9. In Which It Was Just Another Weekend In Amsterdam

I am still recovering from my weekend at Haley’s. I came down with a cold while I was there, and I am still trying to rid myself of it completely. I am technically on “spring break” this week, so I have sort of been taking it easy. We don’t have an official spring break week, but a lot of professors are giving this week off. I only have my Tuesday night class this week. Of course it is the one I despise the most. I am really looking forward to returning to Mt. Holyoke academics. I am actually thinking of applying to be a key distributor through Res Life, just so I can get back on campus early. Otherwise, I am just going to crash in Emilie’s room for a day or two before I get access to my room. My roommate went to Luxembourg for the weekend, so I have had the whole apartment to myself on weekend. It has also happened to snow every single day this weekend.

Friday I slept in. It has really been the first time that I have gotten to sleep in since before I went to Haley’s. It felt nice. I had three things on the agenda for Friday. My first item of business was getting train tickets for going to Düsseldorf, Germany for when my parents come in April. I actually made out quite well. We were able to get a special deal on the way back. So the return from Düsseldorf to Amsterdam was €19 each. Going was a bit more expensive, but with my discount card, I saved €9.00 on each of my parents’ tickets, and I saved €15.70 on my ticket. I have already made back more than half of what I spent to get the rail discount card now. I quickly returned to my apartment to drop off my bag and the train tickets, because I was on my way to see Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai, which is currently on location here in Amsterdam! Cirque du Soleil was performing out by the soccer stadium, which is just about outside city limits. I had to take a train to get there. It is also out by some of the concert venues in Amsterdam. I had to walk about 10 minutes or so to get to where the tent was set up. It was a completely white tent. The Corteo tent in Boston was blue and yellow. I had a little bit of time before the show started, so I strolled around the gift shop and the snack bar. I ended up getting popcorn and a soda. The show was good, but I think I enjoyed the Boston show better. I ended up buying a keychain and a wallet. I have been in need of a new wallet, and I really like the one they were selling. I am glad I had a chance to see this show, as this is one of the European shows, and as far as I know it hasn’t toured in North America yet, but it could have before I got interested in Cirque du Soleil, but that was several years ago. There are two different shows coming through Massachusetts in September: one in Boston and the other in Amherst. I am hoping that I will be able to see at least one of them. The final piece of business for Friday was bowling. The RA’s organized a bowling hall activity. I love bowling, so I jumped at the opportunity. I bowled rather poorly, but I still had a lot of fun. It was nice to get out with some other people. I enjoy the hall activities, so I have been trying to go to as many as possible. They are going to the zoo on Friday, which unfortunately I will be missing as I will be in France!

I slept in again on Saturday. I have desperately been in need of new bike lights. I dropped my back one a few weeks ago, and it shattered. I have been too cheap to go and replace it. So, my first goal of Saturday was to buy new bike lights. My destination for this endeavor was Waterlooplein, one of the outdoor flea markets here in Amsterdam. I did not want to spend over €3 on new lights. I strolled up and down all the rows, and saw lights ranging from €3.50 to €7. I finally came upon a stand, which happened to be one of the last 3 stands, that was selling removable lights (exactly like my old ones) for €2.50. I jumped on those. By the time I had my new bike lights in hand the wind had picked up and it was snowing. The weather was unbearable, and it wasn’t worth riding my bike home right then. I had been meaning to check out the Jewish Historical Museum for a few weeks, and it happens to be in the same neighborhood as Waterlooplein, so I made my way over to the museum. I really enjoyed it, and I definitely plan on going back to that museum. It is definitely up there as one of my favorites here in Amsterdam. They even had a sheet of fabric with the golden Star of David’s that Jews were required to sew onto their clothes during WWII. It was a very moving experience. Saturday afternoon I spent doing errands. I went to the grocery store to get enough food to last me until I leave for France. Saturday night was another cultural night for me. I went to see the ballet again. This show was entitled “On The Move.” Het Nationale Ballet (Dutch National Ballet) said this about the show, “In spring 2008 the Dutch National Ballet showcases a work by Alexei Ratmansky, who was appointed artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet three years ago and is widely regarded as one of the most exciting young choreographic talents of the day. His ballet Russian Seasons (2006) was unanimously praised after its New York City Ballet premiere. As the title of Leonid Desyatnikov’s eponymous music suggests, the choreography is inspired by the seasonal changes of the Russian Orthodox calendar. But, above all, the work is an ode to and highly individual interpretation of the art of dance. Though based on the classical ballet idiom, Ratmansky makes use of elements from folk and jazz, creating a dance that is innovative, provocative and challenging.” I think I liked this show better than Coppelia. Again, I sat 8th row center. The ticket was €33.50, but I only paid €10. So, that was another exciting Saturday night out, which ended with a Turkish Pizza at the snack bar a block from my apartment building.

Sunday was Easter. Being that it was Easter I made the effort to go to church. There is an English speaking Episcopal church right near the main campus of UvA, so that’s where I went. It was all roughly the same as at home, but the one thing I just couldn’t get used to was the PowerPoint presentation for the service. It was just so weird. Afterwards I went to the Coffee Hour. I ended up chatting with these two college girls. They go to Luther College in Iowa, and are studying abroad in England for the year. They are on Easter break for a month, and their housing closes, so they were backpacking through Europe. It was nice to talk to some other college students who weren’t in Amsterdam because of the legalized marijuana. It was snowing pretty hard by the time I left. I ended up just coming back to the apartment and doing laundry the rest of the day. I also talked to my mom and dad on Skype. I called Emilie as well, because it was her 20th birthday.

Yep, so that was my weekend. I may try to go to the zoo tomorrow, and if I do I will post before I leave for France, but if not, you will hear again from me after France.

8. In Which I Went To Visit Haley

The depression of being back in Amsterdam has set in. I am not really excited to be back here, and I am looking forward to the summer, as well as my Euro trip with Sarah. I don’t know, but I am actually quite lonely here in Amsterdam. I miss my friends back at home and school, and communicating through Facebook is no longer enough for me. I knew that some people would be here for the legalized pot, but I didn’t expect everybody would be. I am a good person, and I tried a piece of a pot brownie early on in my time here, but I did not enjoy it. I would rather use my money in other ways. I also think I did the same thing to Amsterdam that I did to Wooster: I fantasized it to the point where it let me down. Let's move on to happier things, though.

I got back yesterday from one of the best weekends of my life! I have been looking forward to this weekend since practically last May. I got to see my Haley, which has so far been the highlight of my time over here. When I spend a lot of my time by myself, having human contact is exactly what the doctor ordered.

I left Amsterdam on Thursday early evening on the direct night train to Milan, Italy. I picked up a dinner of fried rice to take with me on the train. It wasn’t that great, but it could have been the fact that I was very excited about seeing Haley. The train was LONG! Just to get from Amsterdam to Milan was 15 hours! It turned out to be a bit of a pain, too. I was harassed a little bit by immigration due to the fact that I was young and traveling from Amsterdam. I was actually taken out of my compartment by German officials at one point during the trip for question. Luckily the official believed me, and he didn’t search through all my luggage. We were about 10 minutes or so late arriving in Milan, and so I missed buying tickets for the first train to Bologna by 2 minutes! That was a bit frustrating. I bought tickets for the 9:10 train, and that gave me about an hour to fool around in Milan. I went outside and took some pictures. This is a picture of Milano Centrale train station. Now I can say I have been to Milan, Italy. From Milan to Bologna it is just over 2 hours. I slept for the first hour, and watched the scenery for the 2nd hour, and before I knew it I was in Bologna!

I was so excited to be in Bologna. I met Haley and her boyfriend, Alessio, in the lobby of Bologna Centrale train station. It was nice and warm in Bologna, and there really was no need for my coat. After we dropped my bags off at Haley’s apartment, we went to the grocery store to get cheese, bread, and meat for a picnic lunch in one of the parks. It was so nice to just lie out in the sun. Alessio was really nice. He speaks minimal English, but he was very willing to try to talk to me. After spending some time in the park, visiting the basilica in the city center (It was supposed to be bigger than St. Peter’s, but the Pope got wind of the plan), and getting gelato (how I have missed thee so!), Alessio left, and Haley and I climbed the tower. Alessio is from Sicily, and the day I arrived was his last day in town. He was going home for 15 days for Easter break. The view from the tower was amazing! There are two towers, but only one remains at its original height. They had to partially cut down the other one, because it was leaning too much. Italy has a thing for making leaning buildings. I enjoyed the tower, but it was a killer to climb. I would give anything to be back there right now. After the tower we strolled through the market. I really love the open markets, and I wish we had more of them in the United States. It was so much fun. I bought an earring and some eyeshadow. We were both pretty exhausted, so we returned to Haley’s apartment to relax a bit before heading out for the night.

My first night in Bologna we went out to a pizza and pasta restaurant. It reminded me a lot of the pasta restaurant Haley and I went to for my 20th birthday in Rome. I had a pizza with prosciutto on it. Yummy! So, it was Haley, Alessio, Anna, and I. Anna is a girl on Haley’s program, and she goes to Indiana University. We ended up spending a lot of the weekend with her. After dinner we wanted to get a drink, so we were hoping to get into the Irish Bar, but it was packed, so we walked in and out of a few before settling on one. Haley and I both got Lemon Vodka. Mmmm! Bologna is not a tourist destination, like Rome and Florence are, so I had to have Haley and Anna act as my translators, but it worked out fine. After our Lemon Vodkas, Haley and Anna decided they wanted shots. The bar we happened to be in was charging €2.50. We made our way back to another bar that only charged €1 for shots. I am not the biggest fan of shots and I was starting to feel a bit under the weather, so I just watched. After shots we decided to go to a less crowded bar where we could relax. At this point we found our way to Transylvania. This bar is stereotyped as the Goth bar in Bologna. It is quite an interesting place. Downstairs the tables are coffins with vampires in it. We got a table. Haley and Alessio ordered hot chocolate, Anna water, and I got fragola (strawberry) juice. We stayed here until shortly after 1:00 AM (the buses stop running at 1:00 AM). We ended up having to walk home, as the buses were no longer running. Luckily, Haley lives within the city walls. Anna and Alessio also came back with us. Anna had a headache, and pretty much passed out on Haley’s roommate’s bed. Haley and Alessio said goodbye, and then we started getting ready for bed. Haley tried to get Anna up, but she was too out of it. Anna and I ended up sharing Haley’s bed, and Haley slept on the floor.

We slept until just after noon on Saturday. Anna, Haley, and I met Maura, another friend of Haley’s for coffee. Maura goes to University of Edinborough, and is also studying abroad in Bologna for the year. I had my essential Italian Cappuccino with a croissant on the side. After coffee, we made our way back to the market. Saturday in the market was very productive. Anna ended up buying two handbags. I bought a cute dress-shirt to start. I ended up wearing it out that night. We all bought underwear. I got a new pashmina (green) and a new wallet, too. I also picked out a pair of new sunglasses. My old ones I had bought while I was in high school, so I was due for a new pair. Before going back to Haley’s, we stopped off at the piercing parlor. We can leave what happened there to everyone’s imagination.

That evening I had the chance to experience my first aperitivo. You pay for the drink, and you get free food. I ordered a glass of wine. Haley got a Grasshopper (exactly like the pie, but in drink form and alcoholic). The place was incredibly busy, and you pretty much had to sprint to get food at all, but it was good. Afterwards we met up with some friends of a friend, and walk at least a few kilometers before a bar was agreed upon. By this point in the weekend, my cold seemed to be in full swing, yet I still drank. I wasn’t going to let a cold ruin my weekend. At this bar I took two shots (crème and whiskey). My past experiences with shots haven’t been enjoyable, but these weren’t bad. We made sure to leave on Saturday night before the buses stopped running. The bar we were at was only a block or so from Haley’s apartment, but we made sure Maura and Anna got on their buses home. Once back at Haley’s, we ended staying up until around 4:00 AM. We ate chocolate and talked. We even got to talk to her parents, which was fun. The weekend was just amazing, and it is making me sad just reflecting on it.

On Sunday it was just Haley and Dana time. I enjoyed getting to hang out with Haley’s friends, but it was nice to have alone time too. For lunch we went and had kebabs. Kebabs are sandwiches. They are flatbread cooked in a kiln filled with sauces, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, frites, and several types of meat (lamb, beef, etc.) cut using a razor blade. Boy, were they yummy! After lunch we got the necessary gelato. I have fallen in love with sweet cream and strawberry gelato. Apparently Louise likes that combination, too. After stuffing our faces we did another touristy excursion. Bologna is known for its porticos (covered walkways throughout the city), and there are 666 porticos that lead up this giant hill that looks out over these rolling hills. The view is the view you find in every picture of Tuscan hills. Haley and I had a nice photo shoot with my camera sitting out on the lawn at the basilica. It was so warm, and I didn’t need a jacket. It was quite the opposite of Amsterdam, because just yesterday in Amsterdam we had one of our random hailstorms. The walk was tiring, but so worth it.











On Sunday night we had aperitivo, round 2. I liked the place we went on Sunday night much better than the place we went the night before. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, but was informed shortly thereafter that the ice machine was broken. I therefore ordered my usual, a white wine. This place was a lot less crowded, so there was no need to sprint to get food. Anna and Maura came, as well as two other Italian friends. Afterwards, we just strolled around the city with our final destination being gelato. We decided to make it an early night, as we knew that we needed to get up somewhat early on Monday.

Monday morning I packed my belongings, and we went out and got kebabs again with a dessert of gelato. We also bought my train ticket during the early afternoon. After getting my train ticket, we went to a beauty store where I bought a makeup kit and new body wash. We also had a chance to walk through the old food market. Haley had class from 3:00 until 5:00, so I sat in the program lounge and played on the computer. Haley got out 15 minutes early, in order to make my train on time. We got to the train station with maybe 3 minutes to spare. I didn’t want to get on the train, but I knew I had to. L. And that was my weekend in Bologna, Italy.

I really enjoyed visiting Haley, and I really want to go back and visit. I don’t think I can last until September without seeing Haley. Luckily, next weekend I am going to Montpellier, France to see Louise. I am very excited about that, and hopefully have some good stories to post from that.

7. In Which I Have Left Amsterdam Twice

On March 1, a month after arriving in Amsterdam, I made my first excursion outside of Amsterdam. Amsterdam becomes incredibly crowded on the weekends, because it is a huge weekender destination. I don’t like how crowded it becomes, so I tend to stay in my apartment, but I don’t want to waste my time here, so I decided that I need to start making day excursions to destinations outside of Amsterdam. So, on March 1st and March 8th I made two separate trips.

On March 1st my excursion was to an open-air museum just 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam. It is a traditional Dutch village called Zaanse Schans. You really just stroll around, and they have demonstrations at some of the stops. It is also a great place to take the touristy windmill pictures. I spent between 2 and 3 hours there. I took some great pictures. The two big places to visit were the cheese shop and the wooden clog mill. I was able to sample all sorts of cheese. I really have developed a strong liking for goat cheese. The wooden clog mill was fascinating, too. The first part of the clog shop was a museum that detailed the history of the wooden clog in the Netherlands. Next came a demonstration stage, and finally the gift shop. There were all sorts of clogs in all sorts of clogs. I found a pair that was green with white polka dots that I liked. I think I may go back to get those, as they will be perfect for convocation. It was fun, but there wasn’t much going on. I have a feeling that it will pick up when the tourist seasons gets more into full swing.

The following weekend, March 8th, I made another trip outside of Amsterdam. This time my trip was to a town closer to the coast called Beverwijk. In Beverwijk there is a famous Bazaar. You pay €2 to get in, and it is pretty much a giant fair ground and flea market. It had tons of food, stands, and children’s carnival rides. I didn’t take any pictures, but it was unbelievable how big it was. There were different areas; i.e. China Town, Computer & Electronics Hall, Food Hall, etc. It was crazy. I bought a blanket for my bed, a pair of rain boots, and a bike light (which ended up not working). For lunch I had a Turkish pizza, which I enjoyed immensely. I need to find a Turkish pizza place here in Amsterdam. Someone mentioned that there is one near my apartment building, but I haven’t come across it yet. Yeah, so that was my second trip outside of Amsterdam. So, I think I will go now, but I will post again soon.