Amsterdam, Day 2

(12:50am Amsterdam Time)

I have never walked more than I walk in Amsterdam! But it’s finally sunny (and really, really hot!) so none of us mind being outside.

Yesterday we walked all the way across the city to the famous Rijks Museum, known for their large collection of Rembrandt paintings. It was nice to get out of the sun for a couple hours but we were also glad to walk around the park and take pictures in front of the "I AMsterdam" sign.

Last night we went on a dessert canal cruise at sunset. I'm surprised to be saying it, but Amsterdam is one of the prettier cities I've ever been to.

Today we went to the giant park in Amsterdam, Vondelpark and we all splurged and bought lunch at a cafe by the lake.

Mostly though we've just been walking and exploring, I didn't think I'd love Amsterdam, but I really do! I'll be sad to leave on Friday!After that, we went to the Heineken Museum/Factory which included things like the "Brew-You ride, a 4-D experience!", and a make-your-own Heineken music video station (David, Lizzie, Camille and I sang the Amsterdam Theme song in Dutch and yes, we have a copy).

Travel Day (Brussels to Amsterdam)

(6:00pm Amsterdam Time)

We are on our way to Amsterdam! Right now we are driving through meadows with massive windmills on either side of us and there are twice as many bikes on the road as cars, it's awesome!

Belgium was amazing, the first day in Brussels we visited the EU, which we were all really excited about. Unfortunately the only time slot for the presentation we were attending was at 9am, meaning that we had to leave our hotel at 8am (7am London time). Long story short, after our first night in Belgium it was almost impossible to wake up and sitting through a two-hour presentation on the voting and legislation procedures of the EU was even more difficult. So in order to stay awake we made a list of possible "team names" for our group. Possible names included Team Barrilicious (After our professor, Barry), Team Amurica, Team Awesome Sauce (Parks and Rec Reference) and Team Nap-time (for obvious reasons). But after we overcame our tiredness, the EU itself was fantastic!

Yesterday we went to Brugge, a historic town with canals running though it. We were excited to see the old buildings, the canals and the famous Michelangelo statue, but more than anything we were excited to be in the city with the highest chocolate per capita ratio in the world. Yum!!

Last night we went to a bar with the most famous beer in the world: Delirium Tremens. The night consisted of me trying to understand why people like beer (I still don't understand), David trying to keep his roommate out of trouble (he didn't succeed), and Lizzie warding off the advances of men left and right (one guy even cried because she wouldn't dance with him, he didn't understand why his full-proof pick-up line "you have sexy legs" didn't make her swoon).

We did a lot of amazing things in Belgium, but my favorite was the Atomium which was a huge structure built for the world fair, the whole thing looked like a molecule with spheres connected by tubes but it was so large that you could walk inside the tubes to get to the different spheres and each sphere had something in it: a restaurant, a museum, a cafe, etc. From the top sphere you can see all of Brussels! Eating waffles in a sphere suspended hundreds of feet off the ground = the perfect Belgium moment.

And we are looking forward to Amsterdam!

Brussels, Day 2

(12:00am Brussels Time)

We are in Brussels! I wanted to post some pictures, but I don't have enough time to write a long blog.

I hope everyone is healthy and happy back home, we couldn't be having a better time!

Miss you all!

Travel Day!

June 22th
(2:00pm London Time)

We are crossing the English Chanel, playing SPOONS! It’s cold and windy outside but we’re happily sitting in the lounge where’s it’s warm and cozy ☺

We’re sad to be leaving London; we had such an amazing time! The day after my last post we went to Hyde Park and visited Kensington Palace.

On our way home we decided to get off the Tube at Leicester square to see if we could find some discounted tickets for a show. Of course it was pouring rain but we were determined to get the lowest price possible. So we put newspaper over our heads and sprinted from discount ticket booth to discount ticket booth, wheeling and dealing until we settled on fairly cheap (back-row) tickets to Mouse Trap, the longest running in

play in the world. Having finally bought the tickets we looked down at our watches, it was six thirty and the play started at seven thirty. Our hair was matted with rain and we looked like we had just spent the whole day in the park (because we had). At this moment I remembered our family motto when it comes to plays: if you’re not running it’s not a play. So we ran all the way back to the Tube, and from the Tube to our Dorm.

We got dressed in 8.5 minutes and bought a pizza out of the vending machine downstairs (which was actually pretty cool, it makes it in the machine right there in front of you!). We then ran back to the Tube, and from the Tube to the play, arriving with just enough time to get little glasses of wine and compose ourselves enough to pretend that weweren’t obnoxious Americans but rather civilized, wine-drinking British Folk.

Yesterday we decided to fully embrace our tourist status. We went to the National Gallery (Van Gough, Monet, Botticelli, Michelangelo and Da Vinci), the National History Museum (Rocks, Dinos, Jewels and Animals), Buckingham Palace (we may or may not have seen the Queen, it’s up for debate), Covent Gardens (shopping and tea) and St. Martin’s Cathedral (brass rubbings!!!).

London Day 5

First of all, Happy Father’s Day!! To all of our Fathers out there, we all really appreciate everything you do for us (especially for sending us on this amazing trip!!)

Secondly, don't forget to check out Lizzie's blog for more pictures (she has an AMAZING camera!): www.whereslizzie.tumblr.com!

Our first weekend in Europe is coming to a close! So Lizzie and I decided to start off the week with fresh start! We went for a nice twenty-minute jog and committed ourselves to eating better on the rest of our trip! For breakfast we had a chocolate croissant and mochas. Oh well, we gave it our best shot!

Yesterday we went to a huge festival in Trafalgar Square, where we saw the best twenty minutes of all the popular musicals currently playing in the city! As The Jersey Boys started to sing “Tell It To the Rain”, it started pouring rain. Instead of running in fear (like Las Angelinos would have done), people just pulled out their umbrellas and huddled together while continuing to sing at the top of their lungs.

Today we went to the Tate Modern Art Museum where we spent half of our time trying to figure out what was art and what was just part of the building.

After enjoying all of the modern art that we could stand, we headed over to St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s amazing that a telephone with a lobster on it and a building like St Paul’s can even be catalogued under the same general title of “Art”!

London Day 3

(9:00pm London Time)

Fun Fact: WHARF stands for Warehouse At River Front!

It’s our third day in London, and we are finally getting used to the English way of life. We are even perfecting the intricacies of the Tube, despite David trying to launch himself into a car as the doors were starting to close ultimately getting wedged between the sliding doors and dangling there for a few seconds before he was able to pull himself to safety. We also couldn’t resist playing the “see-who-can-keep-their-feet-planted-the-longest-without-holding-on-to-anything” game in the Tube, which earned us some scornful looks from the Brits. In our defense, our car was relatively empty when we started playing, and once it got crowded we were already deep in the heat of competition so we couldn’t just stop! (I’m sure David would appreciate me noting here that he won, thereby restoring his honor after the previous Tube experience).

Yesterday we went downtown to visit the House or Commons and the House of Lords. Both house are divided into two sides, the Government sits on one side and the Opposition sits on the other side. This allows for some pretty fierce back-and-forth, the kind of which you would never see in the US Congress! Imagine if all of the special interest groups were given half of the room in the House of Representatives and allowed to ask any question about any bill. We were also highly entertained by the wigs that the clerks are still forced to wear in order to maintain tradition.

Today we went to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian, how cool to think we walk from one half of the world to the other today!

London Day 1

(6:30pm London Time)

Hi Family and Friends!

I left you at 11am yesterday and arrived in London at 11am this morning! Thus far, I have resisted the urge to nap, though my less courageous travel buddies have given in to the temptation and are now snoring on my bed (see picture 1).

We arrived at our dorm with little trouble, but upon arriving turned right back around to find food. We ate at a charming deli right down the street from our dorms and then headed over to the largest flea market in London. Here we strolled around, drank lattés and felt very European (and somehow resisted the urge to buy anything!).

After the flea market, we went to the nearby grocery store and bought bread, cheese and wine, which (judging by the current energy in this room) will probably end up being not only lunch for the next couple days, but also dinner tonight! Woohoo! Party Animals!

Overall, we have had a fabulous first day - a lot of excited chitchatting and giggles from Lizzie and I (David’s giggles are more like spontaneous manly laughs, but they convey the same excitement). Once these two wake up, we will head over to the orientation where we’ll finally get to meet the rest of our classmates – so stay tuned for more stories to come!

Lots of love!

PS. This is the view from our dorm window on the 22nd floor!