the Netherlands: amsterdam

When I landed in Amsterdam I was in for a rude awakening...I hadn't checked the weather report before flying, but I assumed it would be summer weather, just like it was in kyiv, and Barcelona...it wasn't...AT ALL...it was only 15C! I was not prepared, to say the least...
I had the address of my hostel, and the name, but I didn't really know how to get there...so I went to the information desk, and the guy told me what to do...a quick train ride, then a quick walk...
I'm glad I knew the name and the directions, and I had google mapped it before arriving, otherwise it would've been very difficult to find...it was actually quite large, and quite new, but located in a residential area not so close to the city centre...plus they didn't have street signage pointing the way, as hostels that have been around for a while do...

Eventually I did get there, chatted with another girl in the room for a while, then tucked in for the night...
The next morning I was up early to make sure I got to the airport on time to pick up Katie for her first trip to Europe! As she arrived she told me she'd had a first class seat, how awesome is that???
We took her stuff back to the hostel, and left it in my room, as the clerk told us she would sleep in there that night...we got back early enough that we were able to eat breakfast before heading out...not much variety, and all carbs, but at least it was food...

The hostel had given me an information sheet when I checked in, telling which trams to take to go different places of interest to tourists...we used the information to find a tram to take us to an area called leidesplaan (sp?)...i didn't have a guidebook, so i was feeling rather naked...i'd located a bookstore close to this tram stop, so that was the first order of the morning...the bookstore dealt only with travel related books/maps/etc, totally awesome...they had a special deal going, so i got a couple travel journals along with my guidebooks...yahoo!

we spent the rest of the day just wandering wandering wandering...the city centre of amsterdam is built on and around canals, with small bridges going over each of them in many places...
we found anne frank's house at one point, but the line seemed awfully long, so we decided to come back later...when we came back later that evening, the line was still long, but quite a bit shorter than we'd seen earlier, so we joined up...it was really windy, so i was cold in only my t-shirt and skirt...

i visited anne frank's house with my family when i was only 11 years old (i think that's the right age?) and i remember thinking it was so small...i don't know why, but during this visit the house seemed quite big to me...that being said, considering the number of people who lived there, and weren't able to go outside at all or even out of just a few rooms, it is really small...8 people hid in a small part of the house, just missing the end of the war...it's still a mystery as to who turned them in to government officials...

we went to a pancake restaurant for dinner...a huge list of options for flavours, both savory and sweet...they aren't pancakes as american's think of them, more like blinis or crepes...we split a pancake with bacon and cheese, YUM...
on the way back to the hostel we bought 24 hour public transport passes on the tram, we hadn't been able to do it in the morning...considering katie had to deal with jet lag, she did really well and didn't seem tired at all...
the next morning we had the same breakfast at the hostel, then started walking...we wanted to take a few photos of places we'd seen from the tram the morning before...

we walked through one park, found a big supermarket, etc...in the supermarket i found the sprinkles section: YUM...how has this tradition not spread to other countries? who wouldn't want sprinkles on toast as breakfast??!!
after a while we caught a tram to the central train station...in front of the station are several places to hop on a tour boat, or park your bike...(there are bikes EVERYWHERE in amsterdam)...we followed one of the streets, which took us to a central platz called the dam...there is a palace on one side, a statue in the middle...the guidebook told us this is where demonstrations and big announcements take place...

after a bit of people watching we kept walking, eventually getting to the bloemenmarkt, which was originally a floating tulip market...it doesn't float anymore, but it's still huge...you can buy tulip bulbs, in any color or variety...tulips are my favourite flower, i would've bought them if i had been able to carry them with me...
we used free wifi at a nearby cafe, also warming up a bit...from there we walked to a company called gassan diamonds...the netherlands is one of the most popular places in the world to buy/sell diamonds, and this place offered a free tour of sorts...we got an explanation of how diamonds are made; we were also able to see artisans cutting diamonds and got an explanation as to how this works as well...the last part of the 'tour'  was in a secure room where our guide showed us diamonds...

he gave us the information (cut, clarity, carats, etc) about each diamond, then we were able to take a closer look...i have expensive taste :)...in the souvenir shop katie and i each took advantage of the free coffee/tea...
afterward we wandered a bit more, just to see where we would end up...we got to the central train station, and decided to hop on a tram just to see where it went...fun :)
after dinner at a thai place we went back to the pancake restaurant from the night before and indulged in a dessert pancake...YUM...

after returning from haarlem the next day, we hopped on another tram we hadn't ridden, this one went in a totally different direction...this one we rode all the way to the end, then went all the way back into the city...we found a new place to have dinner...meatballs for our main course, then two different dessert options...mini pancakes with ice cream and a big pancake with bananas and chocolate...YUM...
the next morning we had breakfast, then checked out of the hostel...we figured out how to store our bags at the central train station, then walked to one of the many canal boats for a tour...the boat we chose cost 8euro...on the other side of the same canal the boat tour cost 15euro...katie and i both wondered if it was really twice as good a tour...we both enjoyed the tour, even though it sprinkled from time to time...
as we got off the boat, we walked by a church and found the opening to be only five minutes away, so we stuck around...the inside of the church was pretty, i'm glad we saw it though it wasn't stunning...

we stopped at another random restaurant for lunch, i had steak...not the best steak i've had, but not awful...the best part of the meal was the brownie i had for dessert at another cafe...YUM...
from there we walked back to the train station, and left the city...

the Netherlands: haarlem and national park zuid kennemerland

katie and i both wanted to ride bikes in the netherlands, but both of us were a bit worried about riding in a crazy city like amsterdam...every dutch person rides a bike regularly, kids learn how to ride at a young age...even before they learn how to do it on their own, they are in bucket seats on the bikes of their parents...one day while katie and i were walking around amsterdam we saw two moms riding along with their kids in front seats...one of the kids was asleep, the mom was holding up his head with her hand while riding along...i wish i'd been able to capture the image with my camera but they went by too quickly...

we took a train to haarlem, the ride was cheap and only 15 minutes...in one area of the train station we were able to find a bike rental place...the prices were definitely lower than the prices we'd seen in amsterdam...we both rented cruiser bikes, with foot brakes and not a lot of gears...
almost immediately i regretted not renting fancier bikes...it was windy and rainy, YUCK...we both had rainjackets on, but lets face it, with that kind of wind we knew we were both going to be soaked...for both of us, the only concern was for our cameras and phones...

we were able to follow a main road out of the city, all the way through zuid kennemerland national park, to the windswept beach...sooooo windy, but still fun...we parked our bikes near a police shack, then ran around a bit...we didn't stay around as long as either of us would've liked, as the wind was strong, and the sand being blown into our legs was almost painful!
we spent at least an hour inside a cafe, warming up and drying off with hot chocolate...
we rode back into haarlem and explored the city...in terms of aesthetics, it reminded me of amsterdam...canals, bridges, churches, etc...there was one big difference though: far fewer people...

when we parked our bikes near one of the churches we finally found the locks on the bike, so we weren't stressed anymore about someone taking our bikes while we were inside...(that was why we parked near the police shack in the national park, wouldn't people be less likely to steal from right next to a police shack?)
there is a center platz in the city, with the city hall on one side, a church in the middle, and other cute buildings...there must've been a festival/concert the night before, as it was still being cleaned up when we arrived...

we saw a bridge that turned sideways to allow boats to go through instead of splitting in half and raising up...(we also saw one of the latter bridges as well)...
we saw a windmill that was more for show than anything else...due to the crappy weather, the photos didn't turn out so well...(i spent much of the day trying to keep the lens dry, or wiping water drops off the lens)...

haarlem felt like a small town, very attractive...if it hadn't been such crappy weather we would've walked around more, both in the city and in the
national park...

spain: barcelona

for the first time in i don't know how long, i had an actual holiday...
i flew to a budget airport about an hour outside barcelona, then took a shuttle bus into barcelona...i checked in late, then went straight to sleep...
i spent a total of 10 days in the area, only leaving for a couple days to go to andorra...i did a couple day trips, but basically spent more time relaxing...i went to the beach, i saw the sights, i ate good food...i was able to have dinner three nights in a row with a garmisch friend who happened to be in the city at the same time...sooooo good to catch up with her...

i have always been impressed by the work of famous artist Gaudi, though it isn't really my style...if you want to see all the Gaudi sights in barcelona you'll need a lot of time, and a fair amount of money...the sights are all quite busy, most of them offer online booking that allows you to choose a specific time for your ticket, so you have it ahead of time and don't have to wait in line...
the busiest sight is definitely the sagrada familia...no matter how you buy your entrance ticket, (in person or online) there is a time printed on the ticket, a 15 minute period during which you have to enter the cathedral or you don't get to enter...

even though getting a ticket was kindof a pain, i'm glad they keep the number of people in the cathedral at any point under control...it was crowded, but it could've been a whole lot more crowded if there were no ticket times...
one morning i got up to walk to parc guell...it was neat to see, both for what it is (originally intended as a living neighborhood) but also as a place with nice views over the city...
barcelona is the capital of the spanish area of catalan, most locals speak catalonian...

i recognized some words, others sounded completely foreign...it took me a few days, but eventually i was able to speak in spanish (only a bit, not anywhere close to fluently) when i was in a restaurant or a store...
lots of people go shopping in barcelona, i did some of that as well...sometimes it was just so i could get out of the heat (35C or warmer each day!) and sometimes just because i wanted to wander...

when you visit one of the cathedrals they won't let you in at all if you are not dressed appropriately...and by appropriately i mean more in the way women dress...at least short sleeves (no tank tops) and skirt to close to the knees (no short shorts or skirts)...i'm guessing men aren't supposed to wear tank tops either...
i had fun listening to the different languages spoken on the beach...so many...the beaches were crowded, but i'm good at tuning everyone out, and just relaxing...

barcelona is a foodie city...food of all different types is available, so good...i figured out which tapas i like best, i indulged in indian food, as i had great seafood...there is so much good food in the city, you have to be careful not to eat EVERYTHING in sight...
there are parks all over the city, i spent time in quite a few...it's nice to sit on a bench and read for a while, or watch people...
i got lost a couple times walking through the old city...like any old city most of the streets aren't in quadrants, so it's easy to go the wrong way...oh well :)

i didn't visit any of the famous museums of the city, maybe during another visit...long lines for those too...
barcelona is awesome, as is the surrounding area...i would gladly go back :)

spain: montserrat

the next day i woke up and decided to go for another day trip...i made sure i was up early enough to walk to the train station and catch the earliest train to montserrat...it's a popular enough place to visit for tourists that the ticket machines offer a special combined (train and cable car) ticket...very convenient, yay!!
the train took me to a stop called montserrat, then i crossed the tracks and got in the queue for the cable car...the cable car took everyone halfway up the mountain...from there you can hop on a funicular to go higher up, or you can hike higher up without taking the funicular...

people go to montserrat because it's a beautiful location, and because it offers two things: culture and nature...montserrat is a monastery halfway up a mountrain...the outside of each building is rather bland, but the insides are very nice looking...the basilica is beautiful, and big...on the back wall, a little over halfway up the wall is a display case showing the black virgin...
there is a separate queue to go up close to the black virgin, i joined the line...when i jumped in, it was 'only' a 45 minute line, walking through several chapels along the way...

the guidebook says the queue is more than 2 hrs long later in the day...wow! there is someone standing close to the black virgin who keeps the line moving, you only get a few second by yourself in front of the black virgin...
by the time i got out of that line, the basilica was closed until 1200 for a worship service...to fill time, i started walking...i ended up going all the way up to where the funicular takes people...i had great views the whole time, looking out over the area...awesome...i was hot, and hoping the heat rash and heat exhaustion from the day before didn't get worse...two russian guys also hiking took off their shirts when they got hot...

as i returned to the basilica, i arrived not too long before another service started, this one open to visitors...the priest started by welcoming everyone in spanish, english, french, italian, and german...the first prayer was the Lord's Prayer, i loved hearing it spoken in all the languages of the visitors...
to get back to barcelona i did everything in reverse...cable car down the mountain, train back to the city...
if i had the chance, i'd go back to montserrat for more hiking!

spain: tarragona

tarragona is a UNESCO listed heritage city, about an hour from barcelona, south along the coast...a perfect day trip, since i was using barcelona as my base...my original plan was to see tarragona and a town called sitges in one day, but i ended up spending more time in tarragona than planned, and the public transport options between the two weren't very amenable to my plan...oh well...
the train dropped me off in tarragona, and i made my way up a hill and found the information office...they gave me a city map, an information brochure about the city, and ticket prices for the sights that make up the UNESCO listing...

to keep statistics, the info people asked me where i'm from...i told them i didn't know how to answer the question, as my citizenship is american, but i now live in ukraine...i dont know which box they checked for me...
i used the map to make my way to the closest sight, and bought an entrance ticket that allowed me access to all the sights in town for a simple 11 euro...awesome price, and it made everything convenient, especially since the ticket was good for two days...

my first sight was the former roman forum...there wasn't much left of this one, it was a bit hard to imagine how it used to be...it was during this stop that i started to realize it was going to be a hot day filled with sun sun sun...
along the streets to my next walk, i found a market building, the outside of which was covered with graffiti/paintings of the vendors inside...very cool looking...
i walked to the former city walls, when the city was roman...with my ticket i was able to walk nearly all the way around...some of the walls have been rebuilt, but not everything...it's a peaceful walk, or at least it is when there aren't too many other people around...

as i got to the end of the wall section i explored, i found a gate giving me entrance to the old city...i followed a few signs and eventually found the cathedral...there is only a small platz in front of the cathedral, no good way for me to get a photo of the whole front...the main entrance has statues of saints (i think) above it...very impressive...
the inside of the church is pretty big, with a main worship area in the middle...as i walked in, i realized mass was happening, but the church wasn't at all closed off...thankfully, all the visitors i could see were being respectful, and not walking down the middle aisle...

the sides of the church were all made into smaller chapels...some of the chapels had gates in front, some weren't blocked off at all...i don't know what the reasons were...
postcards in tarragona were expensive, i was excited when i found some for 'only' 40cents euro...i had to buy more drinking water, as i'd already drunk the 1.5L contained i'd brought with me...
my next sight was the old circ, which was also a history museum...i found it rather confusing to figure out where to go to see everything...there was an area that allowed me to look out over the whole city, both the beach/water side, and the old city side...very nice...

i ended up exiting and walking around to another entrance to see another area, which had underground tunnels...
my last sight was the roman amphitheatre...by this point i was really feeling the heat/sun, despite drinking a lot of water and eating a few snacks...since the amphitheatre is made of stone, it soaked up the heat then reflected it back at visitors...i loved walking around, though i was feeling rather faint...visitors can walk around the rows of seats, part of the ground in the middle, and look out over the outer walls to the beach!

after the amphitheatre, i found a cafe with a daily menu option for cheap...only 10 euro, and i got to have pasta, grilled chicken and veggies, a roll, a dessert, and water...good food :)
while i was eating i realized i had heat rash all over my legs...not fun...even after eating, i was still feeling faint, ugh...the feeling didn't go away until i woke up the next morning...
the train back to barcelona was easy:)

andorra: andorra la vella and santa coloma

when i looked at a map of europe, i noticed a small country called andorra in between spain and france...i did a quick check on google maps, which told me i could get between andorra and barcelona with a 3 hour bus ride...yahoo!
a few quick facts about andorra: they use the euro as currency...the official language is catalan, though most everything is listed in three languages: catalan, french, and spanish...i had fun comparing catalan to the other two and seeing what i could figure out...official population is just under 85,000 people...wikipedia tells me andorra has the highest capital city in europe!
my bus left barcelona at 1100, i arrived in andorra at 1400...i noticed when we crossed the border, but there was no stop, no check of passports, no stamps, etc...there was a border station, but i'm not sure who is required to stop there, if anyone...(i didn't end up with a passport stamp, i'm wondering if it's possible to get one at this station if i asked nicely? i need to go back to find out)...i tried looking online for this information, and didn't find anything posted anytime recently...is there an official place i can look?

andorra is a very small country, and when you visit, you're probably going to andorra la vella...this is part of the twin cities, the other 'city' is called les escaldes...i think the split between the two is a bridge...until i was looking at the labels of postcards, i didn't even realize there were two cities...(there are also small ski towns around the country, and another town down the road called santa coloma)...
the bus dropped me off, i think the station is in andorra la vella...i walked to my hotel, i think it was in les escaldes...(a 15 minute walk, at most)...

i checked in, and wasn't thrilled with the accomodations (extra charge for wifi, which wouldn't have reached to my room even if i was willing to pay for it) but it was fine for the night...
after figuring out a plan, i headed back out, stopping first for lunch...nothing special, just a random cafe...then to the tourist information center...(free wifi around that area!)...they gave me a city map and marked a walking tour of sorts, and told me where i could buy postcards :)
i walked through the historical center, which is pretty small, so it didn't take me long...

an old administration building, an old church, and i've forgotten what else...the aspect that makes this area kinda awesome is that it's all in a valley...several valleys actually...so everywhere you look, there are mountains in the immediate background...beautiful, and my camera isn't nearly good enough to capture it all properly...i need a lens that is much wider, and a better viewpoint...and a car so i could get out of the city and try to find more scenic spots...the actual cities of andorra la vella and les escaldes weren't anything to write home about...

since it didn't take long to see the 'sights' i walked into the shopping area of les escaldes...there are very few reasons people come to andorra...one is to say they've been to another country...a second reason is for the outdoor activities: skiing/snowboarding in winter, hiking/climbing in summer...
and third: duty free shopping...there are several malls set up for just this reason...i didn't see anything i wanted, so i watched people more than anything...
i did see a ferris wheel under contruction, i wonder if anything more was going to be added to that...there were kids playing pickup basketball in a somewhat rundown looking court just outside the construction zone...

the next morning i got up early, with the intention of walking to santa coloma to see a UNESCO listed church...i ended up getting there way early, i had to wait about 40 minutes until it was officially opened...
when it did open, the lady asked me if i wanted a free tour, i said why not...she asked what language, i said english, she said her english wasn't very good...i asked if she could go for french, of course she answered...so i got my tour in french, and i'm happy to say i think i understood most of what she said...yay!! i was even able to respond a few times and ask questions...yahoo!!

the church was built between the 9th and 12th centuries...i wanted to go in the tower, but the lady said that was unsafe...booo...i wonder if there are plans to fix that? part of the church is still original, including some of the walls, and the archway over the entrance...the roof is wood...it's really small, but i liked it...
after my tour the lady gave me a detailed brochure of all the cultural sights in andorra...too bad i didn't have a car to go see everything...
i walked back to my hotel, picked up my bag, and walked to the bus station to catch the next bus back to barcelona...
if i had more time, i would come back to andorra and hike as much as i could in the summer/fall...