via @PostSecret

Spring Break Trip: Brussels

Brussels, Belgium: land of chocolate, waffles, and beer. What more could you ask for?

Well, other than for more people to be fluent in English.

We also took a ~20 minute train to visit Sarah Trevor in Leuven, Belgium (land of the Stella) - but that requires an entirely separate post...

Interesting things about Brussels:

- Brussels is famed as "the capital of Europe" because it is home to European Politics (the EU)

- Brussels has two official languages: Dutch and French. English was on advertisements and we could hear it all the time in music played there, but it was hard to communicate with a lot of people (compared to Amsterdam, where nearly everybody spoke English). There are 3 official languages in Belgium, and the third would be German. Most people that knew English there knew it as their fourth language.

- Brussels is also famous for being the home to this guy, the "Manneken Pis", otherwise known as "little peeing boy". Pretty sure it's very easy to go past this a million times without ever noticing it is there.

Also, nobody could explain to us why there was a sauce called "Americaans" or exactly what the sauce was... But I will tell you... it was delicious.

Americaans sauce is #winning.

Spring Break Trip: Amsterdam

In Amsterdam we also saw The Anne Frank House, which was magnificent. It was very somber and depressing, but probably one of the highlights of the spring break trip because it was immensely interesting and very well-preserved.

We also checked out the Van Gogh museum, which contains the largest Van Gogh collection in the world - however, not Starry Night. Wah wah wah. It was definitely worthwhile, regardless, seeing as we spent 3+ hours there.

We went on a "Free Europe" tour, which actually was amazing and though it took around 4 hours it never felt like it was dragging or reached a lull point. It was probably one of the best tours I've had so far. (It's hard to imagine the tour being too boring if it starts off going through the Red Light District).

Other interesting facts about Amsterdam:

- Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in the world. It is located in the city centre. (Nerdy fact, but we found it interesting).

- Amsterdam is home to more than 200 coffee shops, which are legally allowed to sell up to 5 gm of cannabis per person (even though selling drugs is illegal, apparently the authorities turn a blind eye to this?)

- Amsterdam has more than 150 canals and 1,200 bridges within its bounds. (and the water is replaced thoroughly every 3 days, so there's no bad stenches! haha)

- If the sea level rises even slightly, Amsterdam would be one of the first cities in the world to drown, as its altitude is below sea level.

- Amsterdam has one of the most famous Red Light Districts in the world with window prostitution.

- Some of the worlds narrowest houses are in Amsterdam. When houses were built, they were charged highly by their width.

- Amsterdam has over 1 million bikes but only 700,000 Amsterdammers. Hm.

- Every Dutch person has at least one bike and there are twice as many bikes as cars.

- Amsterdam was the first capital to allow gay marriage (the Netherlands allow this since 2001).

- 75% of the entire worlds flower bulb production comes from Netherlands

Filling in the Pieces

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that the only thing more annoying than someone starting a blog is when they don't finish it.

I've been working on updating for a while now, as you can see by the desperation in my last post, but my computer has been freezing a lot over here and with the help of some friends back home (shout out to Jacob, my Apple expert) I figured out that I needed to free up some hard drive space so my computer could run efficiently (so I could make/edit videos and add pictures to this blog!). And thanks to Kyle who oh-so-conveniently bought me an external hard drive to take with me this semester, I have been able to finally clear off enough space so I can edit video and live life pleasantly again.

Nerdy jargon aside, I will be filling in the gap that is "March 2011" over the next few days. Lots of ground to cover, so stick with me.

As always, I promise to load it with pictures and video.

PS - it's not going to be in perfect order, but I will try my best!

It's March, Not February.

If you're an avid reader of my blog (ha, silly you), or even if you're not, you've probably noticed my lack of posting since February.

I AM SORRY.

Here's my excuses:

- My old roommates McKenna & Breanne visited from Spain,

- Followed by my entire family (!) for a week!

- Followed by a trip to Edinburgh, Amsterdam, and Brussels (I just got back Monday night)

- And now I'm getting ready for Kyle & others to come over for St. Patrick's Day

So, it's all very exciting, but it means I'm barely around to do any major editing or blog updates. I'm planning on maybe doing some if I have time before bed tonight, otherwise it won't happen until next week.

If you have Facebook, you can get a sneak peak via photos because all my pictures are up! Otherwise, ... patience is a virtue?

Update to come (soon, hopefully)!

Ben Folds

You can cross this off the life goal list:

- See Ben Folds again. In Dublin. 3rd row.

Here's some video from the show. I have pieces of more, but for the sake of everyone's sanity I won't post all of it. Also, I didn't record it on my flip video (just my regular camera) so it's a little lower quality.

We got to talk with the band after the show.

I look like a little girl on Christmas.

Diana, Toups, & I before Benjamin came out to serenade us.

Travel Quotes & Visitor #1

Catherine Toupin came to visit for the weekend from Norwich, England :)

(We also saw a Ben Folds concert, I'll update with that soon)

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

“You know why you like to travel? Everywhere you go, nothing belongs to you. When you’re home, you’re weighed down by your possessions.”

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

Photos off the coast are from Dun Laoghaire (in County Dublin) and the pub photo is from O'Donoghue's in Dublin's City Centre