I would write a proper blog-post about Istanbul except for the fact that I need to finish, edit, and print a paper in an hour. At least we can all walk away from this comforted by the fact that just because I lived abroad, I didn't change my procrastinating ways. Until then...

Up and ready to go to Istanbul. I have decided that it is in fact a very good thing that I had to wake up at 7:40 in the morning today in order to catch the 8:28 bus to catch the 8:58 train to get to the airport... confusing, I know. It is a good thing, however, because if I didn't force myself to wakeup at a normal time when most normal people wake up in the world on a daily basis, I would seriously start to question my ability to do so. Questioning my ability to wake up at 11 am, however, not so much. 

Tomorrow morning I leave for Istanbul for the long weekend. I know, not a bad way to spend what would be my Memorial Day Weekend. But, as I am in the Netherlands, the whole Memorial Day concept doesn't exactly apply. Regardless, off to Istanbul I go! I am really looking forward to the trip and having the chance to visit Turkey while I am abroad. I mean, it's not everyday that I can jet off to Istanbul. Speaking of which, I am awkwardly excited for my flight being that I get a meal onboard and can check a bag and bring not one, but two carry-ons. And you know what, it is very possible that I am going to check my bag and bring two carry on's just because. I'm pretty badass, I know. The best part is that I am meeting one of my really good friends there who is on vacation with her family. Aaaand, one of our other good friends from our sorority is also there-- interning in fact-- making for what is bound to be a fabulous weekend. 


What will I be doing while I am there? No clue. Great question. Lucky for you, I promise to write all about it, pictures included, when I return. 

I am pretty much Dutch

Today was a very exciting day. I walked into the salon that I have gone to for waxings and what not, this time for a haircut, and before I could introduce myself to the woman who was cutting my hair, she hurriedly exclaimed that she had seen me before in Bigoli. For those who are in the dark, Bigoli is a delicious sandwich shop in Utrecht that gets understandably packed around the 1:00 lunch hour. I mean, I know no one is ever going to mistake me for a local, being that I don't actually speak Dutch, and oh, you know I don't exactly look Dutch, but it is definitely exciting to be recognized by a local in one of the best local lunch places. 


What? You aren't as excited as I am? How could that be???

Another day, another blister

I walked out of my apartment today around 1:15 (I know, talk about an early start...) to go into town. After literally having the world's laziest Sunday-- i'm talking two movies, the season finale of Private Practice, and only taking off my pajamas to shower to then put on a new set of pajamas (at least I am clean!)--that for very obvious reasons I am not proud of, I decided that it was a necessity I get off my butt and go do something. Although, in my defense, there isn't anything open on Sunday's in Utrecht anyways but thats besides the point. I was wearing my favorite Lululemon leggings, flats, a t-shirt, and a cotton jacket; weather.com said it was a high of 71 and sunny. Well, 71 and sunny it may have been, but the ever unreliable weather.com forgot (surprise, surprise..) to mention that it was also terribly windy. 


While the wind may seem irrelevant to most, I have a strange fear of the wind that probably stems back to some super windy day when I was a little girl and believed I was going to be blown away. Unfortunately, to some degree, this irrational fear still exists, making bike riding in the wind one of my least favorite things to do. I know, you are probably thinking that I need some therapy or something to get over this wind-thing, and hey, you are probably right, but thats a discussion for another day. I thus made the executive decision, based on my fear of wind, that I would walk into town, as I couldn't rationalize taking the bus on such a beautiful day. Off I went-- fifty minutes later, I arrived at my favorite coffee shop, and yes my favorite barista was there, thinking that the walking into town thing seemed like so much more of a better idea before I had actually embarked on the journey. I mean, it's not exactly like town is conveniently around the corner. But then again, "convenient" is a word I have pretty much eliminated from my daily vocabulary since I got to Utrecht. 


Around 6 ish when I decided I had spent enough time in town, I began my journey back, standing at the bus stop for about 60 seconds before I gave myself a pep-talk and continued my trek. Well, guess who ended up having to stop at the grocery store, about twenty minutes into my walk, because two blisters had formed on my right heel. I swear, if I have gotten exceptionally good at anything since I have been abroad, it is always, and I mean always, wearing the wrong shoes. And, thank god that I never got my Lululemon leggings hemmed (yes, when you are 5'1 you have to even get leggings hemmed) because I pulled those babies down over my newly bandaged feet, making for a wannabe saddle-pant, tucked them into my flats, and continued on the journey home.


Will I walk into town again? Yes.
Will I wear flats? No. 
Will I start carrying Bandaids in my bag at all times? YES!!!! (I can only hope for sympathy from all of you for so long anyways...)

You know how you will drive along the same path everyday, always turning left at the exact same spot, and then one day you turn right instead, and a whole new world opens up to you? Well, that happened to me yesterday. But I was on my feet, not in a car (obviously, i'm in the Netherlands). Behind my apartment building there is more grass and sheep than the eye can see, which while it is picturesque and quite scenic, made me choose to always go one way versus the other whenever I set out for a walk or a run. While I appreciate the beauty of nature, there was something intimidating about being surrounded by more animals than human beings, usually sans cellphone. However, I must have been feeling quite adventurous yesterday as I made the right instead of the usual left, so to speak, and ended up on the most beautiful route. And, I most definitely wasn't the only one who had been back there before, as there were designated walking/running/ and yes, biking trails all throughout what I once thought was only grasslands. There was even a couple restaurants further in, and an entire quintessential Dutch neighborhood. And, only once, at the beginning mind you, did I almost get killed-- by a tractor, none the less. Welcome to the Netherlands!

As I was sitting at my desk chair earlier this morning, around 10:30, I was thinking what I could do to occupy myself until 2 when I wanted to take a yoga class. You have to understand, for the past two and half weeks I haven't really had much time to even think about what I am going to do, just more so about how I am going to get myself there to do it-- i.e. print out train tickets, make sure I have my passport etc etc-- so when I sat back down in bed, my day could only pretty much go one way from there. Sleep! I guess I am up for good now as it is already 1:20, which means, my nap sans alarm clock worked out very well timing wise. I had a funny feeling though when I woke up from this nap. Like, oh hey arielle, you better get this out of your system as real life isn't exactly like this: full night of sleep, breakfast, nap.... Good thing I have a month of fake life left :). 

I really cannot imagine the smile that is going to be on my face when I wake up in my own bed in my own house on the morning of June 23. I mean, I just smiled waking up knowing I am in my own bed in Utrecht and that my biggest responsibility today is to go return something I bought at Zara. And, I am pretty sure there are no humongous mosquitoes flying around, buzzing in me ear, ON A REGULAR BASIS, at my reeeeaaaal home. Or if there are, they are outside, where they should be. Regardless, it is definitely nice to be in Utrecht for a few days in a row. May has hands-down been one of my busiest months abroad. Although, in a very good way as traveling in May has been wonderful weather-wise, and has caused me a lot less packing agony. I am telling you, my best buy abroad has been my jean jacket I got from this Dutch Store called Sissy Boy. A little chilly outside? Jean jacket. Hot now, but "cold" later? Jean jacket. I mean, the potential weather situations in which my jean jacket is handy are endless. And, the best part, is I can wear the jean jacket over whatever else I am wearing when I fly on my arch-enemy airline, EasyJet, in order to avoid the laundry-bag as carry-on incidence part 2. As you can imagine, my winter jacket and EasyJet did not get along as well.


As for my weekend, I do not have any big plans. I am thinking about potentially going into Amsterdam tomorrow (Sat.) to walk around and do some shopping/sight seeing but other than that I am going to resume my "working-out" and pray to god that I can somehow get enough calorie-burning sessions in between now and when I return back to the US that you all don't look at me and think of all the pastries, meals, and drinks I have been blogging to you about. Talk about pressure. 

Is this too weird or what...


http://ny.eater.com/archives/2011/05/fancy_macaron_shop_maison_laduree_opening_nyc_location.php


For those of you who don't feel like clicking the link:
Laduree is apparently going to be opening up in NYC at 845 Madison Avenue in July, a rep for the company recently revealed via email. Guess I don't need to get back to Paris as soon as I thought... 

I said "Hola" on Monday, "Bonjour" on Tuesday, and now I am back to the good-old "Hallo" in what I have come to call home for the past four months. And, I will stick with "Hallo" for the next few days as I am shockingly in Utrecht for a week straight. Until Istanbul that is...

As for Paris... what a fabulous way to spend 26 hours (literally). I got into Paris around 5:30 on Tuesday afternoon and decided that I was going to take the metro and then get on a bus to meet my friend Rachel at her hotel. When I told my Dad that I successfully managed to get to the hotel on my own using the metro and bus system in a country where English is not the spoken language, he said, "You what?!?" Enough said.

We went straight to dinner on Tuesday night with her parents where we got a lovely surprise come dessert time: a candle! It was mine and Rachel's half birthdays on Tuesday. I know, what a great half birthday. Rachel and I decided we should try to make this a tradition but for some strange reason I am not really sure I will be able to convince my parents I should come to Paris to celebrate my half birthday each year. Whatevaaaa.

After dinner we went on a boat cruise around the Seine, which was super beautiful, especially at night time, except it was mutually agreed upon that the cruise would be much more enjoyable if the automated voice didn't feel the need to announce what we were passing in six different languages every two minutes. "On your left, is the Eiffel Tower, built in...." Like, duh that's the Eiffel Tower... 

The next day we had an early start and got to see the wonderful Manet exhibit at the Musee d'Orsay, which recently opened, and was definitely a treat. We then had some lunch, did some walking and window-shopping, and ended up at my favorite spot in Paris, Laduree. For those who do not know what Laduree is, I suggest you visit their website: http://www.laduree.fr/en/scene. Better yet, I suggest you go visit the real thing, but if not, find someone who you know is going to Paris and tell them the only thing you want is a box of macaroons, or else. My personal favorites are raspberry, dark chocolate, and coffee.  I could probably sit here and write about how delicious they are for a seriously long time so I will trust that you will somehow manage to get a taste of one yourself, rather than be bored by my rantings. But, seriously, they are that good. Go to Paris. Now. Eiffel Tower, Schmieffel Tower. Macaroons are where it's at.

But in case you do want to see the Eiffel Tower....

If someone were to ask me what I was doing today this is how the conversation would go:

Random Person: "Hey, what are you doing today?"


Me: "Taking a train to Paris at 2, you?"


Random Person: "No way!"


Me: "Yes way!"


Random Person: "So, like, when do you get back?"


Me: "Tomorrow around 11 pm!"


Random Person: "Cool"


Me: "I know..."

Beautiful Madrid

El Templo de Debod at sunset. Gorgeous. 

Some KEWL trees in the garden between Retiro Park and the Prado Museum (which I did not get to but I am sure google image could do wonders informing me what I missed).

Peacocks in the Botanical Gardens in Retiro Park. I amy or may not have taken 20+ pictures of these beautiful creatures... 

Plaza Mayor

Okay. So, I get home last night and obviously go on People.com to check out all the celebrity gossip that I missed while away. What do I find.... http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222_20490003,00.html

To Recap: Pippa Middelton and I were both in Retiro Park on Sunday in Madrid. She is probably in one of those boats in the above picture. I really can't believe she didn't call me ahead of time. I mean, hellooooo.

Speaking of spanish omelets...


On Sunday I was planning on meeting up with two of my friends from WashU who are in Madrid around 1 pm to go to Europe's biggest outdoor flea market. The market only stayed open till 3 so the plan was to go get tapas (duh!) after we walked around. Well, I woke up around 11:15 and knew I wasn't going to make it until 3 to eat so I decided I would go to El Mercado de San Miguel for breakfast and coffee. I was staying in Sol and the market was literally a 5 minute walk around the corner-- easy enough! After walking up and down the aisles, deciding which station I was going to eat at, I stopped at one that had beautiful spanish omelets sitting on their counters ready to be cut into and heated up. "Un tortilla por favor", I said, quickly pointing in the direction of the omelets, in case he had no clue what the hell I was trying to say. Luckily, he figured it out, and soon enough I had myself a slice of spanish omelette for breakfast. I then asked for "un cafe" to which I received a "no, no, cervesa? vino?". How was it that I was asking for coffee and instead I was being offered beer or wine? "Un Agua? Por favor?" "No, no agua, cervesa? Vino?" "Nada! Gracias" 


**Note: for anyone reading this who actually takes Spanish/knows Spanish, if what I am saying makes no sense, I am not surprised. Regardless the man understood me and thats all that counts**


What does a girl do when she can't get any water or coffee at 11:45 in the morning to accompany her spanish omelette? Order a Vino of course! Yup, I stood at one of the booths drinking wine and eating my spanish omelette for breakfast on Sunday Morning in Madrid. Not a bad start to a day if you ask me. And the best part about it, not one person looked at me strangely. I can only imagine the stares I would be getting back home if I were drinking wine with my breakfast at a bar alone on a Sunday morning. Uy!

Hola! Madrid was amazing! I had a fabulous weekend there. Rachel and I got in on Friday morning and went straight to El Mercado de San Miguel for some delicious sushi (and before you think "sushi?", remember that I can count on one hand the times I have had sushi since abroad, and not all my fingers have been used up...). We then headed to La Mallorquina bakery, per a suggestion, and ate one of the more delicious things I have ever had. 

Yes, I went back and shared this with people two more times during my weekend. Don't judge. You would have too.

We then spent our afternoon in an one of the big outdoor parks, with a pitcher of sangria of course, and officially began our weekend. And pretty much, the next three days went like that. Eat, Drink, Eat, Drink, Walk, Drink, Walk, Drink, Go out, Drink. Fun, right?!?!

By the way, I did do cultural things (if for some reason you don't find drinking and eating cultural...). We saw the Royal Palace, the Egyptian Temples at sunset, Plaza Mayor, the Reina Sofia Museum (loved it!), the botanical gardens in El Retiro Park, and of course ate lots and lots of tapas. I think my all time favorite tapas has to be the spanish omelette. I really just think it is so good. Looking back on it, it is probably a good thing I didn't go abroad in Spain as I apparently am a humongous fan of Spanish food. And Drinks. I love Sangria. Love!

Last week, as you know, I went into Amsterdam for Liberation Day and played the role of tourist heading to the Resistance Museum and then stopping at the New York Times recommended Burgermeester for lunch afterwords. After I was finished touring and lunching, I decided it was time for some shopping and coffee, and I headed back towards Jordaan (or the "9 streets")-- the area which my family and I stayed in when they visited the Netherlands. For someone who doesn't exactly have a good sense of direction, I was very proud of myself when I ended up directly in front of the shoe store I wanted to go to without ever once looking at my map. But, before I reached my destination, I came across this beauty at one of the canals. 

What is it, you may ask... 

Either this man has way too much time on his hands or just loves flowers this much, but either way, this is the most out-there looking boat I have seen yet. I am seriously resisting the urge to say "Only in Amsterdam", but it's not exactly like you see a man floating in a boat with a lamp shade, covered in floral arrangements everyday. 

Pictures from Budapest

St Gellert Monument in Buda

Waterfalls on the hike up to the Citadel. I HIGHLY suggest hiking to the top to see the Citadel. Don't underestimate the walk up. My calves were seriously hurting the next day. Then again, I pretty much never wear the right shoes ever while abroad. I have some wonderful blisters on both of my feet right now to confirm that fact.

The Citadel Fortress on top of Gellert Hill on the Buda side. This is  the highest point in downtown Budapest (thank you Wikipedia!)

Awkward Abroad Picture in Budapest #1 

Awkward Abroad Picture in Budapest #2 

The Chain Bridge, over the Danube River, that connects Buda to Pest

The view of Parliament at Sunset from the Chain Bridge

If you didn't know that a bridge connects Buda to Pest raise your hand!


Lets put it this way, I had to wikipedia this fact to prove to my family that I wasn't making it up. It is pretty crazy actually. I stayed on the Pest side while I was in Budapest this past weekend and to get to Buda, I had to cross one of three bridges-- the most well known being the Chain Bridge-- over the Danube River and wa-la, I was in Buda. However, if the bridge doesn't throw you off, the difference in landscape most certainly will. For one thing, Buda is full of greenery, is extremely hilly, and rather picturesque in almost any direction that you look. Pest, on the other hand, is pretty grey, and much more "metropolitan" with large roads and speeding cars. In fact, I thought some parts of Pest were down right ugly, but then again, it isn't as if every building in New York City is a gem either. 


Oh, but before I continue with my rant on the differences between Buda and Pest, let me tell you how my trip started off. I was meeting three of my friends in Budapest on Friday afternoon. My flight landed around 12:30 and rather than dealing with the metro and bus option to get into the city, I decided I would sign up for the group shuttle (I highly recommend this by the way!) and call it a day. Well, one would think that you can't exactly mess anything up when someone is dropping you off at the doorstep of where you are staying. Think again. I, the super prepared person I am, decided I would write down the name of the hostel, the address, the directions, what it is across from, what it looks like from the outside, and so on, so that when I got there I knew I was in the right place.


After about a half hour in the van, the driver pulled over and low and behold, I saw the yellow sign I was looking for letting me know that I was at my hostel. I looked in front of me and saw what looked like to be 100 stairs-- the hostel posted on their website that unfortunately there were 100 stairs to be climbed before reaching the "penthouse"-- and once again knew things were going according to plan. That is until a woman with black hair that looked as if it had not been washed in a few weeks, accompanied by the occasional attempt at what appeared to be dreadlocks, appeared at the front door of  wearing a grey furry bunny suit. I repeat, a grey furry bunny suit. Yes, with a tail and all. To say that I was speechless was an understatement, and to top it off I was extremely out of breath after lugging my carry on up the lovely 100 stairs, that I didn't exactly know what to do. Luckily, the bunny-lady wasted no time at all telling me that she believed I was at the wrong hostel and in fact, was most likely staying at the sister hostel just a "fifteen minute walk away". Hallelujah. I mean, it would have been nicer if she said I was staying at their sister beautiful four- star hotel, but I swear anything was going to be nicer, and cleaner, than what I had just walked into. I quickly apologized for the mistake and got out of there. As I closed the door, bunny-lady yelled out, "Well, I will probably see you tonight anyways!" UH....


More like twenty minutes later and I had arrived at the correct hostel which happened to be on the top floor of an elevator building (thank gd). However, before I made it upstairs, I first walked past the sex shop that was in the bottom of the building of where I was staying. By the time I got upstairs, I was just so thankful that a guy opened the door wearing normal cargo shorts and a normal t-shirt, and was not dressed up in any kind of furry animal costume, that I let out a huge sigh of relief and decided the bunk beds and whatever else came along with my hostel wasn't going to be that bad after all. At least not after seeing the first one I thought I was staying at.


Oh, and to my dismay, I did see the bunny-lady at a bar that night. No, I am not kidding. I noticed the strange dreadlocks, looked at her face and realized it was her-- sans the bunny suit. 

Today, May 5, is Liberation Day in the Netherlands. I know, a lot of holidays this month-- oh wait, this week! Liberation Day is celebrated each year to mark the end of Nazi Germany Occupation during WWII. Yesterday, on May 4, there was two minutes of silence to commemorate the people who fought and died in WWII. I am pretty sure I was in my pilates class when this moment of silence was supposed to be happening but regardless I am sure the Queen at the very least was silent! And, now today comes time for all the talking you want, as much of Holland is crowded with festivals and what not to celebrate. I am actually going into Amsterdam today to do some touring, specifically I am going to go to the Dutch Resistance Museum-- which happens to document what life was like in the Netherlands during WWII-- and then will walk around and see what celebrating is happening on that side of the canals. Should be nice! 


I'm telling you, I just feel bad for everyone who has to clean up at all the mess from Queens Day. And then, on top of it, the Dutch decide to celebrate another holiday less than a week later. They better get overtime. 

Someone is out to get me. Today I decided that today would be the big day. The day that I FINALLY stop talking and start doing. Manicures that is. After all my complaining and what not on my blog, I decided after a full three months it was finally time to give in and pay the stupid 20 euro to get my nails done. And then, pay the surcharge for them to actually use nail polish because for some unknown reason to me, a manicure in this neck of the woods does not include the actual act of painting your nails. But No. "No one is in till Saturday, would you like me to put you down for Saturday?" UH NO THANKS! (Besides, I am in Budapest on Saturday.)


Looks like I will be painting my nails. Once again... 

Dear Verizon,


Why do you charge so much money for every little thing I do on my phone when in fact I am already paying for the international plan? Please explain to me why you feel the need to do such a thing. This morning my Dad bbmed me letting me know of the lovely charges you have thus far billed him for. How exactly am I supposed to send pictures of myself and all of my adventures to my mom and dad to let them know I am alive and well if it costs my entire month's worth of data to do so? Clearly, you did not have those in mind who actually like to keep in constant communication with those half way across the world. Oh, and did I mention that things called twitter and Facebook are pretty big now-a-days? Must you punish me every time I decide to check out whats happening? I mean all I had to do was press "refresh" on my twitter feed to see the many newspapers and journalists tweets about Osama Bin Laden being killed. Are you reaaaaaaaaally going to charge me for wanting to be informed of what is happening in the world?


Yours truly,
The girl who only blogs from her computer because it is clearly too expensive to write blog posts from her blackberry. SIGH.

I must be getting old. I clearly am not very good at staying out till 4 am any more. Last night I was wide awake at 4, once again, and decided to take a sleeping pill. Well, that resulted in me waking up at 12:45 today, eating oatmeal, and then laying back down until 3 since I still felt sleepy. I seriously need to get back on schedule. This just won't cut it. Then again, I think the real issue is that I technically don't have to wake up until 3 if I don't want to while I am abroad in the NethaNethalands. True life: I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays**. 


**and there happens to be 2 national holidays on Thursdays between now and when I go home...

Well, Queens Day was most definitely a success. The Queen of the Netherlands should feel very honored that this many people dress up in orange and party in her name. I mean, it's not everyday you get to attend a humongous outdoor party celebrating the Dutch monarchy. And despite all the beer that was going around, I decided that while it was most definitely a party, Queens Day is also a cultural experience. As someone living in Utrecht for 5 months, I am really happy I was here to celebrate this holiday. Not only did I get to stand up amongst thousands of Dutch people and pretend I knew the words to their National Anthem, but I also got to see the first floor of a beautiful Dutch home right behind the Van Gogh museum since a Dutch woman was kind enough to let me, Rachel, and the 3 Dutch teenage girls we followed into the house use her bathroom. Talk about nice! As we left her husband yelled out "Don't drink anymore!" to us in Dutch (kindly translated to us by our new Dutch friends) which I took to meant: "This isn't going to happen again". Fair enough. 

Relatively empty when I first arrived at Museumplein at 10:30 in the morning... I began to think this so-called crazy day was not so crazy at all

Uhh... not exactly empty anymore.

The aftermath. Beer, Orange, and more Beer. EVERYWHERE!

Although it was a great day, it was definitely a long one. After catching the 8:55 am train into Amsterdam, I got on a 2:17 am train home, which was unfortunately delated for 25 minutes, to walk into my door at a quarter to 4. Needless to say, I was not very surprised when I woke up today at 3 pm. The actual celebration in Museumplein began at 12 and lasted till about 9 at night and then all you had to do was walk into any bar or club and find another party that had just started. 


 I highly recommend visiting the Netherlands for Queens Day if you ever get a chance-- you will not be disappointed.