole week of cold weather we experienced... in the middle of June!

Vienna Waits for You

Austria:

First sleeper train experience. Reminded me of the scene in Anastasia when they are in the "cabins" inside the train. Slept in the train overnight: 8 hour train ride to Salzburg.

We changed clothes, brushed our teeth, and tidied up in the train station "WC." We definitely got our .50 euro worth of that bathroom.

The Sound of Music Tour- Great opportunity to tour the city of Salzburg and tour a small town outside the town called Mondsee where the wedding scene in the movie took place and tasted some wonderful apple strudel with warm vanilla sauce and ice cream. Danced around the Mirabel gardens where the "Do Re Me" song was filmed and posed on the infamous "I'm am 16 going on 17" gazebo.

Then we headed to the Mozart museum which at first brought about a bit of disappointment but ended up being really neat. Lots of old instruments including an old violin and piano he used during his younger years.

Great shopping and a historical walk through the Getreidegasse where the birthplace of Mozart was also located.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

We hopped on another train from Salzburg to Vienna where we realized we had hit the jackpot with our hotel! The room on average cost about 280 euro a night and we booked it for 55! (14 euro each). So how do you fit 9 girls in 2 double rooms? It can happen...

At dinner I experienced my first schnitzel (because my stomach has finally adjusted) and was very impressed!

The next morning we walked through Vienna in the hottest weather we've experienced in Europe so far to the Hofburg Palace where the Hapsburgs ruled for over 600 years. We participated in 3 museums: The Silver Collection (who knew a family could have so many dishes??), Sisi Museum (Empress Elisabeth), and the Kaiser Apartments. When waiting on everyone to get through the museum, we sat on the edge of a fountain and watched a rally. Apparently in Austria when a couple is divorced, the wife always receives custody of the children. This group was protesting for the right to go through the proper process to allow fathers the chance to have custody as well.

More shopping!! This time, I only window shopped, which was still good enough for me.

One of my favorite moments in Vienna is waiting to take the train from the shopping center back to the hotel. We had an hour until the next train ran so we sat outside and watched a storm roll in-- one of my absolute favorite types of weather; the calm before the storm and watching the dark clouds take over the sky and give the world a two-toned horizon. After the storm, the weather become so much more enjoyable, thus making the trip even better.

That night, the 9 of us girls (Traci, Meredith, Amy, Tiffany, Erin, Cheniese, Brittany, Lindsey and I) explored the "Bermuda Triangle" for Cheniese's birthday. We began our night in a club called "The Lounge" that was in the basement of a beautiful building. It was fairly empty when we arrived and they were playing great music! From there, we found a hole in the wall pub with ladies in lederhausen and converse shoes dancing to oldies music. One song later, the ladies were dancing on a pole to a "Grease" medley. After that, we knew that it was going to be a good night. We made lots of Austrian friends and ganged up with a small bachelorette party (the ladies in the funny dresses) and they led us to a local night club full of Austrian natives.

The walk to the club was more fun than the club itself. They made us sing a 'Texas' song to which we bursted out with "the stars at night are big and bright---- Deep in the heart of Texas!!" We also chanted "Oh When the Saints" down the streets of Vienna. I have lots of great videos!

At the club there was more great music: Cotton Eye Joe, Macarena, and Sweet Home Alabama.

We got home just in time to see the sun rise (it rises VERY early; 4am) which was gorgeous!

Most of the group left the next morning, but Meredith, Traci and I stayed around to enjoy another day of sightseeing. We walked through the Belvedere Gardens (the Belvedere holds the famous painting "The Kiss," but we decided not to go on another tour) then headed off the the Prater Fair!

The Prater Fair holds the world famous Vienna Ferris Wheel that was built in 1897. While we didn't ride the wheel, we walked through the carnival and rode on a tall swing ride that allowed us to overlook the whole city. Then we took a break in front of the fair to soak up the fun and admire the old ferris wheel.

My favorite place of the whole trip: Schonbrunn Palace; the Hapsburgs summer residence. This is where we had fun in the maze gardens and hiked up the hill to the Gloriette Terrace to once again view the whole city. So beautiful, quiet, and humbling to realize how small you are in comparison to this historical and romantic city. We took that moment to slow down...

Slow down, you crazy child
you're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart, tell me
Why are you still so afraid?

But you know that when the truth is told..
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even
Get halfway through
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Miss List

Not as much of a "miss" list as a list of small things we really appreciate having back home. Of course the top of the list consists of all our family, friends and pets. These follow:

1. Not having to pay to go to the bathroom.

2. Free water

3. Mexican food! ..On the Border, specifically

4. Food, in general- knowing what we're eating

5. English!

6. Big beds and sheets on them

7. Street signs

8. Air conditioning

9. Knowing which way to look before crossing the street

More to come. Just a few we've come up with so far.

8 Countries, 5 Days

Maastricht Group Trip

The group trip started off chaotically for Bonnie and I. The night before our departure, I decided to set my alarm... not knowing until later it was for 7:15PM, not AM. At 7:50am, Jean woke us up in a panic telling us that we were late for the bus- we were supposed to be on the bus around 7:40AM. None of our bags were packed since we had planned to do so in the morning. I grabbed the stack of laundry sitting on my bed, threw in some makeup, toothbrush and moisturizer, picked up m fanny pack and was out the door. Luckily, Mama Jean had thrown in my liquids bag I took to Ireland. We didn't cause any delays in the trip so I figure it's a laughable situation. This should somewhat explain my clothing selection for the week and my rough appearance the first day (my makeup remained underneath the bus all day).

The whole first day was spent traveling through Germany. We made a stop at the intersection of the Rhine River and the ??? River. It was neat to see the differences the two rivers had as far as coloring is concerned. This was followed by a lovely boat cruise down the Rhine from Boppard to St. Goar where we saw over 5 castles, many vineyards, and classic German architecture.

Residenz Palace in Wurzburg: The palace we toured was gorgeous! The detail in the decor was unbelievable. No one is really sure what the palace was used for, but it was interesting to witness the amount of time and money pt into one room. Plus, it's not only decorated to look nice; every painting, every animal, every color has a symbolic meaning. We took a walk through the garden of the palace then returned to the bus.

Rothenburg: This has to be the most adorable town in Germany. A wall to preserve the city’s original look surrounds the village. We stayed in a hotel that has been active since 1380 called Roter Hahn (or Red Hen). It had a homey feel that was nothing like the typical hotel.

The next morning we walked across the street to the Criminal Museum: so cool!! yet, terrible. It's hard to imagine that people actually tortured other people in these horrible ways. Stretching limbs, dunking caged people into the water, chopping off hands, etc. Our favorite part was the mask display. Apparently, those who were wild, talkative, gossipy, pig-like and more had to wear a heavy, metal mask to display their bad personality trait(s). Bonnie and I chose which ones we would've had to wear if we lived during that time period. It was a common thing to have to wear one and it was a form of entertainment for everyone in the town.. I' sure it was fun until you or a family member were the ones being punished.

Neuschwanstein Castle: Next we headed out of Rothenburg to Hohenschwangau to see a castle—but not just any castle, the one that inspired the Disney castle! Sure the castle was nice and pretty, but the scenery was definitely what made it something to be inspired by. It was built in the 1800’s, so fairly recently, on top of a hill surrounded by snow covered mountains and greenery with a small waterfall below and a lake behind. I also found out that this castle is featured in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” More facts

Austria: for such a pretty place, the people sure are ugly.. Since our group was only passing through for the night, I have reason to believe that we didn’t get to see the best parts of the country. It was more of a trip to be able to cross off our list. Once arriving, most people immediately went to the townsquare—Jean, Bonnie and I weren’t far behind, but we took a bit of a detour through the city. We hopped on the wrong bus and went out of the way about an hour until we finally ended up where we wanted to in the first place. We had some pizza downtown then headed back to the hotel. So typical of us to get lost!

Luckily, this weekend I will have the chance to go back to Austria and see Salzburg and Vienna! I wonder if the hills really are alive..? J

Switzerland: my favorite place so far! The most beautiful place I’ve ever been. My two favorite things: mountains and water. Switzerland has the best of both! We had the opportunity to sit by 2 lakes; both royal blue and so clear you could see to the bottom. Surrounding each were mountains; some covered in trees and hicking paths and some covered in snow. All in one place!!? That’s how I imagine heaven. We had lunch at the top of a mountain looking over the lake (Vitznau-Rigi Kaltbad, to be exact). Afterwards, a bunch of us went for a walk down a hill where a large cross was built into the ground. Such an amazing concept, I thought. I’m sure there are TONS of people that visit that exact spot every year, believers and nonbelievers. Why not set up a cross at the edge for everyone to reflect over His gorgeous creation and remember (or realize) we are all a part of His awesome creation and should appreciate these priceless gifts given to us.

That night, we stayed in Montreaux, Switzerland. Our hotel sat right on Lake Geneva and our balcony view included more mountains and the lake. In Vitznau our group had discussed how great it would be to jump in the lake rather than only being able to dip our feet in. Once we found out our destination for the night would be on another lake, jumping in was a must! So, after dinner, each of us showed up at a central dock on the lake and did just that! Jumped into the freezinggg cold Lake Geneva. So exhilarating! Definitely my favorite memory of the trip.

From here on out, nothing we did topped Switzerland. While I learned a lot of historical information and facts and experienced lots of different cultures, I don't have much to write about the other places since they were not AS enjoyable (plus, after riding a bus for over 2500km, things begin to run together and start to take a toll on our energy levels). So, the rest of this blog is basically to jot down small thoughts to be able to remember the places we went.

Chateau de Chillon: This castle, only 20 minutes from Montreaux, was by far the most interesting one of all that I have visited. This castle was so authentic and was full of so much history that it was hard to take it all in. It was really fun for us to run around the courtyards into the "keep" and pretend to be princesses and knights (as if we were 5 years old). Good times... Facts.

Another cruise from Chillon to Vevey followed the castle tour and was a refreshing break between all the bus riding and museum tours.

Vevey to Schaffhausen: We stood next to the Rhine Falls which is apparently the "Niagra Falls" of Europe. It was pretty neat to sit somewhat underneath the falls and once again was a refreshing break from the traveling.

The scenic drive through the Black Forest in Germany was very... green..? It began to rain as we drove through but the amount of trees surrounding us was more than I've ever seen. The trees are so thick that light cannot shine through-- I know understand why it's called the black forest. More.

Freiburg: the hotel we stayed in was not my favorite and the city was a lot dirtier than I had expected. The townsquare was nice and I wish we could have spent more time there. Since it was a Sunday night, Freiburg was an absolute ghost town. The shopping would have been awesome and if the weather were better we would've walked around a bit more. Maybe another day I'll get to revisit and my outlook will change, but for now, not in my top lists.

Verdun: (say it with a country accent and it's really fun!..) My first time to France! It's so intriguing how different the culture and architecture as soon as you cross the border into a new country. The weather was great and food was excellent! I'm so excited to go back to France later in this trip.

Bastogne, Belgium: I'm not a big history buff.. facts

Maastricht: It was sooooo great to come back "home" after traveling for days! The trip as a whole was overwhelming, but it was great getting to know all the people that we are living with, eating with, and traveling for the next couple of months! I feel like we have a fun and diverse group of people that will make (and already have made) this summer this best ever! :)

The Lost Girls in Neverland

Ireland: the friendliest, most charming place on Earth

*after Texas, of course...

Our adventures this week began way before we even arrived in Ireland. I'll take it from the Tuesday night before leaving. Let me preface this with these thoughts: Mom and Dad, I knew all along our plan to "wing it" wasn't gonna work out. Yet, this one time I allowed Bonnie and Jean to convince me that I was being too uptight about the situation and needed to just go with the flow.. therefore, I did. I've never been the most patient or the most responsible person.. why did I decide to be this time?? So many lessons have been learned through this experience.

Tuesday:

Bonnie and I slept until about 1:00, knowing that we would have a late night trying to get to the airport and then leaving on an early flight to Dublin. Once Jean finally gave up on being sweet with her ways of waking us up, we hopped out of bed and headed for food. We once again found a small cafe with great food, and even better pie! *Side Note: J, B, and I have made a pact (more than one, actually) to meet for a dessert once a week at our newly discovered cafe. :) This makes our record for food findings in Maastricht 3-0! Since the "mall" is next to the Cafe Monopole, I stopped by Shoeland to buy some more comfortable shoes -- have I mentioned that we walk EVERYWHERE!? Probably a good thing seeing that we will be having pie dates at least once a week. After a stop by the market, a shower, and packing, Bonnie and I realized it was about time we left for the bus so we didn't miss the bus. Little did we know what was in store for us

... DUNDUNDUNNNN! ...

I traveled with five other girls on this trip; Jean, Bonnie, Traci, Leah and Kaitlin. None of us had any idea where we were staying once we got to Ireland and only little about what we were going to do when we arrived. Once again, being the responsible one, (kind of..) I tore out the "Ireland" section of my tourist book and stuck them in my "fanny pack." I thought it'd be fairly simple to ask the front desk to staple the pages together for me to make it a little easier on us, but nooooo... The stapler had to get stuck- which at the time, wasn't a big deal. Now, I strongly believe that that one little happening created a domino effect for the rest of our trip. As we're nonchalantly walking out of the dorm and to the bus stop, we conveniently see the bus drive away, for the second time this trip, right in front of us. The train is scheduled to leave at 9:09 and it's currently 8:45... Thinking the bus ran every few minutes, we patiently waited for the next one to come around. We could have EASILY walked to the station in about 20/25 minutes, but instead waited. And waited. ..I'm sure you have already predicted that we missed the 9:09 train.. You're absolutely right! :) So, we ordered kebabs from the train station and waited around for the next train to Liege. The next step happened with no problems. On the train in Maastricht, off in Liege. It was upon arriving in Liege that our situation became a bit sticky.

"It makes me happy to know none of us get a 'how to' guide; we're all just kind of winging it."

As soon as we stepped off the train in Liege I pointed out a marquee above one of the platforms that read "Charleroi-SUD" which is the airport we were going to. Being clueless and "responsible," yet again, we decided to ask a security gaurd (garda) which train would take us closest to the airport (or if there was one that took us straight to the airport.. cause we had no idea if there was or not). He kindly directed us to Brussels and told us to get off at Brussels-Nord. We listened. We got on the train to Brussels-Nord. Because we were still a bit unsure and wanted a second opinion, we asked the train conductor once getting on the train. He told us to get off at Brussels-Midi. Figuring he was our best source of information, we took his advice and set off for Brussels-Midi. Along the way we met some interesting people... One man who played the accordian and another chinese man that spoke little English but was a huge Spice Girls fan! The two formed an entertaining duet to keep us occupied on the train ride. I say it very lightly now, but at the time, we were quite frightened by these characters that were just a little too friendly for our taste. The man with the accordian advised us to get off at Brussels-Central... uhh, thanks, but no thanks mister!

There are sometimes that I just wish someone followed us around constantly with a camera to capture moments like this: we stepped off the train in Brussels-Midi to find an empty station. We walked outside past a few homeless people and across a deserted street to a lit hotel. Luckily it wasn't TOO late for the doors of the hotel to be locked (I believe it was 1:30am) and I chatted with the man at the front desk. I explained to him our situation that we needed to find Charleroi airport and we cannot get a straight answer from anyone about how to get there! Of course, we needed to take a shuttle to the airport and it was too late to catch one that night. We inquired about booking a room for the 3 hours we had to wait around for the shuttle, but the man allowed us to take over the lobby for the night. God Loves Us! :) We knew he especially loved us when we found out the bar was open for another 20 minutes.. "two bottles of wine, please!"

It was basically downhill from there getting to Ireland.. minus the security at Ryanair! Terrible!

.. And that's all I have to say about that..

Wednesday:

Sure, Tuesday and Wednesday are considered separate days, but for us, it kind of runs together since we had little sleep over these 48 hours. Time number two I wish we had a camera following us: stepping off the bus in Dublin. Luckily, the Irish speak English so we didn't have much of a problem finding the "hostel row" with tons of choices. We chose Isaac's. Great Choice!! Once again, God was watching over us as the hostel receptionist informed us that there was one 6 bed room available. Well, we took it and we were VERY pleased! I always pictured a hostel to be small, dark, dirty and scary.. that was not the case at all. It was spacious, light, fairly clean, and the beds seemed to be more comfortable than the ones in our "hospital dorm" rooms.

Our Explorations Found us in:

Trinity College -- see below

St. Stephen's Green -- swans in the pond and people of all ages soaking up summertime

and the gorgeous weather

The Dublin Castle -- disappointing, but a castle nevertheless

"It's moments like this that make me wish I could freeze frame time..."

A game of Cricket, beautiful and perfect blue skies, a field of green, bubbles, and a group of Irish students singing and playing Beatles tunes.. What could be better? Each of us sat in silence for a good 30 minutes just reflecting on the chance we had been given to travel all over the world for a full summer. I also realized the power of music, not only at this college, but all throughout Ireland. Music is a universal language that all can enjoy and relate to.

Thursday:

After a full night's worth of sleep-- FINALLY! --we woke up and met on tour guides across town. Altogether we traveled 600 km on a bus Thursday! Holy moly! But no worries, it was totally worth it!

We traveled from Dublin to Galway, Galway to the Cliffs of Moher, a circle around western Ireland, then back to Dublin.

The Cliffs of Moher were breathtaking! It's places like these cliffs that make me wonder how anyone could ever deny that there's a God. I attempted to capture it's beauty by taking pictures, but those don't capture the sense of peace and quiet that is felt on those cliffs. The castle remains at the top of one of the hills made it even more lovely while the cloudy weather made my expectations of Ireland a reality.

"God saw everything He had made, and indeed, it was very good." Genesis 1:31

Since it was pretty chilly on this day, I decided to invest in a hat to keep my head warm. Little did I know it was going to become a part of my Ireland experience. When buying my hat from an Irish man working in a shop next to the Cliffs exhibition, I asked, "Did you make this?" His answer: "No, Marian from the barn handmade the hats and the scarves." ...This is probably one of my favorite quotes from the whole trip. It's humorous to think about an old lady knitting my hat from the wool she acquired from the sheep on her land and them ending up in this shop. It's even better that this man spoke of Marian and the barn as if I was an old family friend.

That's the thing about Ireland-- everyone (except one grumpy man in the park.. haha!) is friendly and willing to help those around them.

That night, we tried out the Dublin nightlife, which is somewhat overrated. The Temple Bar area, the nighttime hotspot, was filled with people-- unfortunately, mostly older people. We had lots of fun: stopped by all the popular pubs, listened to some good ol' Irish music, and tasted a Guinness!

Friday:

After getting to sleep-in for the first time during our trip, the six of us took a walk around Dublin to find breakfast and were entertained by a group of Algerians chanting songs and waving around their flags. Algeria and Ireland played a friendly soccer game that night, come to find out.

Again, we hopped on a bus to a small town called Enniskerry that was suggested to us by a tourist information lady. Upon our arrival, we had no idea where we were staying or really even where we were going. I stepped off the bus, looked up to see a sign that read 'Ferndale B&B' ... perfect! Exactly what'd we'd been wanting all week. So we took a chance -- I walked straight up to the bright red door and was greeted by a sweet Irish man. "Hiiii... Do you have anything available for tonight??.. :)" I'm sure he was shocked by 6 girls, all with huge backpacks standing at his door in the middle of the day in a town that is not used to tourists (The town consisted of a couple of pubs and a string of boutiques). He invited us inside and we made ourselves comfortable in the lounge. AGAIN God loves us-- "Grandpa Noel" informed us that he had 2 rooms available that each can sleep 3. PERFECT! Of course we took the deal, only 30 euro, and enjoyed our luck for the rest of the day.

The Powerscourt Gardens were located about a mile from the B&B so we took a stroll up the hill. A few hours later we finally found ourselves at the garden but decided to wait until Saturday to take them on since we'd spent so much time soaking up the beautiful scenery that led the way to there. We stopped at an old Catholic church and cemetery that sat in front of the Irish mountains. There were many other times along the way that we paused for a picture or two. We also saw some wild horses hanging around the path on the way there. This is significant because on the way back we sat down along the edge of the fence (not sure how else to describe it) they were guarded by to observe. To our surprise, the horses slowly made their way over to us and before we knew it, they were eating grass out of our hands and letting us pet their faces.

At that moment, each of us laughed and realized how awesome and blessed our lives are: Petting wild horses with a scenic, mountainous background on a warm, sunny day in Ireland. Wow.

That evening we walked ALL THE WAY across the street to "Nancy Murphy's" where most of us had our first Bailey's experience. Yuck! The Ireland vs. Algeria game was happening at the time and a nice middle-aged man directed us to the hot club "Bray Sea Front" that was only a few minutes down the road. After talking with another Irish woman for a while about her life, she also suggested the club. So, we took off to the bus stop once again, got off the bus, and started walking aimlessly. Luckily, we ran into a group of young Irish people who were headed to the same club after stopping by a local bar where their friend was playing in a band. We walked down a creepy, dark alley to the "Bray Harbor Bar" and joined a small group of people supporting this talented band. This was definitely my favorite night in Ireland. Listening to wonderful music, mostly American, drinking with Irish people, and staying away from your usual tourist places in the country. We became pretty good friends with the bartender and the owner of the bar (his son to be exact) and had such a great time together singing songs such as American Idiot, Sweet Home Alabama (we all stood up and danced for that one) and many others. We took a taxi back and called it a night.

Saturday:

Saturday morning was so fun waking up to a delicious and nutritious breakfast downstairs and enjoying it with many native Irish couples. Josie, the owner, allowed us to stay for a while after check-out to let the weather clear up for our day at the Powerscourt Gardens. We sat around and drank coffee while eating cookies in the lounge. PERFECT, once again!

The Gardens were beautiful! So bright and colorful on such a cloudy day with the mountains surrounding us, nothing could be better. I tried, again, to take pictures to capture their beauty, but it doesn't amount to the real life experience we had.

The rest of our trip was really simple. We took a bus back to Dublin where we spent the rest of the night talking and resting for our trip back to Maastricht the next morning.

All in all, the trip was definitely a terrific first trip with lots of relaxation along with trials and tribulations we had to go through. As I said when the volcano postponed our trip, God is in control of everything and will take care of us no matter what. That fact is going to be reiterated throughout our studies and travels over these next few months and I cannot wait to see what else He has in store for us!

The End.

More People, More Fun

I don't think I have ever been nearly as exhausted as I was today when leaving Amsterdam. This may have had something to do with the fact that I haven't been able to sleep for the past few days.. is it excitement, the fact that the sun doesn't set until wayyy too late, or just pure insomnia? On the upside, the lack of sleep has been made up by tons of great memories and fun times.

This morning, Caleb, Bonnie, Jean, Kaitlin and I took our first train ride and successfully made it there in one piece!! I'm not sure if you understand, but that's a huge accomplishment considering there's others on our group that unfortunately spent all day on trains and buses and never made it to their anticipated final destination.

Upon arriving in Amsterdam, we aimlessly wandered around the city looking for FOOD! ...probably the fact that we walk everywhere has made us constantly hungry!.. So, we stopped at what we thought to be a donut shop --which it was-- but ordered the "bacon sandwich." In America, usually when you order a bacon sandwich (or any sandwich for that matter), you expect there to be a bit of flavor and more food than what you ordered. Not here! I ordered a bacon sandwich, and I got bacon on bread.. oh wait! .. and mayonnaise! blehh! But, we were satisfied.

The five of us hopped on a bus and headed down to the Van Gogh Museum. Our museumkaarts (museum passes) not only got us in for free, but allowed us to cut the looong line! It's like having a fastpass at DisneyLand! :) Van Gogh's art was beautiful! Each painting, even within the same year, had a different personality, texture and story to tell. It was so interesting to observe his paintings and also read his reasoning behind the art. A few that stood out to me were these:

Courting Couples in the Voyer d'Argenson Park in Asnieres

The Almond Blossom (inspired by his newborn nephew)

The Sea at Saintes- Maries- de- la- Mer .. It was neat to see his original signature in the bottom left.

From there, we wandered a bit more down to a beautiful park for what we were hoping to be a photo op on the famous I AMsterdam letters. Little did we know, we'd have a lot more fun sitting next to the "foot pool" and people watching. Amsterdam is a lot prettier, brighter and less polluted than I had imagined it to be. I loved the scenery and interacting with people who are in a hurry to get somewhere! In Maastricht, people take life slow and enjoy every moment. Maastricht also has less people making it more homey and distinguished from the populated, crazy Amsterdam.

Later, we stopped by another park along the walk to the Anne Frankhuis. This somewhat reminded me of a cleaner Central Park. People laying on the grass, unicycling, playing the violin, and just taking in LIFE.

FINALLY, after a loooong and confusing voyage to find the Anne Frank house (I was determined), we found it! I have read the book and seen the movie, but nothing will compare to the real life experience of being in the very same rooms and walking the same steps as Anne Frank and the other 7 Jews being hidden in the attic of this factory. My favorite part was in Anne's room: all of her wall decorations -- which came from magazine cut outs, comics, and pictures taken -- were still there! I could try to regurgitate every fact I learned, but I'd rather soak in the experience and take it for what it's worth. I only made me look forward to witnessing a concentration camp even more.

The Anne Frankhuis was the last stop of the day, so we headed back to Maastricht! All of us fell asleep in the train at some point, just proving the exhaustion we felt. It's tiring trying to find your way around a large city you've never been to, especially when everything is in some language other than "American!" haha!

Looks like tomorrow we will be heading to Brussels for the night to catch an early flight into Ireland Wednesday morning. I'm not sure what I expect out of Ireland ... I've learned to not expect anything because it'll never be what you imagine! I will not have my computer, so I will have to record the trip into my blog once we return to Maastricht!

Toodeloo!!

If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much!

This morning, Jean, Bonnie, Kaitlin and I spent our first Sunday at a historical church in the square. Apparently it is Pentacost (we aren't exactly sure what that is, but it IS celebrated by Catholics.. Thank you, Jean Carter) which made this outing even more special. We arrived at the service early so we snuck into the one taking place at the time. Absolutely GORGEOUS! Stained glass lining the walls, exquisite architecture, tall and decorated ceilings, only two columns of pews and one aisle down the center with a man in uniform standing in the back with a golden axe...? Someone that's Catholic needs to explain this man to us. The whole service was in Dutch, but nonetheless, it was an interesting experience. Of course people tour ancient churches, but we can now say we attended one.

This is the victory that conquers the world - our faith. 1 John 5:4

After church, we headed to the bike shed to check out our bikes!! We get these all summer (and found out we can even take them on the trains... paris by bike? heck yeah!) A group of about 12 of us headed through Maastricht, down a beautiful road consisting of a castle, vineyards, storybook houses, and a luscious, green countryside.

About 10 miles later, we arrived in Belgium at the Albert Canal. We stopped for a picture break as Bonnie interviewed Dr. Rust about the history of the canal while I filmed (should've been the other way around..). Once again, we all hopped on our bikes and traveled in a single file line approximately another 10 miles. Bonnie DID make it-- barely-- but we all were struggling a bit at the end. After calculating our trip, a few of us decided we biked almost 25 miles! But hey, it was definitely worth it seeing how it was probably one of the most amazing bike rides I'll ever take.

Of course once that was over we were all VERY hungry! So, Caleb, Jean, Bonnie and I strolled down our main street to find a small cafe on the corner. The pizza and calzones the little man made us were not only made completely from scratch, they have made it to our top 2 places to eat here! Finally full once again! Bye-bye spreadable sausage... :)

When we returned to the room, a group of us spontaneously decided to take a train to Amsterdam tomorrow! This trip will NOT consist of any coffee shops, rather the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh museum...

Later tonight, we took another trip to the square. This time, we discovered there's another square just a block down the street! Once again, movie set quality. While walking down the street we stopped to witness a Maastricht Street Show-- and golly, were we in for a treat!! An older man wearing a silver jumpsuit with pink leggings and heels was singing a Dutch pop song with backup dancers wearing similar outfits. Older men and women were dancing and singing along, so I decided to join! :) From there we continued to explore and found the "Maastricht projects," as Bonnie calls them. It felt like a ghost town.. So we circled back to the newfound square and took a seat outside to watch the sun go down (at 10pm.. I still don't know how long it's going to take me to get over this..)

I just posted pictures on Facebook so you can put images and stories together!