Netherlands
De Wallen

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    • Day 15

      Netherlands day 11

      April 14 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      On our last day in the Netherlands we spent the morning walking through Amsterdam with our newly acquired friends. In the afternoon we went to a small farm where we were shown the authentic clog making process, followed by a farm dinner that was made from products off of the farm.Read more

    • Day 10

      On the go

      June 16, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      What a week! Tuesday I had no class so I got to explore a bit, relax, and join IES staff and students for a borrel! Wednesday we got to go to an art museum and see some really beautiful pieces of work, bonus with the silent library that is STUNNING!! I also don’t have classes on Thursdays so I was able to relax some more then to prepare for a busy weekend! Friday was the IES trip to Delft which is a city very close to Amsterdam, with all of the beautiful history displayed just like Amsterdam. We did a workshop where we painted our own tiles and learned all about the process of making porcelain masterpieces. Once again, the architecture is just insane! Saturday, me and some friends got on a decently early train to Rotterdam to explore around there as well! We got to see some of the coolest apartments I have ever seen, pictured here the cubes that are completely slanted and just so cool! After we got home, me and Elena joined Violet and her friends for a canal boat tour which was also beautiful! After that we went out and celebrated being in Amsterdam and getting to explore! Today, I’m giving all my updates to those of you back home and getting started on some homework for class tomorrow! Can’t wait for the rest of what is to come 🤩Read more

    • Day 7

      new normals

      June 13, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      I LOVE my classes so far. My first class is my “sex and science: Dutch medicine and intersexuality” course. Just as expected, its SO interesting and so eye-opening as well. Our classes are in, natural sunlit rooms, windows open, circle desk set up. It feels like book club or an open academic discussion. The classes are 3 hours long, but we are given breaks. There’s a kitchen with tea and coffee that’s free for us to use as well. These first few days, I’m feeling anxious to get into a routine and feeling anxious to just get going and “experiencing”. After my first day of class, a few friends and I went and did some shopping which was just a short walk away. The city still feels so big to me, but it’s definitely beneficial having classes right in de wallen. After school and shopping, I was mentally drained and honestly feeling a little overwhelmed. So I ran around where I am living. It’s so odd to have sights of pigeons and seagulls all in the same run. The area I live in is very “up and coming” so it has notes of industrial vibes but a 5 min walk away and you are in the heart of houthavens. A park, lots of families with lots of children, groceries, small shops, active people. It’s all SO clean and public transportation is so nice. The days here are so long and I love being able to exhaust all the daylight. “Hot girl walks” are a daily thing :)Read more

    • Day 26

      It's 'Boat Day"!!

      August 26, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Not sure why it’s showing us in the Netherlands?? Oh well. A little review of last night before we hop on the AMASonata.
      On our second last night in Budapest we had the opportunity to try a langos. Delicious. Lángos is famous Hungarian street food, which is basically a fried bread dough. The basic dough is made of water (or milk), yeast, flour and salt. Lángos is fried in oil and usually served with toppings. For Hungarians, the most popular topping is cheese and sour cream and that was our choice. Deep fried pizza. Amazing.

      Well, we got brave and worked our way into a RUIN BAR. “Back in 2004, a run down building on Kazinczy Street in District VII was saved from demolition by a group of entrepreneurs looking to open up a bar/community space. Rather than redeveloping they chose to work with the building’s ramshackle state, adding quirky furniture and decorations, creating a mix’n’match aesthetic and making use of a space otherwise destined for ruin.
      The venture was a success and provided the template for a new generation of bars. The ruin pub was born, with Budapest’s Jewish District district the focal point for this new nightlife trend. Buildings in varying states of decay were rescued and, rather than being totally renovated, ruin bars worked with their natural surroundings to create quirky and unique spaces”. We chose the Red Ruin Bar. Located in the heart of Budapest and not far from our condo, the RRB is a communism theme bar with red lights and a sense of humour about the political past. When you walk in, the first thing to see is a mural of Karl Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong celebrating in birthday hats. Definitely a different vibe. After 2 beer, one wine and a sparkling water, we were out the door… after spending only $12.00CDN. At least we can say we did it.

      Our beer of choice in Budapest has been the Soporoni brand. It doesn’t take much to develop a loyalty to a product. A great waitress on our first night was more than willing to share a few local facts with us and it really created a nice experience. Soporoni is named after the city of Soporon. Sopron is situated near the western borders of Hungary, at the foot of the Alps, 60 km from Vienna and 220 km from Budapest. It is known as the city of loyalty. In 1921, the residents had a choice to leave the monarchy or stay as part of Hungary. They chose Hungary and now we enjoy the beer.

      And now, we are off to our boat. Checked out of our condo in the morning and grabbed a tram to our boat to drop off our luggage. As boat check-in is not until 3:00PM, we’re off to check out another area of the city.
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    • Day 61

      Bus-y day

      November 3, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      Our original bus out of Brussels was supposed to be at 8:45 and take 3 hours, instead we left at 11:30 and got to Amsterdam just before 4 and they dropped us off at a different stop. But we got here 🎉

      We decided to take the train to the city center to get to our accommodation rather than braving a 2 hour walk in the rain with our packs. Our accommodation this time is similar to the space pod hostel - it's a pod type room with just a bed and a little walkway.

      After checking in we decided to get lost and just wander, we somehow made a wrong turn and ended up in the red light district, which was "interesting", after escaping the strange street we ended up at a hot food vending machine shop, where we grabbed some snacks.

      We strolled for a while longer before getting some fresh stroopwafles and heading back to the accommodation to sleep.

      Step count: 14k
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    • Day 2

      3 Engel für A'dam

      May 2 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Flix hex in Amsterdam....
      Und dann alles digital 😅

      Wenn Engel reisen würde meine Mutti sagen, die Sonne brennt, das T-Shirt nässt bei denen die schweres Gepäck haben.

      Ruck zuck ins Hotel, 30minuten Katzenwäsche und rein in die Stadt.

      Heinecken. A'dam. Herzmomente.Nutten...
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    • Day 31

      Amsterdam

      April 21 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      I woke up this morning around 9:30, but I was in no shape to get out of bed. I laid there while Nick and Pearse were still sleeping. I got up for a shower at almost noon. When I got up on the floor, beside my bed, there was a dried up mess of mucus and spit and probably vomit. I knew I didn't throw up up, but it's hard to defend that when it's right beside my bed and even a little bit of it in my shoe. After consulting with the fellas, none of them knew what it was either. I was tired of looking at it cause it was nasty, so I poured some water on it and used a towel to clean it up. Once we all got ready we went to the train station so we could head to the city for some lunch. We bought one one way tickets, scanned them, and went up to our platform just to realize it was the wrong platform. So, we had to buy another ticket and go to the other platform, but when we tried scanning it, it said invalid. Frustrated and tired, the 3 of us sat and ordered an Uber just to throw a little more money away. We stopped at a ramen restaurant where the boys ordered a bowl, but I was still pissy about the train, so I just ordered an appetizer. After lunch, the 3 of us split up and went on our own. Pearse needed a pharmacy, so he went to deal with that. I got adventurous and went to a weed cafe. I ordered a pre roll and a coffee and just chilled out. The weed in Amsterdam is a lot stronger than at home, so it didn't take me very long to just sit there and question everything that led me to this point. It wasn't fun at all, I was sweating my balls off. Pearse met me there and just sat next to me for a few minutes. When he looked at me, he noticed all the beads of sweat rolling down my face. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and cool off a little before we left. Again, when in Rome. We wondered around the city for a little while, even ending up in some sort of carnival. We had to meet the group in the afternoon because it was our last night on the Contiki so we had a nice evening planned with everybody. Getting on the bus, it was pretty obvious I wasn't the only one to check out what the cafes were all about. A few people, including me, were wearing sunglasses on the bus because even though Bec couldn't stop us technically, drugs aren't allowed at all on the Contiki so we couldn't talk to her about it or tell her. She obviously knows, though. There's a reason everyone called her mom. I also think weed was the least of her problems in Berlin and Amsterdam. A bus of thirty 20 something year olds is gonna have a couple of people looking for party drugs. We had about an hour to unwind and get ready for our last included dinner. We went to an Indonesian restaurant for dinner. Not only was it the best included dinner, but it was one of the best I've had on the trip. It was buffet style with different proteins. One was a peanut sauce skewer, and the other was beef Bolinas. Both were tasty, but the skewers were better. The beef Bolinas was really sweet it was kind of weird. It's still good, though. Even our first two drinks were included in the meal. After dinner, we had a boose cruise scheduled. It was a really wholesome time on the boat because everybody was there for our last night, and we had an awesome time socializing with each other. One of the ladies had a digital camera, and she took some pretty classic photos of everyone. I think the crew on the boat was used to older people on the boat and have a speech and teach everyone about the city but they gave up on the pretty quick because we were just there to have a good time with each other. When the ferry was docked and the bar was closed, I definitely opened the fridge and put a hieneken in each pocket for the road lol. Pearse did the same, but the goon grabbed prohibition beer, so I had to share mine. We had more than enough on the boose cruise, so I was okay with it lol. When we got off, we all met at an Australian bar called cocos because almost the entire contiki was Australian. At this bar, I was talking to my friend Cody, who gave me some pretty interesting information. He was on the top bunk across from Pearse and in our dorms. He asked me if I remember Pearse coughing all night, and I said no because I was out cold. He told me Pearse was coughing so much, and so aggressively, he leaned over the top bunk and threw up on the ground and went back to sleep. Luckily, it was just a bunch of mucus and a bit of beer because it would have stunk so bad if it was more. We finally know who did it after a whole day of it being inconclusive. I'm telling you this cold is nothing to play with. I pulled an Irish goodbye and took the train back with a guy named Dan because we had to get up at 7 for the bus the next day, and I physically couldn't handle another hungover day on the bus.Read more

    • Day 5

      4 am bedtimes

      June 11, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Friday night I accidentally went to bed at 4am (worked out at 3am though thanks to the 24/7 gym!) and then woke up Saturday to avrey knocking on my door telling me it was 2:30 pm! Oops! Jet lag got me I guess… late start to the day but ave vi and I went into the city to find the ies center and grab some coffee and food. We honestly did get lost in the city, but it was seriously so fun and BEAUTIFUL. Once we decided we were just hungry and ready to eat we started to focus haha. We REALLY just wanted to find a place that had both- iced coffee and food. Iced coffee alone is just really tough to find here, but when you do find it, it’s VERY good. So we ended up cutting our loses and eating some Chinese in Chinatown and then went for boba tea with espresso after. Love that tipping isn’t really a thing here, but hate that free water isn’t 😭 On our way back we stopped at a few stores- picked up some shampoo and conditioner from a shop in Amsterdam Centraal and got off the bus a stop early to run into Albert Heijn (the grocery store) to get a few things I forgot about. We walked back and started to get ready for the evening! A big group of people in my program all made plans to go to a club. It opened at 10 so at about 10 we caught a bus and took the metro to Coco’s!! Coco’s was very fun and we met people from Germany, UK, and even ran into some fellow Americans. Details of the night are blurry hahha but it was fun to get to know the people in my program!!Read more

    • Day 3

      25.000 stappendag

      September 20, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      🎶De ochtendstond heeeeft goud in de mooond🎶

      Alleen was de ochtend voor ons wel een beetje de middag. 💤Dag begonnen met lekker broodje salami en een iced coffe die ik (weeral) op de grond heb laten vallen.🙁 Even sip momentje😿
      Maar daarna al snel terug opgefleurd 😁door de prachtige stad Amsterdam met haar mooie mooie huisjes. 🏠We hebben vooral vandaag wa rondgeslenterd en minstens 3 snoepwinkels bezocht, 🍭ni omda we iets wilde kopen, 💸ma omda ze er toch o-zo mooi uitzagen. 😍
      Na veel wandelen 🥾hebben we ons gedeplaceerd aan de kant van het water 🌊met een aperitiefje en daarna een frietjes van zogezegd “de beste frituur” hier. 🍟

      De zonsondergang was ook geweldig, stad stond precies in brand. 🌅

      Om de laatste avond te vieren zijn we nog een theetje ☕️gaan drinken met een red-velvet taart. 🍰Ook de terugtocht was red want we moesten terug via de redlight district. 🚨Ben daarna dan ook maar eventjes voor een raam gaan staan om deze reis terug te kunne betalen. 😌NEEEE MOPJE MAMA, ben een bescheiden dame. ⚠️⚠️⚠️

      We hebben de laatste avond wel in stijl afgesloten met een tekensessie. ✏️

      Nou slaapwel he 🛌
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    • Day 4

      Grachtenfahrt 🚣🏽‍♀️

      March 31 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Nach dem heutigen späten z'Morge und bitz Chääsdegustieren 🧀 , genossen wir eine einstündige Grachtenfahrt. Die Fahrt was sehr infomativ.

      💡Ethan, unser Guide erklärte uns, dass wegen eines Brandes🔥, der vor mehreren 100 Jahren stattfand, die Häuser hauptsächlich aus Steinen bestehen dürfen. Nur wenige Elemente und das Fundament ist aus Holz. Da das Holz jedoch morsch wird, finden wir hier auch viele sehr schräge häuser. 😱

      Er erzählte uns auch, dass man jährlich 25 Autos & 15'000 Velos aus den Grachten fischt, die von besoffenen Turis reingeworfen werden.🙄

      ❗Quizduell: warum ist das Rotlichtmilieu und die Kirche⛪ in Amsterdam direkt nebeneinander? Warum wird es Rotlichtmilieu genannt und was ist ein Blaulichtmillieu? - was denkt ihr? Schreibts rein wir sind gespannt auf eure Antworten.
      Auflösung gibts dann im nächsten Blog
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    De Wallen

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