spring break 2009, part one: amsterdam.

i decided to break spring break up into four parts: amsterdam & paris with kelsey, then florence (with the ACE boys/yvette) and barcelona with riley. this is because... well, spring break was a loooonnnngggg time and i can't even remember half of it.

amsterdam:

amsterdam was brilliant in the sense that it embodied what "spring break" should really be about - rest. it didn't start out that way, though. after kelsey arrived thursday night (april 2nd; we left the next morning), we hung out, had some mcdonald's, chatted a bit. kelsey decided to sleep before we woke up for our 450AMish train to gatwick airport. i, however, did not. i instead spent the entire night on facebook chat with ben, tiffany, and the general new york crowd that was obviously still awake thanks to the time difference.

i woke kelsey up in what i thought was enough time to get dressed, make sure i'd locked my valuables in the safe in my room, and clear out all foods with an "eat by" date in my refrigerator/cabinet. we had the most hilarious spread of yogurt, strawberries, milk and krispy kreme donuts. oh, and sesame bagels with cream cheese. so we ate. next thing you know, we have five or ten minutes to haul our butts to st. pancras to catch the train. so there were two girls running down pentonville road at 445AM to catch a train to the airport. we ended up missing it. fail. but we caught a later one and made it to the airport on time.

the flight to amsterdam was brief - only an hour or so, and we got some wel-deserved sleep before landing. upon arrival at the passport control booth, the guys were being totally awkward while stamping our passports ("why are you here?" "we're on holiday." "what?" "it's spring break." "OHHHHH SPRING BREAAAAKKKK YEAHHHHHH.")

anyway, we take a train to amsterdam central (double-decker trains are hilarious, PS) and walk to our boat hostel, the friesland, docked just by the NEMO science museum. we checked in, and BAM! we basically crashed for a good part of the day because we were both exhausted. it was such a tiny room, i don't know how i didn't have a panic attack from being so enclosed. i had bottom bunk while kelsey had the top, and it was good times. we were sweating, thanks to the heater that was on, which we idn't realize until the next morning when we were checking out. but after waking up from our long naps, we decided to walk around, grab a beer, and just relax.

the next morning, the weather was decidedly blah. we had the most incredible breakfast on the boat, though. ham slices, toast with butter/jam/chocolate-marshmallow-fluff spread, cheese, greek yogurt (ew for me, yum for kels), corn flakes, orange and apple juice. for the record, food is how i measured the ranking of my favorite cities over spring break, so you'll be getting detailed accounts of what i had to eat. we checked out of the friesland and walked all the way over to the flying pig, my first legitimate hostel, where we'd be staying until it was time to leave for paris. this place is ridiculous. there's a bar attached to the reception area, a room in the back for... partaking in amsterdam's biggest attraction, and roomy/comfortable beds in awkwardly-themed rooms. the hostel was a savior for having free internet access, too. so we checked in and dropped our stuff off.

now, i have to say that one of the main transportation methods in amsterdam is by bicycle. and ever since the whole divorce situation, i've not been on a bike (mainly because, in moving out, it's been misplaced or TAKEN or who knows what). so that's been about, what, five years of not riding? kelsey and i thought it would be fun to rent bikes and ride around but IT WAS NOT. at least, 60% of the time (because i'd say i enjoyed about 40% of the ride). bike paths are filled with PEOPLE WHO DO NOT PAY ATTENTION AND WALK IN FRONT OF BIKERS. sometimes you ride on the same narrow street as cars, so when you are me and have horrible balance issues, you freak out and pull over because hurting yourself is better than damaging someone's car and needing to drop mad cash on repairs. i crashed into a scooter while making a turn because there was someone turning at the same corner but headed in the different direction and i thoguht we were going to crash. i had a slight meltdown later. it was... ridiculous. fun, i mean, because i love biking, but ridiculous as well. plus the bike was too big for me. plus it had legit brakes where you pedal back (none of this handbraking business). so.

anyway, kelsey and i spent a lot of time at the hostel because it was filled with younger people. we had a great time just walking around and feeling uncomfortable by the redlight district window girls and it was nice.

foods i consumed include: a quarter pounder with cheese/chicken mcnuggets with sweet and sour sauce/bitteballen/fruit and yogurt (i tried to make it my goal to try one cultural and one traditional mcdonald's food while abroad). strawberries with whipped cream (my dessert every night we were there), cheese and pepperoni pizza slices, belgian-style fries with cheddar cheese sauce, pasta, a buger from burger bar, a bite of kelsey's falafel from maoz. a chocolate-covered waffle with strawberries and whipped cream on top. chocolate cake.

excellent times. amsterdam, land of desserts.

there are pictures up on facebook. but, i mean, whatever. i'll just show them to you when i get home if you haven't seen them.

i'm sorry i'm a failure at blogging

consider, if you will, that i live in a place not too different from new york, and i think you'll understand why it's really hard to scrounge up any sort of interesting blog entries. though kelsey's been to visit (which was excellent! unfortunately, i barely remember any of the trip besides skyping with frank in my kitchen, going to the london eye/the national gallery/buckingham palace/st. james' park/the place of westminster and taking care of my unfortunately sick roommate jessica after her friend kim left - it was messy), not much else has happened since, well, february.

there are now 25 days until i leave for new york, and i couldn't be more excited. hopefully, the plane ride will go smoothly (over spring break, i was not a big fan of plane travel, and even though british airways is superlegit, i'm done with flying for a while).

but it's not like i don't have things planned in the coming weeks. i still have papers that need to be written, exams that need to be taken, and a fair list of things that i've not yet done that NEED TO GET DONE - including going to the markets, the incredibly dorky visitation of platform nine and three-quarters, etc.

i plan to post immediately after this with a recap of spring break. please don't hate me.