09.

Explore the world with an open mind, a study carry-on and clothes that don't wrinkle. 

This past week has been full of amazing adventures in Spain and Holland. Welcome to Spring Break 2017... 

BARCELONA. 

18.03.2017 - 22.03.2017

Climbing to the top of Montserrat. 

On our first day in Barcelona, we decided to take an hour train ride outside of the city to go discover what Montserrat has to offer. The mountain itself houses the Montserrat monastery and basilica and the overall site has a very important religious and historical significance. There are several ways to get up to the monastery - by car, by cablecar, rack railway or well, by foot. We found it extremely easy to go to the Espanya Rail Station in Barcelona and buy a ticket that gave us our train ride there and back along with a cablecar ticket up and down the mountain. I definitely suggest taking the cablecar over the rack railway. The rack railway looks pretty terrifying climbing up the steep mountain. But here is the thing... once you're to the monastery, you're only half way up the mountain! We decided to be ambitious and hike up the mountain and without knowing, we chose the hiking path that took us to the very top of the mountain! Honestly, this will go down as one of the most amazing experiences of my life. 

PRO TIP | If you plan on hiking the mountain, know that it isn't for the weak. It is totally doable if you set your mind to it and have proper clothing and shoes on. So make sure you are prepared for at least a hour and forty five minute hike just to get to the top of the mountain!

Going on your own Gaudi Walking Tour.

If you do your research correctly, you can find plenty of different maps that you can follow by foot and get around to visit all of Gaudi's major work in Barcelona. But, just as a warning, Gaudi's works are pretty spread out throughout the city so if you ever decide to do this, don't be afraid to use Barcelona's metro. It seemed very fast, safe and timely. We only managed to get to 2 out of our intended 6 Guadi stops because we stayed so long at each stop and well, let me show you why... 

Park Guell... amazing views of Barcelona! 

Sagrada Familia.

Pavello Mies Van der Rohe.

Because my group of friends and I are arch nerds, of course we had to check out Mies Van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion. It was a really great opportunity to have the ability to move around the space and touch the materials... so much different than learning about the pavilion through lecture slides or a textbook. Another added plus was that the pavilion was basically empty when we were visiting, so we were able to wander around for quite a bit and really feel the overall space. 

Nightlife in Barcelona.

They aren't kidding when they say that people go out until the sun comes up in Barcelona. Routine nights call for dinner at 10:30 PM, bars at midnight and clubs at 2 AM. We ended up checking out the nightlife on a Monday night and to our surprise the bars and clubs were packed. Ain't no sleep for the wicked, I suppose. A really fun bar we went to was called Espit Chupitos were all shots were €2 and basically every other shot you had involved fire and lots of flames. At one point during the night we were roasting marshmallows over shot glasses. If you're looking for a really funny time with your friends, get your best friend to do the Monica Lewinsky shot. Unfortunately, because I feel as though it has to do with the bar not getting caught up with any fire or safety codes, we weren't allowed to take any pictures or videos of the shots. After the bars we checked out this really fun club PACHA to find that it had access to the beach, great music and friendly people. 

El menjar. 

The food was absolutely mouth watering. If you love chicken, potatoes and seafood as much as I do then I think you'd be happy in Barcelona. Similar to how wine is in Italy, Sangria was cheaper than bottled water in Barcelona. There were always deals to be found and I feel like the deals weren't necessarily calling out for tourists. For a €12 lunch you got an appetizer, entree, dessert and drink of choice. Another really good place to get lunch would be at the market off of La Rambla. You can find smoothies and juices for €1 and plenty of fresh fruit, meat and veggies. But the best thing that I tasted in Barcelona came from Arume. Amazing restaurant, amazing food. The first picture you will see below is Arume's sea food paella that I happily devoured and I would eagerly eat it over 100 more times. 

 

AMSTERDAM. 

22.03.2017 - 27.03.2017

Walk around, shop, visit the I Amsterdam Letters.

Considering our first day was almost all traveling from Barcelona to Amsterdam, once we got settled into our beautiful Bed & Breakfast, we decided to take it easy and just get lost along the canal sided streets. At one point we stumbled across the I Amsterdam Sign. 

Van Gogh Museum.

Amsterdam's Van Gogh museum holds the largest collection of Vincent Van Gogh's work. I feel as though the museum did an excellent job at taking the visitor on a chronological journey of Van Gogh's life and his works. It was very interesting to read some of his letters to his family members or friends and it was also very fascinating to understand which art pieces went along with varying mental states that Van Gogh experienced later on in his life. 

Also, currently on view is the exhibit Prints in Paris 1900: From Elite to the Street. Popular graphics such as posters and prints linked art and the hustle and bustle of city life during the 1900s Paris Avant-garde. Artists like Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre Bonnard are just a couple of artists who had work on display for their efforts to merge art more completely with daily life. 

The Heineken Experience. 

This tour of the process of how Heineken is made is truly a fun experience and the crew behind the scenes here really get guests to participate in understanding the brewing process. There is a museum section highlighting historical facts and then the tour becomes a little bit more light hearted where you get to encounter fun videos, live informative talks, hop tasting, beer tasting and simulator rides. When you're all done with the process you are then gifted two Heineken beers, which of course is a serious plus! 

Biking in the tulips of Sassenheim.

We ventured out of the inner city of Amsterdam a bit one day and decided to rent some bikes. I highly encourage anyone to steer away from renting bikes in the center of the city because honestly, there is a lot of bike traffic and I can see that it would be difficult for most people who aren't used to biking communities to keep up in the bike lanes. And if you venture out of the city in the spring time, then you will probably come across some beautiful tulip fields! 

Canal Tours.

I have really come to believe that seeing a city via it's waterways gives you an entirely new perspective. We found a simple 1 hour canal tour through Lovers Canal Cruises. We were able to see a lot in this one hour and learn lots of new facts too. For example, when you look at the houses in Amsterdam you will notice that there are extremely strong joists that you can see jutting out from the attic area. These allow for washer machines, couches, etc.. to be brought up and down to the different levels because the stairs in most of these houses are basically impossible to get up without anything in your hands because they are so steep. 

Rijksmuseum. 

The Rijksmuseum is the Museum of the Netherlands and holds the work of extremely talented Dutch artists like Rembrandt. You'll also see the beautiful photography of Pieter Hugo who spent time documenting the children of a new generation, the children who were born after the abolition of apartheid in 1994. Part of the museum is also dedicated to an architectural, ship model making and ceramic exhibitions. 

Delft and it's famous Delft Blue Pottery. 

For another day trip, we decided to take a train to Delft, the city in South Holland known for it's famous Delft Blue Pottery. On our way to the Delftware Delft Pottery Delftse Pauw, we came across free ice cream and handmade clogs. We arrived at the Delftware showroom and received a free guided tour around the workshop to see the process of how the handmade Delftware is made. What beautiful and detailed work! 

Visiting the Anne Frank House.

I can't say I have any photos from this humbling experience because I really wanted to respect the "No photos" rule. If you aren't able to buy tickets in advance, typically ticket sales are booked at least two months in advance, I highly encourage you to take the time to stand in line for the three hours. You will not regret it. 

And all of the food! 

If you ever go to Amsterdam, be sure to check out FoodHallen. This place has a hipster vibe in a market setting where there is a food booth for everyone's liking. There was plenty of falafel, bitterballen, cheese, stroopwafel, soup, yogurt and breakfast goods tasted during this trip!