Monday, April 6th- get to the train station to find out I can’t make the girl’s train… kill 6 hours walking around Paris (no luck with boots, sandals, a jacket, or a haircut), then finally got on a train around 2 PM. Met a nice family on the train from NY on Spring Break, on their way from London, through Paris to Bruges.. got to Amsterdam and met up with Eva (she’s freaking gorgeous.. we’re fb friends you should look her up haha). Her entryway freaked me out because it was dusty and gross and the stairs were like a Dr. Seuss book, steep and windy and creaky, but the apartment itself was spacious, comfortable, and light-filled. Courtney came in a bit and I grabbed a kebab for dinner…delicious but not exactly nutritious.. then we waited for Raina, who apparently lost her phone, slept on a bench outside of the airport since the Sevilla airport closes at 2 AM, and was lost in Amsterdam for an hour trying to find the apartment without a phone to call us… and went to my first ‘coffee shop.’ No worries, still didn’t smoke or anything.. I just can’t imagine putting that crap into my body, even if it’s “all natural” or whatever.
Tuesday, April 7th- waited around forever for R and C to get ready, then went to walk the 9 Streets, this cute shopping area with boutiques and vintage shops. Got the most delicious sandwich on the way, apparently every café in Amsterdam has delicious sandwiches with fresh ingredients on fluffy rolls, and a huge white chocolate chip muffin. Watched a crazy street performer for a while, debated a painting of a black and white windmill (ended up not getting it, Amsterdam doesn’t mean that much to me…) and went shopping. 4 hours of walking later and I was ready for a nap. We headed home to nap, then I tried to go out and see E and A at their apartment (another friend of A’s, this one from school, who they stayed with free the whole time.. so jealous), but after an hour of trying to find the right bus at 10 PM, I gave up. Yet another early night after a long day of walking.
Wednesday, April 8th- woke up early to a cloudy, chilly day. Walked to the market to see if I could find the famous stroopwafels, these caramel-filled waffle things that they sell on the streets, but failed. It started to rain, luckily I had my raincoat and umbrella, which really didn’t help keep out the freezing wind… but I kept walking anyway. I walked through all the main areas of town, past all the museums (I was already so sick of museums it wasn’t worth the hours of waiting in line in the rain), the Anne Frank house, grabbed a fabulous roll sandwich from a café, then headed ‘home.’ After deciding to skip Brussels and stick with the group, I changed my mind that afternoon and hopped on a train to Belgium. Got in around 8, after taking the wrong metro, a cab, leaving the hotel I reserved because it was in the middle of nowhere and very business-y, another cab with the rudest driver ever, and I was at my hotel. It was cute and warm and everything I wanted, and right in the center of town by tons of restaurants and shops. Grabbed a ‘Belgian dinner’ of meatballs and French fries.. which is not what I thought I ordered but I don’t read French so it’s what I got.. and headed to bed.
Thursday, April 9th- phew, I walked the entire city of Brussels in one day. Woke up, grabbed breakfast (which ended up being 12 Euros and had I known I would have just eaten fresh pastries every day… since Brussels is like Paris with the bakeries and such), and went to explore. Saw the Grand Place (gorgeous btw, you should go), Manneken Pis (the famous peeing boy, much smaller than I expected), the famous parks (Brussels and Cinquantenaire), ate a freaking AMAZING chocolate covered waffle which may have ruined waffles for me forever.. had tons of chocolate (no more Hershey’s for me.. except in s’mores of course), walked past more museums and monuments and shopping areas, then headed back to the hotel for a rest. Went to the cutest restaurant I’ve ever seen for dinner, got a bacon, cream, and goat cheese stuffed potato (their specialty, not usually my style but sooo good), sat for 2 hours people watching and listening to the table next to me (2 Belgians, a Portuguese man and an Italian), then walked through the Grand Place at night. Off to bed early again…
Friday, April 10th- another travel day.. with a 7 30 train to Paris (it was the only option), a 6 hour day in Paris walking through parks and having my last 3 cheese baguette and nutella/banana filled crepe, a bus ride to the airport, a long ass wait in line, a plane ride to Barcelona (Reus, in the middle of nowhere), a cab ride to Salou (a beach town 20 minutes from the airport), a tapas dinner (so good to be back in Spain and understand things again! Even though the food can’t compare to Paris and Brussels I don’t think)… then it started pouring yet again (bad luck with the rain in April..) and we headed back to the hotel to get warm.
Saturday, April 11th- a full day to kill in Salou, so we went to the beach and sat on the pier in the sun, enjoying being near the Mediterranean sea in a Spanish town again.. got lunch (twice), headed to the airport, waited forever, got on our delayed (Ryanair lies when they say they’re always on time!) flight, grabbed a 34 Euro cab (thanks a lot Semana Santa), walked for 10 minutes, and FINALLY was home sweet home. I can tell my señor missed me, and I haven’t seen my señora or brother yet, but I know they’ll have missed me too haha… couldn’t get to sleep til 3 AM from being so tired yet so amped up from being home.. it’s so great to feel at home here, I really missed Spain
Today- went for a run, unpacked, laid on the roof in the sun, and caught up on my tv shows until the internet went out.. again… Now just waiting for my señora to get home, cook dinner and chat with me all night =) Hope you’re having a Happy Easter and sorry for the longest post EVER
