Lots of cute bikes and canals. Also lots and lots of rain (I had to hide away in the Rijksmuseum one day).
By this time during my trip, two of the countries I visited were eliminated during the World Cup quarterfinals while I was in said country. First it was France (to Germany), then it was Belgium (to Argentina). You can imagine my excitement and dread when I found out the Netherlands would be playing in a semifinal match while I was in Amsterdam...and you all know what happened to them in that game. Oops. And since the Netherlands is right next to Germany, my friend posted this on Facebook.
Good thing I didn't go! Anyways, that's my short lived career as the World Cup curse.
Fun memory: came back to my hostel and saw a Chinese girl squatting on the ground, on her phone, next to a bubbling rice cooker. Hmm... you've got limited luggage and possible weight restrictions and you pack a rice cooker? Gotta respect those priorities.
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| Left: some of that Indonesian food the Netherlands is known for. |
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| The figure on the right is called "Baby Stung by a Bee." |
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| I forgot about my addiction to Trader Joe's stroopwafels (which have a Dutch origin) until I saw them everywhere <3 |
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| Giant pancake with cheese, chicken, and mushrooms. iPhone 4 for scale. |
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| The city is lovely after the rain subsides. |
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| I normally don't like apple pie, but this was one of the more memorable dishes I had in Europe. Lightly sweetened, thinly sliced pieces of apple with some rhubarb, perfect buttery crust, ugh. Also, props to anyone who can identify what I was reading har har...(I finished the whole book in one day. No shame). |
No stories on the infamous Red Light District here. I briefly walked around it during the day when nothing was open, but was a little too weirded out to go at night by myself, even for curiosity's sake.
Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation to the nice bus driver who let me on for free when I was trying to get to the airport around 7 in the morning. The tram I was supposed to take was shut down for some reason (cue freakout time) and normally cost like €2.80, but I had to pay like €5 for a bus ticket (or a reusable chip card?) I think he figured it was just too much of a hassle. Hooray!
