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. 

Off to catch at 8:55 am train into Amsterdam. Oh, how I love holidays that need to start being celebrated as the sun starts rising.....

Orange it is... (yes, thats a crown on my head trimmed in orange feathers)

Tomorrow is Queens Day in the Netherlands. It is the biggest holiday of the year-- often compared to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Everyone dresses in orange and parties in the street, and the canals-- in a boat, hopefully--, all day long to celebrate the Queens birthday. The story goes that Queen Beatrix's (the current Queen of the Netherlands) birthday is actually on January 31st, but April 30 was her mother's birthday, Queen Juliana, and Queen Beatrix decided to keep the celebrations on the same day. Pictures of the celebrations to come!


Happy Queen's Day!

Windy Utrecht. Week 1.

Windy Barcelona. Week ??? (too many to count).

GUESS WHICH PICTURE I AM HAPPIER IN... 

I will give you a hint, it is NOT the one where I am fully bundled, still freezing, being blown away by what I am convinced was tornado like winds. 

Amsterdaaam

Bikes. Beer. Canals. Clogs. Flowers.

Amsterdam at its finest.

Just your typical house in Amsterdam. Flowers and bike included. 

On the first day in Amsterdam we walked around the Red Light District. On the last day we took a tour of the Heineken factory and all had beers together. Guess which one made me feel less awkward...
Yup, you guessed right: Beer. 

Okay, so I may or may not give in and buy a miniature version of these clogs to put on my keychain. Thoughts? If so, I will make the purchase in the airport en route home as nothing screams tourist more than having a little pair of dangling wooden clogs hanging from your keys. Kinda like if you are from NY and have a keychain with "I <3 NY" written on it. No offense if you do buuuuut.... 

Flower Power

Keukenhof, Holland. Pretty much, the Disney Land of flowers. Unhealthy food included. You can look at flowers while eating waffles, strawberries covered in whip cream and powdered sugar, or a good old ice cream cone. Your pick. 

Barcelona in Pictures

Beach in Barcelona

A Barcelona Street

The Hebrew Letters on this wall is one of the only remains of the Jewish Quarter that once existed in Barcelona. As you can see, not everyone likes this...

To each his own

Sangria at Cerveceria Catalana... unreal. GO.

Park Guell

Candy At the  Markets!