So I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post until I just signed on to write another update. I'm gonna try to go back to a once a week thing if I can, just the past few weeks haven't been too exciting or out of the ordinary. March is full of weekend trips, birthdays, football games, visits from people and a ton more so I hopeful I'll be updating more this month.
Anyways, this weekend was our school sponsored trip to Amsterdam. I wasn't really excited for the trip when we left Thursday, I think mostly because we had a 12 hour bus ride ahead of us, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the city- I absolutely loved it! Our trip started at 930 Thursday night when all 300 Westminster students on the trip loaded onto a bunch of buses and headed out towards Dover. We got into Dover around 1, went through a non-existant stop at customs, and loaded onto the ferry for our 220 AM departure time headed towards Calais, France on the other side of the English Channel. The ferry ride was great, it almost reminded me of a cruise ship. It was full of shops, restaurants and lounges to pass the time. We took advantage of a bunch of couches and slept nearly the entire hour and a half ferry ride. From there, we loaded back onto the bus, and drove about 5 hours into Amsterdam. Luckily Lara and I were in the back row of the bus, where the seats reclined all the way back so I was able to at least get a few hours of shut eye before getting into the city.
We got into Amsterdam at about 930 in the morning on Friday, unloaded the bus and took our stuff to our hostel before heading out for the day. Our student reps who organized the trip jokingly referred to our hostel as "Hans Brinker: the shittest hostel in Amsterdam." They weren't kidding. At least they embrace it's terribleness. We left our hostel right away, around 1030 to grab a bite to eat and head over to the Anne Frank House. We were warned that the lines get impossibly long, so we wanted to get over as early as we could. Luckily, the line was pretty short and we were inside after only 20 minutes or so of waiting. It was amazing. We went room by room through the office that was the cover for the secret annex the Frank family used to hide in during the Nazi raids in Germany until they invaded Amsterdam as well. After going through the office space, we were allowed to go through the moving bookcase and actually into Anne's very tiny room and the rest of the secret annex. It was absolutely incredible. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but honestly, I don't think they would do it justice. Otto Frank, Anne's father, was the only one who survived the Holocaust, and when he decided to turn the house into a public space after he published Anne's diary, he decided to leave the annex just as they left it- completely devoid of any material possessions and furniture, so all the rooms were left empty. Since they kept everything in the same condition it was when the Franks left, the walls of Anne's room as covered with magazine posters and advertisements she glued to the walls, and in the kitchen the wall that is covered with pencil marks and dates, showing Anne and her sister's growth in height during their stint in the annex. The rooms were impossibly tiny. I have no idea how 8 people could live in such conditions, but somehow they did. One fact I learned is that til this day, they don't actually know who it was that betrayed the family and ratted them out to the Nazi police. There are hunches but no actual suspect. At the end of the tour you get to see the actual information cards used for all members living in the annex at their arrival to various concentration camps, pictures of most of them actually in the concentration camp, their approximated dates and causes of death, and lastly Anne's actual diary. Such a cool place to have been. I've always been really interested in the Holocaust, probably from 5 years of taking German and watching countless German made movies about the era, but it was absolutely unreal being in there.
Outside of the obviously refurbished entrance to the Anne Frank House
The actual house containing the secret annex.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the beautiful canal ridden streets of the city before grabbing a bite to eat at an Italian restaurant and heading out to a club that was included in the price we paid for the trip. We didn't stay very along as it was really crowded and we were still exhausted from the trip, but we figured we'd give it a try since it was free. The streets are very story book- almost like Dr. Suess-ish. All the buildings are small little townhomes in various colors along different canals. The streets are very bumpy, and so as a result, a lot of the houses were obviously crooked and off kilter which just added to their charm.
Saturday was filled with lots of walking and sight seeing. We wandered through an adorable flower market- so beautiful and so cheap with lots of wooden shoes and tulips everywhere. We found our favorite place in Amsterdam- the best cheese shop in the word. You walk in and there is cheese everywhere, and they practically throw free samples of cheese and chocolate in your face. DELICIOUS. We literally went to multiple cheese shops of the same chain to keep getting samples, they were unbelievably good. You know that scene in She's the Man when Amanda Bynes says her favorite cheese is gouda...well officially my favorite cheese is handmade Dutch gouda. I'm actually upset at myself for not bringing any back. Not even embarrassed to say that cheese shop was my favorite place in the city. #fatgirlproblems
Ariel in the delicious pasty/chocolate shop we found our first day.
The flower market of Amsterdam
CACTUS! If you know me well, you obviously understand why I was so excited about this find. One day, I will grow a successful cactus. It's gonna happen.
So. Much. Cheese.
MY FAVORITE GOUDA!
The rest of the afternoon we got lunch as a much recommended food court- sort of similar to a Wegman's cafe set up, walked through the red light district and saw Centraal Station, and headed to the Rijksmuseum where the famous "I Amsterdam" sign is for the super stereotypical tourist pictures. Half of us went to the Van Gogh museum after. I was in the half that opted out, so we walked around a park, found a bench and ate delicious waffles. Waffles and pancakes over here a) aren't eaten for breakfast and b) aren't served with syrup. It's a big dessert thing everywhere we've been to have a Belgian waffle with chocolate sauce, ice cream, or fresh fruit on it. Later Saturday night, half of the group went on a bar crawl through the city, but Lara and I opted out to go see the red light district and night, grab a bite to eat, and see all the canal bridges lit up. The red light district is something else. In the daytime it wasn't bad at all, obvious sex shops and coffee shops but it wasn't really bustling. At night is a completely different story, you literally turn the corner to get onto the main strip and all you see is neon red lights absolutely everywhere. Windows with girls in them line the streets, alternating with "coffee shops" and various burlesque/strip shoes. There are bouncers absolutely everywhere, encouraging you to come see one of their girls, go to a show, or shooing you along violently if you stand looking at their girls too long or god forbid attempt to take a picture. They are not fans of pictures in the red light district that is for sure. We went around 9 oclock or so, and while it was very busy, it's obvious that the night was still very, very young. Over half of the windows had the lights off and were still covered, indicating that the girls hadn't even shown up to work yet. We very happily left after a quick stroll around not wanting to be two little white girls in the district when it really got busy. In a nutshell, it certainly held up to it's reputation.
Centraal Train Station in the heart of Amsterdam
Lara, Ariel and I in the sign.
A failed attempt to climb on top of the "t"
...so I settled for sitting on it
Ariel and her "a"
Van Gogh museum
Sunday was long as we had our very tiring trip back to London. We left Amsterdam around 1130, and I passed out as I hoped to do in order to pass the time, and what do you know...woke up to the bus driver announcing our arrival at a Belgian chocolate factory. Honestly, couldn't even tell you where on a map Belgium is, but I now know we drive through it to get back to London and they make REAL good chocolate. Our driver made us all get out to walk around...twist my arm. Fact: Belgian chocolate is as good as it's reputation. My package of milk chocolate disks and chocolate covered cherries and attest to that. After about 5 hours, we arrived back in Calais at the ferry, actually had to go through customs this time (a trend I'm noticing. Other countries don't really care when you come into them, literally didn't go through anything to get into the Netherlands, they have zero record of my presence, but getting back into the UK is just like getting back into the States) and got onto the ferry. We grabbed a seat in the front of the ferry because we knew to look out for the famous white cliffs of Dover. They were absolutely magical to see. Even though it was a rainy, cloudy day, you could still see them a good distance away in the channel, and as we docked they are literally right outside of the window. So neat to see. After that we headed back on the bus for the 3 hour trip to London and arrived at 830, much earlier than the anticipated 10 our itineraries said.
Overall the trip was great, well worth the 125 pounds it cost to sign up. Food, transportation, sight seeing, accommodation, everything included, I spent less than 200 pounds- a job well did on my part, and now I can say I've been to both Holland and Belgium. The city wasn't at all what I expected, but it was absolutely adorable. I'd go back in a heartbeat. This week, and the rest of March are probably gonna go by fast. Monday and Tuesday, a friend from home, Rachel, who's studying in Copenhagen is gonna be in London, and on Wednesday I have my first football game to go to! Lots of stuff coming up, I'll try better to keep you posted!
This past weekend was Paris- and it was unbelievable. Ariel and I left Thursday night at 7 on the Eurostar high-speed train and arrived in Paris at 10 local time. This was my first time on a train other than part of a metro system and it’s great. I’m converted. Much simpler security, only need to arrive 30 minutes before your departure, no issues about walking around or using electronics during travel, and just much easier overall than flying. It takes all of 10 minutes or so to board all 18 coaches, the coach is fairly spacious – or at least it seems to when compared to the cramped airplane seats. Our coach was designed with four seats, in pairs facing one another, with a table in between each pair. My train on the way back was the more traditional airplane style, but still with only two seats in a row, it seems much less congested than an airplane.
Our three full days there went by so fast, but we perfectly executed everything we set out to do. Only thing we’d change is the weather- absolutely freezing. Like to the point where our eyes were watering and we wore underarmour under our sweaters, as well as under our pants. We figured it was the norm in Paris, even though it’s south of London so we figured it’d be warmer. Turns out this is the coldest it’s been in Paris in a very long time. All the French people we met kept commenting on how uncharacteristic it is this time of year, and how even they were struggling with the cold. Snow in Spain, London, and Paris (a very rare occurrence in each place) and t-shirt weather back home two weeks ago…hello global warming, nice to meet ya. Aside from it being frigit, we were so lucky in that every day we were there was sunny and beautiful. We agreed we could deal with the cold as long as it wasn’t dreary out and we could get lots of pictures- mission accomplished.
Friday was jammed packed, but Ariel and I both agreed- our favorite day in Paris. Sightseeing all day/afternoon, followed by a later dinner at a DELICIOUS café near our hotel, and finished off the night in style pigging out on éclairs and tarts while reading the Hunger Games series (I started it on Thursday and finished it Friday, now I just need to wait for Ariel to finish the second so I can steal it from her like I did the first.)Totally lame, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Pictures speak louder than words, so here’s some pictures from our first day: the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Avenue de Champs-Élysées, Sacré-Cœur Basilica, and the Moulin Rouge.
Interior of the Tower
Climbed up all 669 steps to the top of the second floor
Looking up from the second floor.
Paris from the top!
Le Arc de Triumph
Interior ceiling of the arc
Sacré-Cœur
View from the Basilica, best view of the city
The Moulin Rouge!
Saturday we hit the other half of the basic tourist spots: Notre Dame, Luxembourg Gardens, the Louvre, more Champs-Élysées and it’s accompanying parks, CREPES, and St. Chapelle- the hidden gem of the trip. It’s a very tiny cathedral attached to some part of a French governmental palace, where statistically there is more stained glass than walls in the church. Absolutely unbelievable. Ariel had read about it in an art history class she took in high school, knew it was in France, but mistook the name and we thought it was located 50 miles from Paris. As we were walking under the tunnel that leads to the Arc de Triumph, she happened to see an ad for it, and with her day made, we made plans to go that next day. Ariel had been to Paris before, and this she hadn’t done yet, so I was really glad that we got to see one thing she really wanted since most of the other stuff she had been to once before.
Notre Dame
When we went in, a service was in progress. SO neat.
Tons of gargoyles covering the entire exterior
St. Chapelle. The pictures don't do it justice at all, so incredibly bright and warm inside.
Luxemburg Palace
Ducks standing on the frozen ponds
The (half) frozen water fountain
A bridge covered in love locks. From here I thought it was just decorated with gold designs, it's actually all padlocks.
Thousands of padlocks with dates and initials on them. Lock your love to the bridge and toss the key into the river.
The Louvre
After touring, we headed to the hotel to shower and get ready, grabbed some dinner, and went to meet a friend of Ariel’s who lives in Paris. Believe it or not, Ariel and Elsa (her French friend) met at summer camp back when they were in middle school, and had always stayed in contact. Ariel’s first time to Paris she stayed with Elsa and her family, so upon hearing we were in town, Elsa had us over, along with 10 or so of her friends Saturday night. We were really nervous about going because Elsa knows English well, but we weren’t sure how well her friends did, and since we know all of 10 words in French (hello, goodbye, thank you, excuse me, chicken and cheese [shout out to Mama Gerbes for those last two]) we weren’t sure what to expect. We were very pleasantly surprised. All of her friends knew at a minimum broken English, and many of them were really excited to have a reason to practice their English by talking to us. As they explained, they all are required to take English in high school, but don’t really have anywhere to practice it in France (similar to me and German I guess). We were impressed with the fact they were conversational in two languages, but understood it once they explained to us the reason behind the English requirement in France. Other than France, Canada and some parts of Africa, no one speaks French. When they travel to other places, they need to know English as often that is their only form of communication since most places speak English as the second language. I had never really thought of it like that, but if they go to say, Spain, if they don’t know Spanish, then the tourist places in Spain speak English. They described it to us like we were almost blessed to only speak English, our dominant language is secondary to the places we’re visiting, while it is their secondary language that’s acting as the secondary for the country they’re visiting. We also learned that contrary to popular belief that the French hate American’s, they said they actually love hearing an American accent. They said it’s very Hollywood. We were pleasantly surprised in that all the places we ate had at a minimum English subtitles under the food on the menu, if not an entire English menu, and all but one place were very friendly and good about talking to us in English.
Sunday was super laid back compared to the jam-packed past few days. We had check-out at 11, so we stored our bags in the luggage room as we headed out for a big brunch and shopping. Elsa recommended a strip of stores near our hotel, so we headed there. Paris is expensive, they dress well, and since I wasn’t willing to pay the SALE price of 230 euro for a sweater, I came home with an éclair instead of clothes. Not even sorry. Ate my weight in pastries this weekend, and can’t wait to continue the trend Tuesday as a bunch of us are having a BYOW&D (bring your own wine and dessert) Valentine’s Day dinner. Let’s be honest, running outside isn’t gonna happen in this weather, so I might as well pack it on and hibernate til the end of this icicle weather. I’m writing this as I’m headed back home on my train. We couldn’t get tickets on the same train, so mine departed at 5 and Ariel’s at 6. Even though it’s only a two hour 15 minute trip, with the time change, it makes it seem like I’ve only been on about an hour, so when I get in just after 6.30 I’m supposed to meet up with my Uncle Steve who’s in town for a bite to eat before I go crazy uploading pictures to facebook and skyping everyone back home! Au revior!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The past few days have been busy, full of events and activities, yet such blast. Wednesday was a basic old day of class, nothing too special, expect that we went over our assignment- a paper due the same day as two others I have. A little daunting that two of my classes, one right after each other too a significant portion of time to talk about these papers, both make up 50% of my grade, but it was good cause it really got me to kick start working on them. Today I did nearly half of my art and society paper, and am currently in the process of looking up a few of the 18 resources I need for my Olympics paper. They're coming along slow, but at least I have a head start. I'm forcing myself to keep working this weekend until I have at least 5 of the resources down...we'll see how that goes.
Thursday was excellent. I woke up to an email saying that my 2 hour seminar for the day was cancelled so I only needed to go to my hour long lecture. 2 classes cancelled in one week....I don't hate it. After class, I came back and got dressed because we had our tickets to see Matilda. The show was fantastic! Our seats were really, really up there in the theater, but we could nearly everything going onstage- well worth the 25 pounds. The stage was beautiful, the kids were great (over half the cast was probably under the age of ten) and it was surprisingly hysterical. It strayed a little from the movie, mostly regarding Matilda's magic tricks, but definitely made up for it in the casting. Mr. Wormwood was a hoot, and the Trunchible (played by a man in drag) was unbelievably funny. In the movie no one ever liked the Trunchible, but she hands down stole the show. I would absolutely see it over again- now I know why every performance so far has been sold out.
Friday day, like most other Fridays since I don't have class, was relaxing and pretty standard. Woke up, went for a run in the very cold weather, and began organizing my thoughts for the papers I'm working on today. Friday night Ariel, Mackenzie and I went to see a comedy show in Soho. The comedy club was located inside of a casino- Ariel and Mackenzie had to go through a long sign in process because they were under the age of 21, but me being the big girl I am got to go right on in. Overall, the show was pretty good. The first two were good, but the headliner- an 84 year old Jewish man, stole the show. He was a hoot, saying all sorts of things you would never expect and 84 year old to say. We finished our night with some Ben and Jerrys (a habit far to frequent) and called it a night. A good change of something new and different to entertain our weekend.
As I mentioned earlier, today was spent mostly lounging around and working on my papers. If I work for another hour or two, I'll be very satisfied with where I'm standing on them. The most exciting part of my day though just occurred! The weather had been calling for snow, and when I checked this morning it said accumulation of up to 3 inches! A rare occurrence in London. I was warned that people here freak out a little bit when it comes to snow, so I didn't think anything of it when I ran to the grocery store this evening and saw the roads and sidewalks being covered in anticipatory salt. When I came out half an hour later, it had started snowing! Absolutely beautiful and a total mood booster. It wasn't sticking on the road, but cars and my jacket were completely covered. It's supposed to keep up through the night and into tomorrow morning, and hopefully it does cause if it's going to continue to be this cold, I at least want some snow!
Tomorrow we have all sorts of Super Bowl plans. The game doesn't start here until after 11, and none of us have TVs, so we bought tickets to a sports bar down the road where they are showing the game and having specials all night long. We decided that before hand, around dinner time, we're gonna have our own Superbowl feast- we're talking nachos, chicken wings, and I'm attempting to make homemade mozzarella sticks. I probably won't stay for the whole game as I have class the next morning at 10, but I figure if I just stay until the halftime commercials I'll be getting my 3 pounds out of it. In other news, I heard from my Uncle Steve today, and he's gonna be in London this week! His wife Tatiana and him arrive Tuesday and will be here until the 17th so we plan on meeting up and grabbing a bite a night or two! Also, last night we booked Barcelona! St. Pattys Day in Spain, a little unconventional, but worth it if I can get somewhat of a sun tan!
