For The Memories, Babe

Confirming my Homecoming...

katieback — Wed, 2 Jul 2008 14:05:00 GMT

So I should’ve known when I missed my train that the Berlin trip would be a bust. But after hearing that the train I missed had caught on fire, I thought maybe it was a just a reassurance that I should be going when I was going. Unfortunatley, when I was going was 6 am the next morning. The problem was that I would’ve had to take a bus home, then drive my bike back to where I started in Den Bosch at 2am in order to get on the train to Utrecht to get the ticket to Berlin. All very confusing, but long story short, I was stuck roaming around the city like a homeless person all night. Thank God that Dad had his phone or I would’ve literally died of boredom and been even more worried about what was happening. The not so great part of being on the phone with your father when there’s a hip hop concert going on down the street would be when the rambling Dutchman comes up and replies to your “I don’t speak Dutch” with, “Can I ask a question? Wanna F-@k?” Seriously??? Dad and I both had the same response…”That’s your question??”
Anyway, I spent most of the night walking around Den Bosch looking for this movie theater that I swear keeps moving, then finally heading to the train station at like 2am after hanging out at said hip hop street fair. I was kind of a wreck. From there I went to Utrecht where the train I thought left at 4 actually left at 6, so after forking over 222 Euro for the Berlin ticket(about 100 more than I thought it would be), I ended up sleeping on a bench in Utrecht Centraal for a few hours. Not my classiest or safest move.
When I finally got to the Berlin Hbf Station (where I would spend the majority of the next few days), I found out that they apparently go out of their way to be confusing with the public transportation system. I did eventually find my bus and got to the hostel I was staying at. It was the first one I have been to, and I deemed it necessary to my European travel experience. It was actually pretty cool. I don’t remember the last time I was in a bunk bed. Actually, I do. Nevermind.
The rest of that day was spent at first following, the trying to avoid at all costs, the throngs of people dressed in black, red, and yellow from head to toe supporting the football team. It was crazy. Turns out they lost the finals for the Euro 2008 Cup, yet I thought they won until someone told me the next day. If they were this excited about losing, I may have literally lost an eardrum had it been a win. The worst part of this was that while I was walking around the city, they had the Brandenberg Tor blocked off most of the time for a concert. But, I did manage to go to the Parliament building, which offers a great aerial view from the roof. It was kind of amazing…or would’ve been if I had yet to be to any other European city. That night I headed over to the Sony Center to see what it was all about (basically, it’s about being a steel structure with a light show), and ended up seeing “Sex and the City” at the IMAX. Eh…kind of disappointing. Whatever, it’s not Movie Time with Katie.
Monday I again tried my hand with the Brandenberg, and ended up just slightly closer, and got a few pictures before being ushered away by the police who were baracading the area. From there I went over to Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, one of the main crossings from East to West Berlin. There is a fantastic museum set up with lots of information, and even some cars and stuff that were used to escape to safety. It was incredible how far people went to get to their families. The actual checkpoint has some pieces of the Wall still standing, and there are guards there to take pictures with. I also managed to get some stamps in my passport from them, so that was a great souvenir!
That night, went roaming around for awhile again, then back to the Sony Center and saw “What Happens in Vegas”. Much better movie! (There were maybe 5 people in the theater both times I went, and both times I was the only one laughing at anything.) I also went over to one of the Biergartens, and had some good apple streudel for dinner :) (Beer and sausages aren't my thing...streudel is German enough).
Tuesday morning it was time to come home. Checked out of the hostel, went to the train station, started my 8 hour journey home, arrived to a note saying the parents weren’t going to be home until Saturday. Same old, same old ☺
I come home on Monday! Can’t wait to see you all!

Fin, for now!
Katie

Gallery: Berlin

katieback — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Berlin

Why Irish Eyes are Smiling

katieback — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:15:00 GMT

This weekend I took a quick trip into Dublin. It was a bit of a last minute excursion, and I was more than a little ill-prepared. I had some trouble securing a couch, and was ready with hostel informtation, but at the last minute (literally- I was boarding the plane), I found a friend of a CS friend that had a spare room. Phew!

So after my RyanAir jaunt toward the Atlantic, I set my clock back and headed into Dublin. I met up with Marco from CS and his friends Marcello and Danillo. Three very Italian men in the middle of Ireland. Whatever.

So after spending some time in Marco's friend's living room debating the best way to get to the soccer match, I met back up with Danillo, who had gone home to tidy up a bit before I came to throw my stuff in his spare room. I should mention that I wasn't a jerk- I specifically told him not to worry about cleaning, but I'm not complaining. I was very thankful to have a place to sleep. Danillo went to meet some friends and I was off to tour the city center. It basically constists of a few main areas. There's O'Connell Street, which is a shopping area with this fantastic fast food place called Supermac's. Yes, I know...why did I go to a McDonald's-esque stop when I was in Ireland. Because. I did. It's in my comfort zone, I like chicken sandwiches, and most other places were closed. Plus they had some fun looking ice cream sundaes. Yum!

After "dinner", I headed over to the Temple Bar section of town. Temple Bar is an actual bar, and from it a whole bar neighborhood sprung up. There are street performers and people soliciting shows and, of course, tons of alcohol. There were also several hen parties. This is the equivalent to bachelorette parties, but everyone wears something to with a theme, I'm pretty sure some type of head piece is required, and the drunk and disorderly conduct is not limited to the bride-to-be. I saw sailor girls, 70's afro-wearing girls, leprechaun girls, and girls dressed as different versions of Madonna- all in one night. Danillo met me in Temple Bar and we went to meet up with some friends of his at [insert random bar name] for a going-away party. As my facebook status said: Katie was "surrounded by Italians in Ireland." We had a few drinks and headed to one of their houses for an after party, which ended up being a lot of fun. A few interesting events occured at said party. 1) An adorable Brazilian explained how to work the manual function on my American camera so that I could take better pictures of a Frenchman that we coerced into singing Spanish music in the Irish backyard of an Italian. 2)I was offered absinthe. 2b) I announced that I am not someone who gives into peer pressure and turned down the absinthe. 2c) I realized that I can be anyone I want here. And I should be able to be anyone I want when I get home. So even though I'm a people pleaser, and sometimes that's not a bad thing, sometimes it IS a bad thing. I realized during the alcohol pushing situation that I waste so much time and energy on things that cause me ulcers and don't need to. Like, why is it my responsibility to fix every problem in my relationships with other people? I am not always the sole cause of these problems, so why do I take most of the blame? It's not right, and I'm not going to do it anymore. So there. [Background theme to that last few sentences is choose-your-own-adventure-style: For a punked-out-Feminist-rock anthem, go to page 67. For "We're Not Gonna Take It", go to 42.] Home to yummy late-night hamburgers courtesy of Danillo, then to a much needed sleep.

Sunday morning Danillo offered to take me to Bray, which he said would better meet my idea of what Dublin was "supposed to be". Thus far I had been relatively unimpressed with the city, so I was a little pessimistic about what I would see at Bray. Basically all I wanted to see was a rocky cliff jetting out into the water covered in leafy greenness. Luckily, Bray was just that. The weather was gross, but it was Ireland, so I was actually ok with that for authenticity reasons. We had slept late and missed lunch, and were both starving, so we headed into a nearby pub to grab a quick bite before heading off into my photoshoot. And this is when Ireland was redeemed.

I have no idea if Ginny, Veronica, or Amy read this, but these three lovely ladies have all been part of a few of my fabulous trips to New York for gift shows. Basically it's an excuse to have basically the best girls' weekend ever, and we get to see some cool stuff while shopping for Sandpiper (the shop I work at when I stay in NJ). On our first trip, Ginny, Veronica, and I met Ginny's neice in an Irish pub called Stout for lunch. We all know I am not always the most adventurous eater, but I decided on Shepherd's Pie, which I had never heard of before. It is basically heaven with potatoes. On the same trip the next year, I convinced Veronica and Amy to go back so I could fulfill a year's worth of cravings. Well I am here to tell you, the real deal is even better! I didn't think it was possible, but the Stout Shepherd's Pie has been trumped! I had what they called Vegetable Beef Pie with mash, and ate pretty much every bite. There are before and after pics in the album. Try not to drool on your keyboard.

So after the best lunch ever, we headed to the rocky cliffs of Bray. The wind was freezing, but once we got to a brisk walk, it wasn't as bad. I convinced Danillo to be my personal photographer and had him take more pics that I usually have from my trips, since I usually travel alone. It was really nice to see all the natural beauty without obstruction from skyscrapers or random statues. After climbing as many rocks as we could before the windchill finally defeated us, we headed back to the train station to return to Dublin. Funny side note: The trains were absolutely crammed with people because of a Bruce Springsteen concert :) Made me feel good to be Born in the USA! haha- yes I am a cheeseball :)

After returning to Dublin, I was ready for some solo sight seeing, so I politely excused myself from my Italian tour guide and headed on a self-tour of the churches and political buildings in Dublin. The Christchurch Cathedral was beautiful, but Dublin Castle was more than a little disappointing. It must be under construction (like everything in Europe), because it was painted all different colors. Not cute. Irritating. Please see pics for backup. Also, it took my about an hour to find St. Patrick's Cathedral, so by the time I got there it had closed. I did get a few between-the-fence-railing pictures, but it was still a little disappointing.

This morning was basically an entire day of traveling, and that was my trip to Dublin. Overall, kind of a dull trip--although it may just have been worth it for the yummy goodness of my lunch in Bray. Mmmmmm.

I did pick up some great books at the airport on the way back. One was really interesting and I literally read the whole thing between the airport and arriving at my house. Walking down Dutch streets while reading is a little dangerous by the way. Anyway, it's called One Red Paperclip. It is a true story about a guy who was unhappy with his life and the job prospects on his horizon. He started a social experiment based on a childhood game called Bigger and Better. "The One Red Paperclip guy" (Kyle MacDonald) started with a paperclip and traded with people for bigger or better things. He went from the paperclip (which was holding together his resume when he got the idea), to a fish pen, to a smiley face doorknob, to a camping stove, to a generator, to a keg and Bud neon sign, to a snowmobile, to some other things including a recording contract and a day with Alice Cooper, until eventually he traded a KISS snowglobe for a glorified-extra role in a movie for A HOUSE! It is a really cool story about someone who not only changed his life and became a homeowner, but who also refused to give up until he met his goals. Really inspirational and a great read. I highly suggest it. Two thumbs up. Extra kudos. Whatever. Just read the book, or go to oneredpaperclip.com.

Oh- and the answer to why Irish eyes are smiling? Because they are happy drunks :)

Anyway, as usual everyone...

Fin, for now.
Katie

Gallery: Ireland

katieback — Mon, 26 May 2008 23:29:00 GMT

Dublin and Bray

Twenty-thousand Tulips

katieback — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:13:00 GMT

So this weekend was fantastic! My friend Stephanie came into town on her own European adventure and stayed with me for a few days. Granted, it was a rocky start and a rockier ending, but the in-between times were great :)

I met Stephanie at Amsterdam Centraal on Friday (about an hour after I was supposed to because I'm incapable of being on time), and we started our day of touristy Amsterdam. We began at the Anne Frank Huis, where we took the tour of the house the Frank family hid out in to avoid detection by Hitler's Nazis. Unfortunately they were eventually found and all but the father died in concentration camps, and the museum is set up to show just how much they suffered before even getting there. Most memorable was a page from the diary noting the only option for food in the house, which was fish, I believe, that was several months old. Horribly sad.

So as not to dwell on that depressing state of affairs (not to minimize the effects of WWII, just to move on with the day...) we decided to take a Canal Bike-- basically a paddle boat-- to see what we could of the city from the canals. It was a lot of fun, though thank God Stephanie was with me because I'm apparently incapable of steering.

We docked near the Rijksmuseum and I pointed out some of the things I knew of from my previous trip. We decided to eat over at the Cobra cafe, which is the suggestion from the museums and travel guides. It was pretty good actually, and we had the official AmDam drink of choice, Heineken, so that filled that requirement, too.

Then, of course, it was time for the obligatory (but not any less interesting) trip to the Red Light District. It was insane! I guess I didn't think that the ladies would literally just be hanging out in front of windows, but yeah, they are. Little tiny pieces of cloth were pulled firmly against their not-so-private parts, but that was it. One even had one of those bodysuit things from Borat. It was ridiculous.

We headed back to my little house and the next morning was spent chasing the two youngest around. They actually weren't that bad, so they must have been showing off for Stephanie. Hey, I'm not complaining, whatever works. Later we went to Den Bosch to see the Jazz in Duketown festival that was going on. I have no idea where this Duketown is, but there were several stages set up and everyone was having a great time. We even heard "Sweet Home Alabama," which we thought was hilarious, since it was being sung in the Netherlands by a Dutchman at a JAZZ festival. He may've been a little confused. Then back to the house again.

Sunday we went to Keukenhof to see the Tulip Festival! There were literally thousands and thousands of lillies and tulips, and the estimated time you're supposed to spend there is FIVE HOURS. I don't think I can do anything for five hours, much less roam around a garden, but we set out on the path. After Stephanie explained how to work my camera, we got some great shots and had a nice stroll (maybe three hours, but definitely NOT five). When we got home Stephanie packed up and got ready for her super early trip to the airport in the morning. Unfortunatly, since every day here is some random holiday that no one tells me about, we misread the bus schedule and she got stuck at a hostel in Amsterdam for an extra couple days before heading to Oslo instead of Copenhagen. I felt terrible! But, at least she got there eventually :)

STEPHANIE- Thanks so much for coming! Hope you had a great time, too!

Fin, for now.

Gallery: Keukenhof

katieback — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:21:00 GMT

Tulip Festival with Stephanie!

Gallery: Amsterdam Pt 2

katieback — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:16:00 GMT

With Stephanie :)

To Whom It May Concern:

katieback — Wed, 7 May 2008 05:48:00 GMT

So, this is my person-specific blog. The way it works is, you find your name, and read the message. I'm over-explaining so that there are no questions :)

DR. ELROD:

Please pass my sister, Kera, with a well-deserved "A". It would make all of our lives a little easier.

Much appreciated,

Katie

LAUREN ANDERS:

As we are going to be unable to get to the Scottish Paolo concert, I'm going to need you to make every possible concerted effort to find one nearby (read as mainland US) that we can attend. This will be a fun roadtrip!

Much appreciated,

Katie

SCOTT SADLER:

I am very disappointed in your inability to answer the phone when your favorite sisterIL calls (that's my new short-hand created just for you). You should get better at this if we are going to be roommates.

Much appreciated,

Katie

WHITNEY SEWELL:

I'm hoping you got my email, and are excited about my homecoming! Write me back :)

Much appreciated,

Katie

RUTH "YO MAMA" WOOLSON:

Since Kera fails to distribute things that are mailed in her name sometimes (we all now know about the chocolate incident), make sure you recieve your Mother's Day gift.

Much appreciated,

Katie

DON "THE DAD" BACK:

Get that camera working ASAP so we can chat and I can see you instead of just you seeing me! Haha :)

Much appreciated,

Katie

FAINE MENCHACA:

Kera should have something for you. If she doesn't give it to you, I think sicking Willie on her should be effective :D

Much appreciated,

Katie

KERA SADLER:

If you don't pass your final, I will be very disappointed. If you don't hand out gifts, I will be very disappointed. If you don't get your husband to be more attentive to his sisterIL, I will be very disappointed. If you don't feed Potter....it will probably be ok- he has some spare body fat to get him through the tough times.

Much appreciated,

Katie

Fin, for now!

Madrid- The Finale

katieback — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:31:00 GMT

I know it's been a few days, but remember- I took notes this trip!

So, continuing with my Madrid description for those of you that don't read in bulk (i.e. Rochelle)...

Wednesday was the second part of my museum tour. This time I went to Museo del Prado, which is the main museum in Madrid. It had a lot of great stuff, but I didn't spend as much time there as in the Thyssen. I still had lots on the To Do List, so another three hours couldn't be dedicated to browsing. I will note however that my favorite part was an exhibit of the Dark Period by this famous Spanish artist, Goya. Generally most of his work was kind of pastoral scenes of people playing in parks and carnivals. He must have gotten tired of the shiny, happy people at some point though, because he later had this whole time where he painted some pretty grotesque scenes. Case in point, a man eating a baby's head. Including blood and guts. Really disturbing stuff. After leaving the museum, and subsequently returning due to forgetting my jacket on a bench, I headed into the Jardines Botanique. This is the botanical garden (kind of obviously) which was conveniently located right next to the Museo del Prado. The best part of the garden (besides the gorgeous flowers- which are included in my "Madrid" photo gallery), was the first-hand observation of the siesta concept. People just kind of sprawled out anywhere in the sun, taking naps or just lounging with a book. Perfect for me! I even tried it out, but kind of felt like I was on display. Oh, well, I tried. I also went to the Atocha train station, which has it's own garden inside, complete with misters tons of plants, and a turtle pond!

The other main attraction for the day was Parque del Buen Retiro, a HUGE park, taking up like an entire quarter of my map. It is this expansive garden that is actually made up of something like 15 different types of gardens and parks. There is a Spanish garden, a Greek garden, a sport complex thing with tennis courts and little well-manicured soccer fields, a few sculpture gardens, and this huge man-made lake thing that they have paddle-boating in. It's pretty impressive. I could've stayed there all day, but I was scheduled to meet up with Alex (my CS host), that night for tapas and a meeting with some friends of his.

Alex and I first headed over to a bar that a friend of his owns and had Italian food and some great Rosado wine. Kind of a mix between a red and a zinfindel. Pretty good. Then we jumped on his motorcycle and headed back to Retiro where they were having "Book Day", which is where all of the libraries and book stores stay open until like midnight, and others set up shops in part of the park and sell books super cheap. I got a trash novel to read on the plane (1 euro), Lila by Pirsig- which I think Dave loaned me and I never finished (1 euro), and my Spain souvenior, a 1927 edition of a Tarzan novel all in Spanish (not 1 euro). I love it! After finding our purchases, we went to have tapas at this bar in the gay district of Madrid, which was fantastic. The bar we went to is more crowded than Sidebar on a Thursday night, but they give you plates of random food with every drink you order. And not just like a few chips or something. We're talking heaping piles of brochetta with ham, some type of pork kabob thing, roasted potatoes, and more. It's kind of cool because you don't even order it. They just hand you a plate with your drink (mine was some type of cider-also pretty good). After we had our fill, we went to meet up with his friends back at the first bar we had been (that his friend owned) and hung out in a little private lounge. It was really nice. Plus, I got to zip around Madrid on the back of a motorcycle, which I'm sure my dad is not thrilled about, but is definitely the way to see the city in my opinion.

Thursday morning I decided to leave the city of Madrid, and take a day-trip to Toledo, a little town about an hour away by bus. Toledo was very authentic feeling. It's still a very undeveloped town, I think, but there is a ton of tourist activity because of it. No gas stations or fast food joints, just hand-crafted jewelry and leather makers, plus some souvenior shops and little privately-owned cafes. Also lots of ice cream vendors. The best way to get a feeling of Toledo is to look at the photo gallery. It was kind of an indescribable experience. I was lost most of the day, which was really frustrating, but I did hit the main spots. I'm not sure of all of the names of the sites, but there were cathedrals and mosques and lots of picture points. It was very much what my idea of Spain was before I got there. Like you would see in a coffee table book of Spain. Not at all metro, just dirt roads and friendly people.

So, while I didn't get to see any flamenco dancing (that was the only other thing I could think of to do in Spain-haha), I did see a lot of new things. Spain was definitely my favorite place I've been so far. I didn't want to leave! Plus, I was really surprised to realize how much Spanish I knew! I never took it in school, but I guess you just kind of pick it up without realizing it. OTB and Guapo certainly help :)

But the main thing I learned through this and my other trips is that I can be self-sufficient. My main journey that I wanted to take this year wasn't across the Atlantic. It was internal. I needed to know that while I may rely on others for support, I can actually do things for myself and meet my goals. Hell, I've been to places in the last few months where I don't speak the language, don't know the customs, won't eat the food, and found a place to sleep, things to eat, and how to get around in public transportation. That being said, the last two stops on my voyage will be Italy (probably Rome) and Greece. Then I think I will be coming home! Get the welcome wagon ready, because I'm planning to return mid-June or mid-July, depending on how soon I can complete these other two trips and not leave the family completely screwed.

As usual, thanks to everyone who reads these blogs. And I'll see you all sooner than expected!

Fin for now,

Katie

Madrid- Part One REVISED

katieback — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:31:00 GMT

So, since last time I wrote a blog about a weekend excursion, I got bad reviews from critics due to the length of the piece, I’ll split my Madrid trip into a couple different blogs. Stiffeners of my creative process! That’s what you are! ☺

The trip started with a lot of frustration. I got a great rate for tickets, but it was mostly because the flights were super early in the morning. Too early, in fact, for the buses to be running, so I had to ride my bike for an HOUR to the train station with my luggage. Then take the train to Eindhoven, take a bus from the train station to the airport, and finally wait in line to get on the plane. Then, I got on the plane, and found out that Ryan Air is basically like the Playschool version of an airline. The seats don’t recline, the interior is seemingly unfinished, and the entire cabin is painted this alarming shade of bright yellow. Also, my flight happened to be filled with several groups of students on some type of Euro tour program, and at take-off and landing it was deemed necessary to applaud loudly, with exclamations such as, “Yay…we didn’t die!”. Hmmmm….

I eventually of course made it to my couchsurfing host’s house, and he was fantastic! Alex was a super nice guy who was basically a couchsurfing pro! He had maps, detailed directions for what lines to take and such for the public transportations systems, and even gave me itinerary ideas and ways to save a little cash on my excursions! Plus, instead of a couch, I got my own room, so I didn’t feel like I was in the way.

So Day One I hit several tourist attractions and learned some big things about Madrid. For one thing, who knew that Madrid was so green?! There are so many parks and gardens that I really felt like we were outside of the city. The first day I went to Jardines de Sabatini, a garden outside of the Royal Palace (Palacio Real). After a stroll in the sunshine- another big change from the Netherlands- I decided to take the Palacio Real tour. It was really interesting and I got some kind of cool aerial shots of Madrid from the front of the palace. I think my favorite part was the Royal Armory museum, which included various coats of armor from different historical periods of Spain. It even had the protective gear worn by the horses, which I thought was pretty impressive looking.

After the palace, I went to the Catedral Almudena, one of the main cathedrals in Madrid. It was beautiful, of course, as are all of the churches here. Other stops for the day were the Senado (Senate), Gran Via (a shopping district), Plaza de Oriente (a monument garden), Plaza de la Villa (another little statue garden), and Plaza Mayor. The last is kind of the main square in town, with each of the four sides of the square full of shops and cafes with persistent wait staffs. I was pulled into one of these little cafes, and had an interesting fried egg and French fries meal…a little strange, but not too bad.

Tuesday was part one of Museum Days. I visited the two fountains near the center of the city, Fuente de Apolo and Fuente de Neptuno. Unfortunately there wasn’t really a way to get to them without dodging eight lanes of traffic, so I’m not sure there are any pictures. Afterward I went to Museo Thyssen. This is one of the three main museums in Madrid, and features a ton of work organized chronologically on three floors. In fact, just to complete the three sets of three rule, it took me about three hours to get through the place. It had everything from early biblical art to modern stuff like Picasso.
Other sights of the day were Puerto del Sol (a little square), Plaza de Isabel II (a garden), and Teatra Real (the Royal Theater).

So, yes I took notes for this blog and yes, I know there weren’t great descriptions of everything, but the things I saw weren’t nearly as important as the feeling of the city. Everywhere you went, it felt alive. Kind of a romantic idea I suppose, and maybe a bit of an overused cliché, but people were buzzing. There were lots of tourists I guess, so lots of excitement in the air, but even the locals seemed to be happy to be moving through life in their little part of the world. Plus, it was warm and sunny, and that always puts you in a much better mood than the bleak, grey skies I had left the previous morning.

Days Three and Four coming soon, but off to bed for now. But look forward to it. There’s some great news…definitely worth the read ☺

Fin for now,
Katie

***REVISION/ADDITION***

So, after writing my next blog, I realized that I forgot a huge part of my first two days! I went to see the bull fighting arena at Vestas! I'm sure I couldn't stomach seeing an actual bullfight, as they are a to-the-death event, but the arena was really interesting. Our tour guide took us to the most expensive seats in the house and told us about the events. Vestas is the premier place to get a name if you're a bullfighter. You are basically nothing until you win a fight here. We even got to try out our skills with the capes. Which, contrary to popular belief, are not only red, but also yellow and pink! Most people think that bulls can't see red, or something like that, but bulls are color-blind, so it really doesn't matter what color the cape is. Apparently there are two matches per bull, and each fighter has two bulls. During the first match, the fighter uses a saber to stab the bull through the heart to slow it down. The second is more important in terms of points, because he has to stab the bull with these big colorful dart things in a certain way (two on the left, two on the right, two on the back), to have "conquered the bull". Then, of course, after the darts have been attached the saber is used to stab the animal until it dies. Kind of harsh. The King of Vestas (not the same as Spanish royalty, but he is royalty to the arena) has veto power to save the bull if it is particularly impressive, but this has only been done once. It was apparenlty sometime in the '80s and the bull was only saved because it had a good bloodline and they wanted to breed it or something. Either way, the whole point is to apparently cut off two ears, one from each bull or both from one bull. If the bullfighter is able to do this, he then runs around the arena showing everyone his prize. He is then lifted by the crowd and carried as a hero out this certain exit, where his name will be added to a plaque on the wall and he'll be able to fight at new arenas. There are some cool pictures of the place in the gallery. And as morally against the whole concept as I am, I can see how it would be exciting :)

Gallery: Toledo

katieback — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:06:00 GMT

Day Trip f/Madrid

Gallery: Madrid

katieback — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:33:00 GMT

Madrid

Gallery: Amsterdam

katieback — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:33:00 GMT

Museum Field Trip

katieback — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:07:00 GMT

Yesterday I finally made it out to Amsterdam! Yeah, yeah, I know, it's probably supposed to be your first stop upon entering the Netherlands, but we all know I'm a little late to the party most of the time. Anyway, I planned a day of museums followed by a concert at Concertgebouw. I've actually planned to do this several times now, but sleep and laziness won out. I suck. But, I know me, and I know that if I spend money on something, I'm going to do it, so I pre-paid for my concert ticket. I suck less :)

So, there are three main must-see museums in Amsterdam: the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk museum, and the Van Gogh museum. The Stedelijk is going through MAJOR construction, and have moved their exhibit from this beautiful historic building in the Museumplein section of the city into a few floors in an office building by the train station. So, due to my lack of interest in having to find two different areas in one day, combined with my comparative interest in the classics over some of the more contemporary pieces, the Stedelijk got cut from the itinerary. I'll probably go at some point though...we'll see. So that leaves us with two huge museums and a concert. Not bad for a day's work.

I started with the Rijksmuseum around noon. I had hoped to be there a little earlier, but I had some timing issues with public transportation. It takes an hour to get from Den Bosch to Amsterdam, and the bus to Den Bosch only comes once an hour, so while I left around 9:45, it took awhile to get there. Anyway, the Rijksmuseum is mainly a collection of historical pieces by Dutch artists. Among these are Van Gogh and Rembrandt. The latter had many students who followed his work, so there is a large area dedicated to Rembrandt and his wannabes (some of which I prefered over Rembrandt himself). The museum also features a doll house collection, a huge display of the blue and white china (Delftware) that the Netherlands is famous for, and other things having to do with Dutch history. It was a huge gallery, so I am really glad I decided on the audio tour to help me through that struggle that you sometimes face in unfamiliar exhibits, trying to figure out which pieces are really worth critiquing for any length of time.

By the time I got through the 14 or so galleries, it was getting close to 3:45, and the Van Gogh museum was only open til 6, and was my primary interest in the museum trip, so I headed over as quickly as possible (read as: I walked fast because it was kind of cold, and only got lost once). The Van Gogh museum has been remodeled recently and has a very modern look compared to the rest of the Museumplein area. It is grey and circular, starkly contrasting the usual old European look of everything else around. Inside, I again opted for the audio tour (worth the 4 Euro) and headed out to learn about Holland's favorite crazy artist. The museum is set up chronologically, which was interesting. Van Gogh moved around a lot, sometimes looking for inspiration among common people, sometimes joining other artists, sometimes checking himself into psychiatric wards after cutting of parts of his head. You know, normal stuff. The work was beautiful, and included several of his self-portraits and one of the pieces from the Sunflower series.

My favorite part of the museum, though, was a temporary exhibit of the works of Milliet. I hadn't heard of him before, but he was incredibly talented. The main subject of the exhibit was a piece called The Ophelia, based on the character from Hamlet. It is a portrayal of the part of the play where Ophelia finds out that Hamlet killed her father and is not in love with her. She goes crazy and lets herself drown in a steam. The Milliet piece shows her floating in the water, surrounded by meaningful flowers, dressed in a beautiful lace gown. The painting has inspired many photographers and other artists throughout the years, and there was a section of photographs featuring similarly set scenes, with women floating in rivers, or laid out to look limp and lifeless, but hopeful. It was a very interesting, evocative display.

After the museum closed, I was starving, so I headed to a little Carribean cafe I found nearby the Concertgebouw. I had a little over an hour to kill before I had to be at will call, and I needed a place to camp out, so it worked out pretty well. I've been writing a lot recently, so it was a good place to eat liesurely and write. Here's the best part of this blog: Anyone of you that I have eaten with knows that I'm not a big fan of talking to people I don't know. Like, I avoid ordering for myself, or asking for refills, etc. Kera probably knows this best, since she's been doing this for me since we were little. Anyway, I had bought a phone card to add credit to my cell phone, but the instructions were fully in Dutch. It was really stressing me out because I needed to be able to ask Kristina if she would mind me crashing at her apartment in Den Bosch when I inevitibly missed my bus that night (due to the timing of the concert and the late train). So I had intended to ask someone on the bus to help, then on the train, but couldn't get up the nerve. But I finally did at the resteraunt. Where, by the way, I ordered and ate by myself, not feeling at all self-conscious. It was kind of a great feeling. I explained my situation to the girl at the table next to me (whom I had heard speaking English) and asked if she could activate the phone card, which she very nicely did. Turns out there was some misprint on the instructions, so even though I tried to follow them, since I couldn't understand the prompts, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Anyway, point is, I was proactive. Yay for me :)

I picked up my ticket from will call and headed into the Concertgebouw. The concert hall is quite stunning. It is the most famous of the venues in the Netherlands, and has had many composers (including Brahms and others I can't think of off the top of my head) play there. It is very ornate, with beautiful columns and other architectural details. I lucked out and some of the people around me didn't show, so the lady next to me and I got to kind of spread out and relax instead of being squished into the chairs we had originally paid for (those same columns that made the place beautiful really didn't help with seeing the stage). The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra played two pieces, Bruckner's Ninth Symphony and Britten's Sinfonia de Requiem. They played beautifully, and watching the musicians I discovered something about myself. In that concert hall was my embassy. I'll explain:

My new friend Kristina from Norway was telling the story of how she lost her passport in some foreign country (Brazil?), and how she had gone to the Norwegian embassy to get a temporary ID. She said that walking into the embassy was like being home. People spoke her language and were concerned about her well-being, not because they knew her, but because she was a part of them. This is how I feel in concert halls. At last night's concert both pieces were commentary on the composers' ideas of death. They were both very dynamic, swelling to giant passages of grand fortissimo, then smoothing out into a rippling flow of sound. The conductor was animated, and kept the orchestra moving and intensity high. They played with passion. And while a few heads bobbed toward the end of the last movement, it kept me enthralled throughout. Even if they weren't two of my favorite pieces, persay, the feeling behind the music and the connection between the conductor and the musicians made it quite the show.

But every show can do that. Every time I walk into a concert hall, be it the familiar Murchison or a new experience in an old Euro building, my feeling is the same. Watching the people find their seats, listening to the violin tune the ensemble, waiting as the conductor anticipates that first note- all these things surround me with a comfort and calm. It's a relationship, me with the music, keeping my emotional attention until that final crescendo and the release. So, I undersood that feeling of acceptance and appreciaion that Krisina felt. Because music is my embassy.

Fin, for now.

PS: Pictures will be posted as soon as my computer is back up and running. I dropped it, and smashed up the power cord, so it may be awhile. Sorry :(

Entertaining the Masses.

katieback — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:04:00 GMT

Actually, it was a pretty nice week. I haven't worked much at all, it being Easter and all. The kids have had a few days off, and the Parents haven't scheduled any flights, so therefore, lots of lazy days for Katie.

Saturday night was my introduction to the Den Bosch party scene. I talked to Kristina early in the week and we decided to have dinner with Kristine and then go out dancing afterward. On my way to the bus stop it started snowing, which was kind of worrisome, but I made it to both the bus and to the Kris' apartment with little to no problems. It was weird to see Den Bosch at night though. Since it is essentially a shopping town, and all the stores were closed, it was ghostly. Really strange for 7pm to be the only one on the street. But, alas, I made it to dinner. Which was fish. Hmmm.... but it's my year to try new things. So, I did. Also, Kristine's Spanish ex-boyfriend, Luis, and Kristina's dad, Tune, were there too, so it was a nice little dinner party. Lots of wine, lots of bread, lots of gossip (mostly about my adventures in Belgium). And again I'll note the lots of wine.

So we finish dinner, and eventually decide to go out on the town. The plan was to go dancing at a club called Puur. Kristina had an extra uh...borrowed...bike, so I [drunkenly] meandered down the streets of Den Bosch while trying not to fall in the snow. It was quite a trip. The club was ok. It was kind of set up like a civic center or something, with a few different rooms with different themes. I think there was a place to get coffee, a teen room with lots of Usher or something playing, and then the room we were in, which was mainly techno. After a few beers (not peach like then ones in Belgium, so therefore gross), Kristina and I shimmied our way onto the dance floor. We had a great time. I think we ended up dancing until about 4am or so. It was fun, especially since I hadn't been out since I got here! Also, we had a few Screwdrivers bought for us, so that made it even better (mostly because it wasn't beer).

Anyway, I got up the next morning super early after maybe 3 hours of sleep, headed for the bus, and found that as it was Easter Sunday, the bus wasn't taking passengers until almost 10am. Which normally I wouldn't care about, but as there was an impending Easter egg hunt, I was frustrated. But I got home eventually and we headed to watch Carl's first bicycle race. It was cute/exciting! Carl ended up placing fifth out of about 30 I would say, so that was good. He even got a little trophy and his picture taken. It was nice.

Since then it has been snowing on and off, and therefore my heat has been going on and off. Somehow the two are connected, which sucks since that means I have to climb into the attic to reset the heater. I'll post pics to show where I have to go to do this. It's creepy and dark, and the pictue I took in the attic is entirely flash, because it's actually pitch black up there.

Today, though, some big news! Not only did the boys and I make a five-layered snowman, complete with scarf, sunglasses, and carrot nose, but I also have a fun new Euro haircut! I cut off about a foot and a half of my hair I think, and added some highlights. I'll post pics of this too :)

Anyway, hope all is well!

Fin, for now.

Food for [every] thought

katieback — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:00:00 GMT

I have a feeling this is going to be a long one, since Belgium was a three-day adventure, so fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen...

I met up with my new friend Guus last week and mentioned that I was thinking of going to Belgium soon, and somehow that ended up as an invitation for the weekend that was upon us in less than 4 days, so my impromptu trip planning began. Which is perfectly "Katie" in my opinion, since you know...that's how I roll.

Anyway, I couldn't find a CS host and was getting a little worried, but Guus somehow managed to find us a place to sleep and a bus ticket, so he was already coming in handy. We departed on Friday for Eindhoven, where we were supposed to start our 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Brussels. We waited and waited, and we thought the bus was a no-show. It finally arrived an hour and a half late! No apologies and no explanations were given, but we were off. Kind of a shaky start. And we all know I get car sick.

So after what seemed like riding forever in a bus that apparently was going for some type of Guinness record for most bump-hitting, most near-collisions, and greatest ability to shift both vertically and horizontally so as to increase Katie's nausea, we finally arrived in Brussls.

We met up with Esteban, and the night really started. He was fantastic! He spoke mostly French, but was fluent in English as well (most people in Europe are, I'm finding). He is writing his thesis for school, so I think he was happy for the break, though he looked like he'd had a long day , so I kind of felt bad for dragging him around town, but I'm SO glad that he was willing to be drug! (Obviously that sentence didn't turn out how it was supposed to.) We did our own "Brussels by Night" tour, featuring several cathedrals, the bar scene, and the main attraction of Brussels, the Manneken Pis. This is literally the most famous statue in Belgium and features a boy peeing into a fountain. It's ridiculous- especially with my well-known aversion to "bathroom humor". Anyway, it's everywhere. There are candles, mini-statues, and corkscrews (guess which part is the screw) dedicated to the thing in every souvenior shop. There is also a bar that created a female counterpart for the statue, the Jeanneke Pis. Lovely. Of course I have pictures, so I guess it is what it is because of dorky tourists like me. We also saw the Grand Place, which is kind of like a central square for Brussels. It was amazing. I'm so glad we went at night, too, because it was almost magical, all lit up. The downside was that they had erected this horrifically modern tent and light show in the middle of Grand Place to rehearse a talk show they were having there the next morning. It took up a lot of room, and limited the number of decent pictures we could get. There are some though, so please browse the 200+ pics in the new album. While we were in the bar area, we were surrounded by Greek street restaurants and were finally coerced into one by a little man shouting at us. I had a vegetarian pita, since it was pretty much the only thing that didn't look like it had already been digested. Yes, I'm broadening my horizons, but let's not get carried away.

So, after our tour, we went to sit down at Zebra bar to have some of Belgium's famous world-class beer. I, not being an avid fan of beer in general, resigned myself to the fact that I would just maybe gulp the stuff down while holding my nose so I could at least say I'd tasted it. However, a wonderful thing happened. Esteban ordered a cherry fruitbeer (there is a real word for this, but you know I don't konw it), which opened up the floor for me to order a flavored beer too :) I settled for peach, which I don't like in tea, but thought may be overwhelming enough to knock out that not-so-lovely beer taste. And it worked wonders! I can see now why people get addicted! Good thing I was only staying the weekend, because we may otherwise have had to call AA. Also, as a side note, Euro beer is a little stronger than American, I'm told. So, we each had one beer, and the photos with us climbing on statues resulted. Dangerous.

The following morning, after I finally pulled myself out of bed around 11 (I don't care if it was wasting our short time there- I need rest and I'd been travelling forever the day before), I was greeted with croissants and sandwiches from a local bakery and deli. Gouda is the national treasure of Netherland cheese-makers, and I love the stuff. Guus and I left Esteban for the day to work on his thesis, and began our own day-tour. As we had seen many of the sights the night before, we were able to kind of concentrate our efforts. And, let's be honest, when people think of Belgium, they think of three things. Waffles, beer, and chocolate. Seemed the perfect place to start. Unfortunately, once we got started it was hard to stop! So after a long stroll through the Botanique (Botanical Gardens), we had waffles, ice cream (gelato), and frites (fries- which are also a Belgian specialty) with mayo (everyone eats mayo on fries here. It's even called "fritesaus"- so all of you who bagged on me for eating it in the states can get over it). All of these were huge portions, and I couldn't finish any of it before we got to the next "Belgium's Best Blank" stand.

Esteban had given us this great map written for students and backpackers that had really great "to do" things that was really witty. Also, it had things you wouldn't think of, or things you would pay for that you didn't have to. For example, there is a point high in the city that you can pay to go up and look at the view. OR, you could follow the map's advice and go to the 10th floor of this certain random parking garage, and see the same view, but at 360 degrees, and free :) That is where all the aerial shots in the album are from. It also shared some random little known facts from the city. Like the Jeanneke Pis statue, or the urinal that is attached to the side of this beautiful cathedral. It was gross...so again, there are pictures.

The next spot on the Must See list was the Atomium. It was erected for the World's Fair in 1958 in Brussels, but the people loved it so much they decided to keep it. It has recentely been shined up and is really amazing. It's also decorated at night, so we planned ahead to go around dusk so we could get pictures in the light and dark. Worked out pretty well. It was already closed when we got there, but as we had already seen the overhead view of the city, we were ok with that. We took some pics, then headed into this beautiful garden just next to it. It was the strangest dichotomy. Here you are standing in what was at some points a densely wooded area, and you look up to see a spaceship-like thing seemingly hovering overhead. It's bizarre. We walked and waited for the sun to set, and finally planted ourselves on a bench to eat sandwiches and watch the light show. It was the perfect way to end our day.

Guus had some extended family outside of Brussels, and Esteban's couch (guest room actually) was only available for the one night, so we bid him adieu and headed over to Leuven. We had some transportation scheduling issues, so it took awhile to get there, especially leaving so late, so after his aunt picked us up, I took maybe the most wonderful shower of my life and went to sleep. Though I should say that the room I was sent to was a bit of a shock. You know those Che Guevera flags? The Cuban rebel leader guy who is causing some trouble for the Obama campaign I think? Anyway, I don't know all the controversy behing the thing (I should bone up on my history), but I do at least know that maybe this isn't a good guy? Anyway, I walk in and the image is EVERYWHERE. Pillows, blankets, flags, posters, books, postcards...it was a little insane. And really, not just because it was this guy. Like, if you walked into a room and there was a pretty teapot, you may think, hmmm...that's nice. But, if you walked in and the same teapot was copied on every piece of fabric and paper in the place, you'd be a little freaked out. Or, for you HP fans, Delores Umbridge's office with the kitten photos. Yuck.

Anyway, in the morning Guus went to see his sick grandmother and I chatted with his aunt. Things I learned: 1) no one is married in Europe. I mean, I knew this from things Josh told me about Celine (his sister-in-law)'s family, but it's interesting how common. It's just as liketly that people are just living together, whether or not there are children. So, assumptions can get you in trouble. 2) Belgium's government is completely wacky. They have five active governments, usually, one representing each culture facet of the people that live there. So there is a French gov, a Belgian gov, a Flemish gov, and two more (those may not be right, but it worked for the explanation I think). However, there is currently an interim gov for the Belgian part because no one can decide which language to speak- French or Flemish- so the previous government essentially gave up and left. Wierd.

When Guus returned, we had planned to go explore the little town of Leuven, but it was pouring, so we opted for a museum. Leuven is tiny, but it houses the "best" African museum in Belgium. Not that I can imagine there are many African museums in Belgium fighting over this title. And before I explain why I don't think it was the best, even if there were this struggle, I'll give some background. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Kind Leopold II was in charge in Belgium (when history interests me I remember names and dates?). He was basically a complete asshole scumbag. He had some obsession with Africa and gaining territory there, as were many European countries at the time. So he sent people over claiming to be either missionaries or people who wanted to help "civilize" the poor natives. Instead, of course, they forced the African people of a certain region into slavery. Leopold was mainly interested in rubber, so he would capture the families of able-bodied men, and hold them as ransom to be sure the men would keep working hard. If they didn't produce a certain amount of rubber by some point of time, they would wait for the man to return from the work, then kill his entire family in front of him. How very civilized.

Anyway, Leopold also wanted to create this museum. I would assume that most museums are created to house artifacts. Instead, he decided to collect artifacts to fill his museum. He did whatever he needed to get the items he wanted in these halls. Mostly, he wanted two things. One, he wanted to show how an African village worked. To do this, he imported men, women, and children to come over on treacherous boat rides and play house on display in his museum. Second, he wanted to be able to display all the different species of animals in Africa. But not just one. Whole families. So he and his men systematically hunted and killed entire families of animals, stuffed them, and created a panorama (diorama? not sure of word usage) of them in their habitats. These displys are apparently what the museum is known for. Belgians are fascinated. Guus was fascinated. I was completely sickened. I didn't realize at first that these weren't just models of the animals, but instead murdered and stuffed for our enjoyment. I thought it was cute that they had been so careful in the details of even the smallest, youngest baby animals. When I realized what it really was, I almost started crying. Fine, I'm a dork, or oversensitive, or whatever. The room then smelled of death, and I immediately looked for the least alarming escape route. I found the door to the next room, and learned that I had only just begun. I must have left the wild cat exhibit, only to be thrown into the reptile room (complete with snakes, fish, and lizards in jars of I don't want to know what), then the bird room, then the spiders, locusts, and other disgusting insects room. The last of these had an (out of place) entire giraffe in the center. I finally managed to find the exit, which was placed next to an elephant. All of these poor creatures...it was just awful. Maybe I should work for PETA or something.

Anyway, this definitely spoiled the morning for me, but I was trying to keep my spirits up (and my breakfast down). There were some beautful gardens outside of the museum (a mini-Versailles) and we walked around for awhile since the rain had stopped. Then, another big first. We missed our bus, so Guus suggested we hitchhike. At first I was adamantly against the idea. We've all heard the horror stories. However, it was basically our only option, and I had someone else with me, and it was the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday, and of course there's always free will, which gave me veto power should the proposed car alert my stranger danger alarm. Within about 2 minutes we were picked up by a school teacher who took us half way back to where we needed to be, then 2 minutes after she dropped us off, another nice man took us to the center of the town. Still can't believe I did that.

Anyway, we had but hours left of our trip, and still had no chocolate, and Guus wanted to show me the town square, so we walked around, found an open chocolatier, and settled into a quaint little restaurant for dinner before our train. It was really nice.

I've finally taken my first away from home-base trip. How freeing!

Thanks for reading, guys. Seriously, it means a lot.

Fin, for now!

Gallery: Belgium

katieback — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:54:00 GMT

Brussels and Leuven

Not really worth a blog, but...

katieback — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:34:00 GMT

For all my shopping nay-sayers, I just wanted to update my boot shopping experience(s). I was looking for a pair with black and brown so I could just get one pair for everything for around 40 Euro if possible. Instead, I found a shoe shop today in my little town that was going out of business and got THREE pairs for 37 Euro! Three pairs of boots for less than 40 bucks?!?! Go on...say it...I'm amazing :)

Also, I'm going to Belgium this weekend. Wish me luck!

Seriously, guys?

katieback — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:46:00 GMT

Well today was a pretty fun day. I have been kind of laying low (read as sitting on my ass and doing nothing productive) for the past few days, so I decided I really needed to get out and do something. I had the day off, so I called one of my Couchsurfing buddies, Guus, and made plans for dinner and maybe going out afterward.

So since we weren't meeting until 4:30, I decided to go shopping for boots since my feet have been freezing and my tennis shoes stick out as "very American"...not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, I slept in til about noon (naturally), then ate lunch with the Family. Super awkward conversation with the Dad, which I will script out for you below.

Katie: So, I thought I'd go into Den Bosch today to shop for some boots.

The Dad: And...you need money?

Katie: Uh, no... I just thought I tell you where I'd be...

The Dad: Huh.

[extended pause in which Katie starts to head for the door.]

The Dad: Well when are you leaving?

Katie: I don't know...like an hour or so I guess?

The Dad: Well I need an attache case. Do you know where I can get one?

Katie: Uh...no. I've only gone shopping there like twice...

The Dad: Yeah, I guess. Well I might go. I'll let you know.

Katie: Ok...

[Katie goes to her room. Five minutes later, the Dad pounds on the door.]

The Dad: Can you be ready in like 5 minutes? If so, I'll drive you to town.

Katie: Ok...

[end scene]

What if I had said yes, would he have given me money? Damn...should've taken advantage. :) He took me to town and I didn't waste bus fare.

So I went to just about every shoe store in Den Bosch (which is a lot), and found nothing. I did learn that I probably wear like a size 38, which took some time to figure out. Also, while most people in the country speak English, mostly older men aren't really interested in doing so. Which meant the salesmen all hated me.

I met up with Guus at the little koffiehuis where I had previously gone to meet the group in Den Bosch, Cafe Voltair. Which I found on my own, thank you very much! We actually ended up eating at his house with his dad, Tone, who was really nice as well. He made some type of asian rice and spicy cabbage thing with goulache. Strange combo I thought, but it was really good. I've decided that there isn't really "Dutch" food. Like in Italy you would eat pasta or pastry, in France you eat the baguette. In the Netherlands, I haven't really heard of anything authentically Dutch. I read that due to the country being so small, it was taken over several times by different countries, so there is a lot of influence of other cultures. Makes sense to me.

After our dinner, we went on a walk around Den Bosch, which as it turns out, is quite pretty at night. There aren't a million people walking around, so you can appreciate the architecture and canals. It was neat. The only faux pas was that at one point in our conversation Guus described a girl as "about your size but skinny." Seriously? Thanks... Obviously, I blamed the language barrier.

We also went to a little cafe and had hot chocolate before I caught my bus home. Guus and I are talking about Couchsurfing together to Belgium this weekend if I have it off. It would be really nice to have someone to travel with, so I hope it works out! Then there will be some new fun pictures!

Fin, for now!

Groovy, Baby, yeah...

katieback — Sun, 2 Mar 2008 20:41:00 GMT

So today was maybe my favorite day here so far. I met some great people, listened to some great music, and am now curled up in a nice comfy bed to sleep in tomorrow! I'll expand:

As I've already told everyone (too many times, probably) I am becoming an active member of the CouchSurfing.com community. Last week I met up with a guy in Utrecht, and it was a great introduction to what you can get out of this website, and these people. Today I met another group of CSers who were a blast. I had contacted two different people to see if they wanted to hang out at some point, and they had apparently been in contact as well, so we all decided to meet up together and go exploring. Kristina and her friend Kristine, both from Norway, recently moved to Den Bosch as a central point between their schools. They have an AMAZING apartment above one of the shops outside of the Markt (main square). We made plans to meet up with Guus, who is a Den Bosch native, though quite well-travelled.

So of course I miss my bus (as usual) because it's Sunday, so they only run the bus once an hour instead of twice, so Guus met me at the bus station. We walked to a little koffiehuis (please see previous blog for clarification), and met with Kristina, Kristine, and their friend who was visiting for the weekend (can't remember his name for life of me), and Guus picked up another friend that actually went to high school in Sint Michelsgestel (the little town I live in). So the group of us went to this little coffee place and had the getting-to-know-you chat that is required for these kinds of things. It was pleasant, and we all decided to go on a "secret tour" that Kristina had gone on with a friend the week before. We went to a staircase that led down to one of the canals and walked along little bridges and took a little tiny ferry boat (read as raft with a hand crank) to cross the canal. We walked down a little back grassy area and saw a new side of the city. It was nice to feel like you were just in a park instead of a congested area filled with people on Shopping Sunday. Apparently on the first Sunday of the month, everyone in the Netherlands goes shopping. It's pretty intense. Very New York feeling with people piling into and out of little shops.

The tour was fun, and we all decided that as it was a little drafty (basically gale force winds), we would go check out the girls' trendy little apartment. I'll set the scene. Apartments in the Netherlands (both Misha's and the Kris') are usually multi-layer and over shops. Housing is really hard to come by, so it's kind of you take what you can get. In fact, due to the housing shortage they have laws that say that any building is up for grabs if it has been vacant for a year. So, say you have noticed over a long period of time that no one has been selling anything out of a store front, you can literally just move your stuff in, call the police, and tell them that you are going to live there. You pay like 150 Euro or some other low set price, and you can occupy the building until the owner either starts a business in it or allows another tenant to move in. Very strange. Can you imagine just like walking by a house and thinking, yeah I think I'll just move in? Bizarre.

The girls' apartment was incredible though. Kristina is a travel guru and has been basically anywhere you can think of. She's also a design student, so she has a really interesting aesthetic. Her bedroom is an attic, but she has added flowy white linens all over, and a hammock she got in India. The place is basically an homage to the 60s. Kristina herself is Twiggy reincarnated I think. We sat around drinking spiced teas and listening to LPs of Bob Dylan and vintage Michael Jackson, discussing the Vietnam War and the power behind the movement that led people to stand up and act out. It was incredible. I would also like to note that I had some excellent points in this discussion, as I was kind of being grilled on the American point-of-view as seen through the eyes of the hippie. For example, when asked why I thought people had such strong feelings about the Vietnam War and why they thought they should have riots, etc, I noted that it must have been around the time that recorded images were just kind of becoming popular. It was probably the first time that the American people had been given access to such vivid depictions of what was really happening. With the war in Iraq, we see pictures on CNN every day showing the conditions, but if we weren't used to that, and were seeing for the first time the injured and dead and the harsh reality that these soldiers are seeing everyday, we might be more riotous ourselves. Someone please feel free to correct me, since it was quite the interesting topic.

Anyway, everyone was great, and the Kris' and I have promised to meet up again soon. I can't wait :)

Also, the cozy bed came into play because I'm in the Big House tonight! Last night I went to get in the shower and there was no hot water, but with the storms over the past couple nights, I thought maybe it would be fine in the morning. Instead, I woke up to no heat along with no hot water. I left a note, but no one read it, so we tried to fix it when I got home, but the Dad thinks we need to call a heater guy. So I'm in the guest room, which is nice because the kids come in and say good-night and stuff. Kinda fun :)

So overall, things are good. I'm looking a lot into travelling, but am still trying to figure out logistics since I'm alone. Kera- Greece?

Miss you all!

Fin, for now.

For The Memories, Babe

Confirming my Homecoming...

Gallery: Berlin

Why Irish Eyes are Smiling

Gallery: Ireland

Twenty-thousand Tulips

Gallery: Keukenhof

Gallery: Amsterdam Pt 2

To Whom It May Concern:

Madrid- The Finale

Madrid- Part One **REVISED**

Gallery: Toledo

Gallery: Madrid

Gallery: Amsterdam

Museum Field Trip

Entertaining the Masses.

Food for [every] thought

Gallery: Belgium

Not really worth a blog, but...

Seriously, guys?

Groovy, Baby, yeah...

Madrid- Part One REVISED