Sisters Take Over Amsterdam

Next stop on our European Tour: Amsterdam, Netherlands.


Now, I know that the first two things that anybody thinks about when they hear "Amsterdam" are "Red Light District" and "Legal Marijuana." I want to tell you that although those two things are very prevalent in the culture of this magnificent city, Amsterdam is much MUCH more than just that. Amsterdam literally blew my mind. The people, the culture, the food, and the canals! When people think "canals," they think Venice. But Amsterdam actually has more canals than Venice, AND Amsterdam doesn't stink. Therefore, Amsterdam wins. Just to prove it, here's a picture of the map of Amsterdam:

CanalsCanalsCanalsCanalsCanalsCanalsCanalsCanalsCanalsCanals

Madie and I got there in the late afternoon of the 24th of May and decided to just do a little bit of exploring on our own. The streets were more than hoppin' that Thursday night, so Madie and I took full advantage of the prime people watching.

Restaurant on one of the many canals

The following morning, Madie and I decided to learn a little bit about the culture and history of Amsterdam. This company does free walking tours in several big cities in Europe (it's the same company through which I did the tour in Edinburgh and in Dublin). They're fantastic. A 3-hour walking tour where you can learn all you'd ever want to know about the city.

The quality of this picture isn't prime, but if you look closely, you can kind of notice that the buildings look like they're leaning in towards the street - it's because they are. Apparently, since Amsterdam's realty is so expensive, people tried to make the most out of the small amount of space they could afford - meaning they tried to make their houses as tall and narrow as they could. However, it became very challenging for the people to move heavy and bulky furniture up the narrow staircases, so they attached a hook to the top of the building and would pull the furniture up and bring it through the window. However, to prevent the furniture from breaking anything on its way up, they tilted the buildings. Why they didn't just extend the hooks...I don't know...whatever works, right?

Canal shot

So happy to be in Amsterdam :)

Classic Shot

Postcard worthy

I amsterdam

After the 3-hour walking tour, Madie and I decided to go and check out the attic where Anne Frank's family and friends hid during the Second World War. I was expecting it to just be the rooms where they hid, but it was a full-blown museum. There were videos of people involved talking about how they set it up, and there were quotes from Anne's diary all over the walls. It was actually really really cool - I would definitely recommend it for any person who's thinking about going to Amsterdam.

After taking a step into the past, Madie and I grabbed some PANCAKES before going back to relax a little bit in preparation for our Pub Crawl that night :) 

 I can't tell you how long it had been since I had had a pancake :)

Luckily, the same company that provides the walking tours also does nightly pub crawls. Conveniently, the night that Madie and I were in Amsterdam, it was our mother's 49th birthday. So, with the help of the pub crawl, we did more than a pretty good job of celebrating!!! :)

Madie and I wishing our mother a Happy 49th birthday!

The following morning, we woke with minimal amounts of sleep, but infinite amounts of fantabulous memories from the night before and had to painfully pull ourselves out of bed in order to board our flight to our next stop: Romaaaa!


One thing I noticed about Amsterdam was how incredibly nice people are. For example; when Madie and I were walking down the street, some man (probably in his 20s), stopped us and asked if we were American...the conversation evolved, and we ended up grabbing a drink with him. Then, he gave us a brief tour of the nightlife of Amsterdam and showed us where all of the popular bars were. There's no way that that would happen in France.


I also loved their policy on legality. Technically, marijuana is NOT legal in Amsterdam. Let me repeat that. Marijuana is NOT LEGAL in Amsterdam. Contrary to popular belief, there is actually a law forbidding people from being able to purchase and consume marijuana. However, since it falls under the 3 rules, the police don't put a whole lot of effort into enforcing the law. Those 3 rules are:
1. If it's discrete; Marijuana can be purchased in "Coffeeshops" - not "Marijuana Shops"  (discretion is key)
2. If it's hurting nobody; it ain't hurtin' no one
3. If it's good for business; it makes a LOT of money, and draws in a LOT of tourists


Prostitution is pretty much the same thing:
1. Discretion; they're not roaming the streets, the women are in their workspaces - you wouldn't even know you were walking through the red light district if you didn't look through the windows.
2. No harm; Sex workers regularly get tested, and Pimps are strictly illegal; the women work for themselves and themselves only
3. Good for business; ...Need I say more?


Overall, my trip to Amsterdam was even more than I had ever expected. I absolutely loved the city, and would go back in a heartbeat.


But for now, let's concentrate on the next and second-to-last stop on the journey; Rome!!!


À Bientôt!

Sisters Take Over Norway

After me and Madie's brief tour of the UK, we decided to take on some of our very own heritage and head to the beautiful land of blonds: Norway.

A friend of mine had told me about the 8-hour train ride from Oslo to Bergen and mentioned that it was supposed to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world...so Madie and I decided to take on the challenge and add it to our list of adventures. 

Map of the train ride from Oslo to Bergen

We got to Oslo, Norway, on the morning of May 22nd. After making it to our hostel, we decided to grab a map and just see where the wind took us. We walked downtown towards the popular shopping streets and stopped to relax and sit in the sun in the middle of this beautiful square. 

After we rested our feet for a little while, we made our way to the historical fortress.

On our way, we found some very eco-friendly cars; and public plugs! How cool is that?!

Madie and I somehow managed to not take one single picture of the actual fortress (I know, right?), but here's a picture that I pulled off Google, just so you can see what it looks like!

Oslo Fortress from the water

After meandering around the Fortress, Madie and I decided to try and find the castle that the current King and Queen of Norway live in - didn't know they had a King and Queen? Us either.

Current castle and home to the King and Queen of Norway

There were parks rolling away from the castle in all different angles, and they were littered with college-aged students basking in the sun; it reminded me of Madison :)

Then, seeing as it was dinner time, Madie and I headed back down to the port for an all-too-expensive meal (the exchange rate from Norwegian Krone to Dollars is incredibly deceiving; it's about 6 NOK to 1 USD however, an ice cream cone costs around 60 NOK...you do the math...), and then said goodbye to the capitol city.

Sunset in Oslo

The next morning we were up way too early in order to catch our train to Bergen. We had bought a bunch of fruits and snacks the night before so we were all set for our 8-hour train ride through the Norwegian countryside.

It's impossible to put into words how unbelievably breathtaking it was. And I was only looking out of ONE of the windows :) 

We started by going through some very green and hilly farmland. Then the hills became mountains, and the tips of the mountains slowly turned white as we got further and further into the countryside. I can't remember exactly at what point it happened, but somehow along the way, the green disappeared and was replaced with an eye-burning white. There was about 6 feet of snow on the ground! In MAY!!! There were little teeny tiny houses scattered among the hills on either side of the train tracks that were completely covered in snow - you couldn't see but the roofs. 

 Beautiful sunrise over this monstrous lake - made me want to go boating :)

 White Water Rafting, anyone???

Look at how high the snow is!!!

Finally arriving in Bergen at around 3 in the afternoon, Madie and I made it to our hostel, took their advice, and took the tram up the side of the mountain so we could see the beautiful city of Bergen from a different angle.

View from the top of the mountain.

Cheese! :)

Madie and I hiked down the mountain (don't worry - it was all paved), and stumbled upon one of the weirdest trees I've ever seen in my entire life!!!

In these pictures it looks kinda like a pine tree, but trust me. Madie and I freaked out when we saw it - I've never seen another tree like it.

Weird tree.

Then, at the base of the mountain, Madie and I decided to take advantage of the daylight we had left and meandered around the beautiful city of Bergen.

I had to get the postcard shot of the houses on the port :)

Never have I ever seen a longer name for a street. 

Walking around, Madie and I stumbled on a moving art fair. There were wooden structures all over the downtown part of Bergen - you could walk on some of them, you could move others, it was actually really cool to be able to interact with the exhibit instead of just looking at it and trying to figure out what it means. 

One of the pieces in the exhibit.

On our way back to the hostel, Madie and I decided to stop in the park and watch the sunset in front of this beautiful pond.

Note all the other people watching the sunset too :)

Goodbye Bergen :) Time for us to head to the Netherlands!!!

Overall, I loved my trip to Norway. I have never seen so many tall blonds in my entire life - I felt like I was back in Minnesota! And everyone was very very nice and was not at all bitter that we didn't know how to speak Norwegian. If it wasn't so DAMN expensive, I would love to go back and spend more time there! I would definitely go back and visit Bergen. Oslo didn't feel that much different than any other American city, but Bergen took my breath away. With the architectural style, the landscape, and the lifestyle, I could definitely see myself going back and spending some more time there. But for now, Madie and I have other European cities to see :)

À Bientôt!

Sisters Take Over Wales and England

After ridding myself of my mother and my grandmother (just kidding, Mom), it was time to conquer Europe with my baby sister J

Two hours after my last final exam on the 16^th of May, I got on a train to Paris to stay overnight at my friend, Liz’s. I’ve stayed at 3 friends’ apartments and 1 hostel in Paris, and they’ve all been unbelievably different experiences; which just goes to show that Paris is one of those cities that becomes whatever you make it. If you want it to be a swanky, posh city, it can be; and if you want it to be a hip city centered around nightlife, it definitely has the ability to be that as well.

However, my night with Liz was exactly what I needed; we went to a “beach” themed party at her friends, and I got to try Get 27; a mint-flavored liquor. Imagine sipping on Listerine, but getting a buzz from it. You’ll never be self-conscious about your breath while you’re drinking it, that’s for sure! I might even have to order some to the states :)

Anyway, the following morning, I was due to pick Madie up at the airport at 8:30; meaning I had to leave Liz’s at around 7:30. But in good French fashion, line 1 of the Parisian Metro was closed so I had to find another means of getting to the airport. With my crafty metro skills I managed to find my way there (only about 15 minutes late), and it was then that I realized how HUGE Charles De Gaulles airport is. They don’t just have Terminals 1 and 2. They have 3 terminals, and each terminal has an A through H. Thinking about trying to find my sister with these odds made me sick to my stomach. Somehow, I managed to figure out which terminal she was in and made my way to the arrivals gate…by some miracle, she spotted me, and we were reunited at last!

I brought her back to Liz’s so she could leave her bags there before we were off to Versailles for the day. Versailles was one thing I had never seen before, and everyone told me that if I was going to see it, I needed to go during the Spring. Madie and I waited in line for 2 hours to get tickets and entry, and finally made our way in. And let me tell you. The place. Is. HUGE! There were several apartments for his guests to stay in, and then there were his eating quarters, sleeping quarters, meeting quarters, and Marie Antoinette’s quarters. Each bedroom was like the size of one of the floors in my house. It was insane. And not one single inch was left undecorated.

Golden Gate at Versailles

Me and Madie in front of Versailles

Paintings on the ceiling

Where the Sun God slept

Marie Antoinette's bed

Casual Dining Room

The Sun God definitely knew what he was doing.

Madie and I made it back to Liz’s to grab our bags before heading back to CDG to catch our flight to London!

We were only in England for a couple hours sleeping before we caught our bus to Cardiff, Wales the following day.

I’m gonna be completely honest – Cardiff…not the most impressive city. There’s a pretty cool castle, and there are some pretty cool pubs and clothing stores, and they’ve got some pretty cool art museums (even some of Paul Cézanne’s work is in their museum!), but as far as a city goes, I wasn’t super thrilled about it.

Madie and I tried to soak in as much as we could, and we went on one of those Hop-on-Hop-off tours. We learned some pretty cool history, but I’ve been pretty spoiled with cool stuff this semester, so it wasn’t anything that really astounded me.

Cardiff Castle

Wall surrounding the Cardiff Castle

Bus Tour!!!

One of Paul Cézanne's paintings!!!

Apparently if you go to Wales, you’re supposed to go to Northern Wales – that’s where the beautiful countryside is…Next time.

Saturday night, we took the bus back to London and finally got to spend some quality time with Ninie, Chris, and Maeva.

Sunday, Madie and I ventured into downtown London to go on another one of the Hop-on-Hop-off bus tours. We saw the aftermath of the changing of the guards and I got to recount everything that I managed to remember from my past two trips to London. We stopped for some fantastic Thai food, meandered around in Camdentown and somehow managed to find my beloved Ben’s cookies before taking the train back to Ware for curry at Chris and Ninie’s favorite place.

Aftermath of the Changing of the Guards

Me and Madie in front of Big Ben

(Found out that Big Ben isn't actually the name of the clocktower - it's the name of the bell INSIDE of the clock tower)

Tower Bridge

Stupid Wind ruined me and Madie's picture in Trafalgar's Square

The following day was Maeva’s first birthday, and I’m so happy I got to be there to celebrate it! We got to spend the day relaxing in the house, and got to meet some of Chris’s family who came over for cake. Then we ordered in Papa John’s (oh how long it had been since I had had Papa John’s) and Ninie introduced me to a HILARIOUS French comedian before we went to bed in preparation for our next stop: Oslo, Norway.

Me and Maeva on her 1st birthday!!!

À Bientôt!

Elie and Maeva :)

"Vesta" Tour

Saturday morning we woke up early and hurried downtown Florence to the meeting point of our long-awaited VESPA TOUR OF TUSCANY! Flashback to November when Nancy woke me from my slumber saying, “Guess what I just did! I just booked us a VESPA TOUR in TUSCANY! I'm so EXCITED! Ok you can go back to bed now.”

After signing wavers, we got assigned our Vespas, did a quick run through of how to drive one (the man training me couldn’t believe I had never driven one before…no big deal J ), and then we were off!

The three of us with our super cute helmets :)

In my bulky yellow helmet and Ray-bans, I was zipping through the little winding streets of Tuscany. It was absolutely breath-taking. The rolling hills flowed out from either side of me and continued until the horizon, meanwhile I kept having to remind myself that I was operating a motorized vehicle and couldn’t simply stare off into the beautiful abyss.

We made a quick stop at Machiavelli’s old abode and stopped for a quick photo-op. Apparently when Machiavelli was banished from Florence, he made his way out into the countryside…frankly, I don’t know why he didn’t go there beforehand because the view from his house is AMAZING.

Machiavelli's old house after he got banished from Florence

View from Machiavelli's backyard

Grammy made friends with the tour guides

For lunch, we stopped at another vineyard. However, this time it was at the villa of one of Florence’s oldest “royal” families; The Corsini’s.

Corsini Family Royal Crest

Although royalty no longer holds any importance in Italy, having a title is still considered very respectable and important.

Their villa was absolutely breathtaking, and the gardens weren’t too shabby either. This particular vineyard produces 4 different types of wine and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

The gardens behind the villa

One thing I learned about wine while I was in Italy: If it’s going to be a Chianti, it needs to meet a ton of different standards. One of them being that the wine needs to consist of at least 85% San Giovese  (SPELLING) grapes. The other 15% can be anything the vineyard owner wants; at the Corsini’s villa, the other 15% was French Merlot.

I also learned that you need to take into account two things in order to identify a true “Chianti” – since a wine shouldn’t technically be able to be called a “Chianti” unless it’s made in the Chianti region and it meets all the criteria (kind of like Champagne in France). A TRUE Chianti bottle will always have a pink ribbon around the neck and a sticker with a Rooster on it. If you see both of those, you’re golden J

Brand New French Oak Barrels

One thing I learned about Olive Oil when I was in Italy: Extra Virgin means that it’s the first press (cold press) of the Olive. The olive will be pressed several times in order to make the most of the oil inside, but it's the oil that comes from the first press of the olive that’s Extra Virgin. The second press is Virgin, and the third or fourth press is regular Olive Oil. No Olive Oil that I will taste in the future will ever compare to the Olive Oil I had in Tuscany.

I also learned that apparently, for some historical reason, the bread in Florence doesn’t contain salt. So when they dip their bread in Olive Oil, they salt the Olive Oil before dipping.

After learning alllll about the 4 different wines at the vineyard, how the grapes are picked, where they’re stored (Brand New French Oak vs. Cement barrels), how long they’re stored (12 months, 18 months, 24 months), and what kind of grapes they consist of, we finally got to taste some of the wine.

I’m not even going to tell you how they tasted. You’ll just have to go find the Vespa tour yourself and taste them. Plus. There are no words to describe the way that perfectly crafted Chianti tastes alongside Extra Virgin Olive Oil after a long day riding a Vespa around Tuscany.

Life J

We had a relaxing lunch and then spent no more than 2 minutes deciding which wines to have shipped back to the US (it really wasn’t that hard). My mom even deciding to invest in a bottle of the villa’s newest creation; ZAC. Zac consists of 100% San Giovese grapes and spends 18 months in brand new French oak barrels before being bottled. If you bought it in America, it would cost you about 200$ a bottle. We’re planning on saving it for a special occasion – I cannot WAIT to pop the cork J.

We hopped back on the Vespas and did a quick trip to a gelateria before meandering to the top of a hill; from which we saw one of the most breathtaking views of downtown Florence.

View of downtown Florence (you can see the Duomo)

We made our way back to our starting point and had to say goodbye to our beloved Vespas.

I’m not going to lie; this day was probably one of my favorite days from my entire semester in Europe. It made me seriously consider moving to Italy, opening a B&B in Tuscany and buying a bunch of land to start a vineyard. Being there, I can’t imagine how anybody could ever be sad. The sun is always shining, the landscape is unbelievable, there’s an abundance of wine, and the people are incredible.

After my first visit, I will be waiting very impatiently to return to Tuscany.

And in the words of my grandmother "I just LOVED that Vesta Tour!"

À Bientôt!