Alright Fam and Friends,
I realize I've been bad about updating. I'm sorry, tomorrow I'm spending studying at the library, so I'll probably update again. To make you feel better, check out my pictures. I've even posted captions and names of my friends, so that y'alls can know who my friends are and what we've been doing.
It's http://picasaweb.google.com/lmtheobald
Enjoy!
Laura
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
London Calling, Other Dutch Adventures
Hi Again,
Today is an incredibly rainy day in Amsterdam, so I am sitting in the absolutely delightful Amsterdam Public Library getting a bit of research done for my final papers. But right now I have decided to take a break and catch up on some blog entries.
Let me start with a short daytrip I took with friends to Rotterdam. We took the train, then walked around and saw all of the ships and whatnot. It's a fairly modern city, mostly because so many of the buildings were destroyed during WWII. I was feeling sick however, so I hopped on the train back to Amsterdam.
The very next day CIEE took us to an incredibly underwhelming castle. But it was a very significant castle because it is where Kaiser Wilhelm fled after WWI and signed his official abdication. So I guess that was important.
Oh yes, I have now also been to one of the biggest clubs in Amsterdam, Paradiso. Not that I am spending my time here partying a lot or anything, but it's located in an old church with fabulous stained glass windows. They also played really good music, so I could dance the night away. Would have been nicer if the guy who had invited me to come had not ditched me, but he was a jerk anyway and I had more fun dancing with my girlfriends.
Over Easter weekend, my friend Jacqui from my program invited me to her parent's flat in London for the holiday. She is American, however her father works in London so the family maintains two homes. My flight over was surprisingly empty, we both got our own rows. We flew into London City Airport, which is a very nice small airport in the middle of London. They don't have any long haul flights, but it's great for those small ones. Since Jacqui was occupied with family matters, I went off and did my own thing for the weekend. I had been to London before, so I felt like I knew my way around and her parents had provided me with an Oyster card which made public transport incredibly easy to use. Although, some genius decided to close down several of the major lines, which meant a lot of crowds. We arrived on Friday evening, where we walked around the area the flat was located, then ate a delicious meal cooked by her mother (it was really nice to have some home cooking). On Saturday morning, I got up and got myself to Leicester Square to hit up the TKTS booth for a ticket to a show. I ended up deciding to see Blood Brothers, mostly because it's currently starring Melanie C from the Spice Girls. It's a very good musical about class issues in England, a bit depressing, but I liked it nonetheless. I also went to the National Portrait Gallery and walked through Hyde Park and saw Buckingham Palace. On Easter Sunday I visited the British Museum. Downstairs was incredibly busy, but the upper floors were pretty empty. After that, I met up with my friend's family for a wonderful Easter dinner plus drinks afterwards, and we played this really fun trading game that I think my mom would really love. On Monday, I went to Harrods, then caught an evening flight back to Amsterdam. It was a very fun weekend, and I really liked being able to do my own thing and see what I wanted to see.
The weekend after Easter was another CIEE trip to the Deltaworks. This is the major water project that is keeping the Netherlands from sinking, so it's a big deal. The trip originally sounded pretty boring, but I signed up anyway because it was free and I was guaranteed delicious food that was also free. Although, I guess it's not really free, but it's included in my tuition, so my parents have already paid for it. It ended up being really fun, they've turned the area around it into a nature sanctuary and there is a little amusement park too. After we took a tour of the actual Deltaworks (really big dikes) we took a boat ride around the area and played on the playground. But most importantly, what made this trip one of my favorites, was the fact that there were seals there! And they were feeding them! I took lots of pictures and a video of the the tricks they were trained to do. I was very disappointed though, because they let the small children feed the seals, even though I was standing right next to them and I was looking very expectant. Sigh, I guess the trainers didn't realize they were crushing a poor 20 year old's biggest dream in life. Someday, someday, I will get to meet a seal. I just have to keep hope alive.
Alright, that is all for now. My friend is getting hungry and there happens to be a cafe on the top floor of the library which overlooks the city of Amsterdam. Up there is also one of my favorite places, especially because the food is delicious and quite cheap.
Tot Ziens!
Laura
Today is an incredibly rainy day in Amsterdam, so I am sitting in the absolutely delightful Amsterdam Public Library getting a bit of research done for my final papers. But right now I have decided to take a break and catch up on some blog entries.
Let me start with a short daytrip I took with friends to Rotterdam. We took the train, then walked around and saw all of the ships and whatnot. It's a fairly modern city, mostly because so many of the buildings were destroyed during WWII. I was feeling sick however, so I hopped on the train back to Amsterdam.
The very next day CIEE took us to an incredibly underwhelming castle. But it was a very significant castle because it is where Kaiser Wilhelm fled after WWI and signed his official abdication. So I guess that was important.
Oh yes, I have now also been to one of the biggest clubs in Amsterdam, Paradiso. Not that I am spending my time here partying a lot or anything, but it's located in an old church with fabulous stained glass windows. They also played really good music, so I could dance the night away. Would have been nicer if the guy who had invited me to come had not ditched me, but he was a jerk anyway and I had more fun dancing with my girlfriends.
Over Easter weekend, my friend Jacqui from my program invited me to her parent's flat in London for the holiday. She is American, however her father works in London so the family maintains two homes. My flight over was surprisingly empty, we both got our own rows. We flew into London City Airport, which is a very nice small airport in the middle of London. They don't have any long haul flights, but it's great for those small ones. Since Jacqui was occupied with family matters, I went off and did my own thing for the weekend. I had been to London before, so I felt like I knew my way around and her parents had provided me with an Oyster card which made public transport incredibly easy to use. Although, some genius decided to close down several of the major lines, which meant a lot of crowds. We arrived on Friday evening, where we walked around the area the flat was located, then ate a delicious meal cooked by her mother (it was really nice to have some home cooking). On Saturday morning, I got up and got myself to Leicester Square to hit up the TKTS booth for a ticket to a show. I ended up deciding to see Blood Brothers, mostly because it's currently starring Melanie C from the Spice Girls. It's a very good musical about class issues in England, a bit depressing, but I liked it nonetheless. I also went to the National Portrait Gallery and walked through Hyde Park and saw Buckingham Palace. On Easter Sunday I visited the British Museum. Downstairs was incredibly busy, but the upper floors were pretty empty. After that, I met up with my friend's family for a wonderful Easter dinner plus drinks afterwards, and we played this really fun trading game that I think my mom would really love. On Monday, I went to Harrods, then caught an evening flight back to Amsterdam. It was a very fun weekend, and I really liked being able to do my own thing and see what I wanted to see.
The weekend after Easter was another CIEE trip to the Deltaworks. This is the major water project that is keeping the Netherlands from sinking, so it's a big deal. The trip originally sounded pretty boring, but I signed up anyway because it was free and I was guaranteed delicious food that was also free. Although, I guess it's not really free, but it's included in my tuition, so my parents have already paid for it. It ended up being really fun, they've turned the area around it into a nature sanctuary and there is a little amusement park too. After we took a tour of the actual Deltaworks (really big dikes) we took a boat ride around the area and played on the playground. But most importantly, what made this trip one of my favorites, was the fact that there were seals there! And they were feeding them! I took lots of pictures and a video of the the tricks they were trained to do. I was very disappointed though, because they let the small children feed the seals, even though I was standing right next to them and I was looking very expectant. Sigh, I guess the trainers didn't realize they were crushing a poor 20 year old's biggest dream in life. Someday, someday, I will get to meet a seal. I just have to keep hope alive.
Alright, that is all for now. My friend is getting hungry and there happens to be a cafe on the top floor of the library which overlooks the city of Amsterdam. Up there is also one of my favorite places, especially because the food is delicious and quite cheap.
Tot Ziens!
Laura
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