Den v Praze

Day 15

We hopped on the train to Praha hlavní nádraží. Here is where the first word of caution comes - either convert your money before you come, or do it at trusted places recommended by locals. The one at the train station overcharges, and there is even a sign beside it saying to do it at 'trustworthy' places that makes you think they would be one.

Hallo Deutschland: Berlin

Day 13 & 14

I have been wanting to go to Germany for years. I even began learning German on my phone via Duolingo and once the ticket was booked, I promptly stopped...

The first order of business was lunch at House of Small Wonder - read more about it here.

Brandenburg Gate was the first stop, where I finally had to swap memory cards. Sadly, the nearby Reichstag roof was fully booked during our time here, but I highly recommend going. Just remember to book in advance!

Koningsdag

Day 12

April 27th marked Koningsdag, or King's Day. The monarch's birthday is a national holiday in the Netherlands, and changes with the head of state.

I went to the nearby Jumbo in the morning in hopes that there might be orange tompouce to be found. Sadly, there was not - as we already tried the original, I went for the lime and apple one. It was sadly not as good as the original.

We started our day late and just wandered around the streets of Amsterdam.






We got more frites at a street market - Joppie and Oorlog!

North and south of California

Museum day

Day 11

This post will be light on photos as we spent the majority of the day at museums, and two of the three did not allow photography.

We first went to the Anne Frank House. I have always loved reading about the Great Wars, and it felt haunting to see the effects on civilian lifestyle in person.

The next museum on the list was the Van Gogh Museum. It was satisfying to see so many of his paintings in one place, and especially seeing him find his style - many of his first paintings were markedly different.

Sadly, some of his most famous paintings are on display elsewhere; The Starry Night is at the MoMA, while Cafe Terrace at Night was in Otterlo.

Den Haag

Day 10

We started off the morning by heading my sister's place for breakfast. It called for a solo grocery visit where I managed to buy the correct type of butter. Success!

Tea, stroopwafels, and eggs Florentine.





After resting for way too long, we hopped on the train and headed to the Hague.

The weather began off quite sunny, but after walking around for awhile, the clouds took over. At this moment, we saw a cute cafe and decided to head inside. Talk about good timing; the minute we stepped in, the rain started pouring down.

Keukenhof

Day 9

I awoke after a couple hours of slumber, said my goodbyes to Jenn, and dragged myself to the bus stop. Manchester Airport was a disorganized mess and I was so tired after getting through security that I passed out in the waiting area while gripping my luggage.

The flight to Amsterdam went smoothly and I found myself back at a now-familiar Schiphol. I put my luggage in the storage lockers and met up with my family, who had arrived the day previous. We set off for Lisse.




It had been raining in the morning, but thankfully the rain stopped before we arrived. I presumed the crowds were somewhat lessened due to the weather.

Edinburrrrah

Day 8

The original plan was to get up at the crack of dawn and hike up Arthur's Seat; however, we slept late, and when the alarm rang at 4:30am, I was not having it and we decided to sleep til breakfast time.

I elevated my ankle on the edge of my bed, without leg support, and my knee felt like death in the morning. We started out at Edinburgh Castle and found a post office box to drop my postcards. These cards would proceed to get lost around the world; the first one took a month to get to the Netherlands, and the one to Canada took two months after being rerouted from Hungary, while the one to the United States arrived two months after travelling to the Philippines.

4 nights on a train

The month of July was spent travelling around Canada with Dan aboard VIA Rail. We were among the lucky 4000 youths who snagged a pass, albeit with some panic and 3AM madness. I'm sure this will be one of the stories we tell young'uns when we're seventy, on our rockers and sipping a cup of tea.

As it was the first day of travel available for those with the pass, there were celebrations aplenty awaiting us at Union Station. They were squeezing every last bit of the marketing they could get from the crowds of youth lining up for hours atop their luggage. We were showered with free candy and sandwiches to keep up our spirits.

We spent 4 days and 4 nights on a train. No beds, no showers, and minimal food available. Misery loves company, and we had a lot of it. It just so happened that our nearby seatmates were travelling solo, and we made friends with them.







Our days consisted of sunrises, sunsets, prepackaged foods, silly games, naps, reading, journaling, and awaiting the next stop so we could stretch our legs and get some fresh air.

Glasgow, made by people

Day 7



It was another early morning as we had a 7am train to catch to Glasgow. Lunch at Bread Meats Bread where a random parade came by as we were awaiting our food.



We then ventured into the city and then spent a lot of time browsing through the Lighthouse. They had an environmental section which took us both back to our undergrad days.