Category Archives: europe.

Amsterdam➡Brussels

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We packed up this morning and left our packs at the hostel to go pick up later. Then we had coffee and bagels for breaky at Starbucks and returned our rental bikes. It was cool again this morning and it had rained in the night so everything was soaked.

After we returned our bikes we caught a tram to Amsterdam Centraal so we could catch a different train out to Zaanse Schans which is where the old dutch windmills are. There is a little village with about 7 old windmills there. We walked the loop and toured inside the windmill that still makes peanut oil. So much manual labour went into making simple things! Two huge concrete wheels going in a circle crush the peanuts. Eventually a man takes the crushed peanuts and puts them between cheesecloth and then a thick rubber sack over it. Then with a pulley he lifts and drops a thick stone block on the rubber sack and each time it compresses peanut oil out of it into a tray underneath. The peanut oil is ready to go and they remove the compressed peanuts which are in a cake type form by the end of the process and use them for cow feed. They also had a sawmill and a cacao mill that are still in use there. The windmills are green with four big blades covered with brown “sails” that go around. If it gets too windy or starts going too fast the man takes a sail off one of the blades to slow it down.

We took the train back into Amsterdam and picked up our packs and got lunch at a little Italian place. After lunch we went to a cheese museum. There were over 60 kinds of cheese to try and we tried a lot. Goat cheese, cheese aged for 4 years, Italian herb, goat cheese garlic and truffle, and beer cheese were some we tried.

After the cheese museum we walkeyt?d to the Anne Frank Haus which was something super high on my list. We had bought tickets online for 2:45 so we headed in. We each got a deal for the audio tour. It gave us an audio tour through the warehouse and it stops while you go through The Secret Annexe and resumes again when you’re through. It was such an incredible and moving experience. The rooms the Frank and van Daan families had to live in were small. Then the thought of living in them with 8 people for two years without ever leaving was unreal. We saw the actual wallpaper with the postcards and pictures Anne had pasted on the wall when she first arrived at the Annexe. Most of their things were taken by the Nazis when they arrested the people of the Annexe but several things are on display that survived. Annes actual diary is on display there, a grocery list for rations from Mrs. van Daan, and a tin of marbles Anne had given her friend the day they left. It was so sad to think this has all happened in my grandma juls lifetime!ßf Hugo%f

We left the Anne Frank Haus and took the train to Centraal again and after some running around we grabbed some sandwiches and found our greyhound bus on Eurostar that would bring us to Brussels, Belgium. Loaded up there and saw a bit of the city but it was soon dark and we dozed for 3 hours until we arrived and walked 10 minutes to our hotel. Meininger Hotel its called and has a ton of people staying here including some church youth groups it looks like. Super modern rooms with bunks and all floors are concrete with wide halls and computers, pool table, board games, coffee bar, foosball, etc. We overlook a canal and they’re much bigger canals here than in Amsterdam. Morgan and I went and grabbed “hamburgers” which aren’t beef here I’m not really sure what they are except sort of sausagey and pastey. No more of those for me! We’re sharing our room with some kids from Paris. Really great people here and so neat to be able to meet and become friends with such different humans from such different cultures. Also everyone here speaks French which I wasn’t expecting. So au revoir.💃

Amsterdam🚴

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So we didn’t sleep great last night. Also the man snoring above jalens bunk didnt help. He’s from Sweden we found out and is very nice. But the day was sort of cloudy and chilly and exciting so we went for a croissant breakfast and then went to rent bikes. Renting bikes was the best thing we ever did. Cost a bit and they give you the smoothest roadie bikes with little bells and a lock and chain because 80,000 bikes a year get stolen here the man said.

So we first rode out to Amsterdam Centraal and took our bikes on the free ferry across to Amsterdam-noord which is the wharf and industrial area where they have lots of art on old warehouses and shipping containers. There was so much graffiti and paintings! The one to the entrance is of a colorful Anne Frank with a caption that reads “let me be myself”. We rode our bikes through and looked at the paintings and then took the ferry back across.

Then we rode across town to the Albert Cuyp Market which is a whole cobblestone street filled with vendors and tents and lots of smells. You can buy raw fish, shoes, food, clothes, toys, fabric (not the good kind ladies) and basically anything. We ate lunch at a place called Bozz where the guys had burgers and I had Dutch beef croquettes that essentially are a beef and mashed potatoes paste with fried crumbs around it. You butter bread and eat it like a hot dog. Whatever you’re imagining it tastes like is probably wrong. It was very unique. Back on the street we tried mini pancakes which are a huge delight here apparently. I find them a delight as well and think they taste way better than our regular pancakes but the guys didn’t seem as enthused. They are about the size of a half dollar and have butter and powdered sugar on them and they are so darling.

After the market we went to this amazing place called the Rijksmuseum. Its in a very classy old huugee building where you drop your coats to ladies in the cloakroom before starting through the museum. There are 3 floors with different eras featured on each floor. I can’t explain everything we saw. Van Gogh paintings, Rembrandts famous “Night Watch”, dragons head canons acquired from the Java War with Asia in 1825, old china dishes, guns, and a priceless pure diamond stolen from the sultan of baghdad in a war. There was so much history there and we spent a couple hours wandering around there.

Then we came back to the hostel for sleep cuz we are still on Cali time. I talked to 2 girls who are in our dorm with us for awhile. They are from Croatia and gave us some good travel tips on berlin. We went to another little pizza place (its cheap & easy people!) for supper and biked through different areas of town. Got coffees and came back to the hostel and repacked cuz tomorrow afternoon is on to the next city. Also now we aren’t tired cuz w slept earlier so it’s 1:20 am and we are all awake. But goede nacht for now. 🌙

flight➡Amsterdam

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Our flights all went good minus any really good sleep but we connected great in Dublin. We got to AMS on time to a partly sunny 50* day.

The first thing we did was find a train ticket station. It cost around $5 each for a train ticket from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal. Then we caught a tram that took us exactly 1 block from our hostel. We are in a little room with 3 bunk beds so there are 3 other people with us in the room but we haven’t had time to visit much. The hostel has 3 stories up very steep “Amsterdam” stairs. Theres a fridge and microwave and a living room for everyone to use. We dropped our stuff off and went for supper to a place called Pizza Heart.

Then we walked. Everywhere. It cooled off a lot so it was chilly. The canals have some ice on them and the bridges over the canals have string lights on them that are beautiful and make the water glow. There is so much architecture just in where we walked tonite. The palace of Amsterdam, cathedrals, government buildings. We stopped at a bakery and bought me stroopwafels which are me best thing ever and jalen a waffle and Morgan an open faced sandwich of some kind. There are lots of cheese shops too so we went in a couple and sampled cheeses. They have big fresh wheels of all kinds of cheese in the windows. The flowermarkt had closed but we went into some shops along the canal that had hundreds of different kinds of tulips for sale. They are so awesome.

There are so many tall houses just bunched together exactly like you see in pictures. The streets are mostly cobblestone and pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way here. Bicycles do. There are thousands of bikes everywhere that people are riding or you can rent. There aren’t very many vehicles and most of the streets are room only for one car. When you hear the bike bell ring you know they mean business because nobody really stops at any intersections unless there happens to be a tram in the way. Its quite funny. The canals have little boats on them you can take tours on or some people have boats tied up in the canal in front if their house.

I’ve noticed that the people here are definitely younger and more hip than some places. Scarves and long coats with boots are what the ladies wear and the men wear darling hats and scarves as well. Its funny to think that we are all here walking and living and working together on the same earth as each of these souls I saw today. And while it is a magnificent earth, it is always clear as we travel that many many people have not reached out to God. I’m very thankful we have such safety.

Well its just past 9 here but we are exhausted. I’m laying in the bottom bunk listening to bikes on the street outside and I’m pretty happy. Goodnight.✌

travel day

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Kevin&Yolanda dropped the three of us off at the airport at 4. Arrived at our gate fine. And how exciting to see the destination of Dublin on the screen! There are lots of languages being spoken here in the boarding area and they aren’t English. Ha. I’m looking at people as I eat my soggy turkey wrap. There are redheads that I like to think are irish. And Aer Lingus stewardesses dressed in chic teal suits with scarves. Plus some skinny jean clad guys wearing sporty jackets are wandering around by us.

So we all have seats together which is cool. And due to a bad winter storm in Ireland everything is minorly delayed but only a little. Our flight is 10 hours long so we should get to Dublin around 1130 tomorrow. Then a little stop and into Amsterdam! The airline serves supper and breakfast on the plane so I’m interested to see how that is. I’m naturally suspicious. Last time I flew by a man from africa who’d never flown before or had m&ms because he wandered how we grew them. Like carrots? Haha no no I said.  So flying is always interesting. Anyways happy Sunday! See you in Amsterdam❤

Europe on my mind.

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Today was a tough day for me. It was one of those days where you question alot of things and later you remember that all those things happened for a reason. So this evening I settled down with my cup of tea in my hands and my alpaca blanket wrapped around me and went through things I was thankful for. Like my husband, who brought me a darling rose after my bad day. And my family, who calls frequently to check in on me. So after I’d had a good thinking things through, I refocused positive energy onto our Europe trip.

Going to Europe is something I have wanted to do since I was a child. I looked at hundreds of pictures and read history and biography books of lives led in Europe. I despaired with Anne Frank in her secret annexe in Amsterdam, shared the same love of the Swiss Alps as Heidi, and wept with those who suffered in the potato famine in Ireland. And in every survey for the school paper, I wanted to visit somewhere in Europe. Now…for some of the trip details.

We bought our 3 tickets (Morgan, Jalen, & I) through SmartFares for less than $500 each. It’s a cheap airline ticket site that is similar to BookingBuddy or Kayak. The airline we are flying is Aer Lingus, which is based out of Ireland so most of their flights have layovers in Dublin. Another really reasonable search engine for checking international tickets is with Wow Air. They have limited days and places but they are worth checking out! Keep in mind they run alot like Spirit Airlines, with few amenities, high baggage prices, etc..

We have already booked our first 2 nights in Amsterdam since we know we will be there the first couple days getting our bearings and sightseeing. We have an app called Hostelworld that is great for finding anything you’re looking for as far as hostels go. I have NOT had a good first hostel experience, my first time being in Mexico&Belize this last Christmas, so I am hoping for a good one this time:) Morgan and Jalen have stayed in lots of hostels in different countries with good experiences so that’s hopeful.

And last of all, but so so exciting, is that we have a high chance to buy a bus we found in LA! We went and looked at it a couple of weekends ago, and we have narrowed it down between some other options we have. The thing with converting and buying a bus is that no bus will ever be perfect, although we had high hopes at first. Each one we’ve looked at has something that will need work, or repair soon, or the price is too high for what we see. We are so ready to get our dreams in motion! Morgan has been keeping in touch with the LA bus guy so if it works out, and this is “the” bus, we will hopefully close on it before we leave for Europe! We’re scared to leave it until we come home because what if someone else sees it and we have to start our search all over. So lots going on in our heads right now. And so much excitement over the funny directions my life has taken since getting married 5 months ago. cheers everyone.