We just had a looooooooonnnnggggg night. Again....like a bad ash laila. I almost dont have the energy to write this but we cant check into our room for another hour, so we need to pass the time and we dont ahev enough energy to try and explore the city. We got to the train station on time and waited at the platform as usual. Our train was a night train that stopped a few times in the netherlands, a few times in germany, at prague and then it was to continue to krakow and then moscow or something, so as you can imagine it was a veryyyyy long train. We knew our seats were number 53 and 54, but we didnt know which car we were in so we got in the last one (stupidly). We later figured out that we got on in car 204 and we were supposed to be in car 174 (dont worry, there werent actually 30 cars, there were more like 10) and we had to walk to our car INSIDE of the train. I dont know if youve been in european trans before, but the hallway that you can walk through is les than 2 feet wide, so if another person is walkng towards you, it is really hard to get around them and you have to sort if switch places, which is extra complicated when you have luggage. When you get to the end of a hall in a car, you have to go inbetween cars, which is annoying because there are automatic doors that you have to open to get out of one car and then another door to get into the next, but the doors close on you after like 5 seconds which got exhausting.
However, after walking through like 8 cars we finally got to our seats, which are 6 seats, 2 rows of 3 facing eachother, in a little room. rach and i had the middle seats and were across from eachother. the people who had the window seats were a cute nice dutch couple that we spoke to for a bit, but were kinda quirky. the other 2 guys in our cabin were really weird looking rocker stoner guys with like army green cargo shorts and olive t shirts with greasy long blonde hair in a ponytail going through the back of basball caps who brought with them each a 6-pack of heineken for the ride and didnt even sit in our little cabin for the whole time...who knows where they went, we were just happy because it allowed us to kinda of half lay down across their seat.
The beginning of the ride was fun beacuse for a little bit it was only Rach and I in the whole 'tzrif' (jokes) and we were looking at the cows and sheeps and farmland we were passing. Rachel noted that on one of the fields we passed "the cows look like they're sitting in a chet!"
Neither of us got much sleep...it was very on and off...but if you added it all together it might equal about 4 or 5 hours...(keep in mind that we were on the train for 15 hours). I have to say, getting up and stretching our legs when we finally reached our destination was one of the best feelings ever.
We got out of the train, got some crowns (czech money) from an ATM and then took the subway to our hostel, however our room isnt cleaned yet so we cant go in it yet so we are chillin in the lobby, thirsting for a nice bed and a drop of sleep. Our plan right now is to get in our beds as soon as possible and nap for hopefully less than 4 hours, then shower and go walk around a bit, grab dinner and then get a looooonnngggg sleep tonight so we can do A LOT tomorrow.
oy. tiredness.
-sleepy ZZZzzzzzzoe
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Days 11 and 12 - RIP tribal sunglasses...free replacement?
Well I have to say, the curse still continues. My rainbow tribal sunglasses from Fred Flare broke =[. Thats the 3rd pair of cool sunglasses that have broken..and it wasn't even my fault! The screw came out!! But anyways, yesterday we slept in and d9idnt get out of the hotel until around 12. We decided to check out the markets around the city...trust me, it was a LOT of walking. We started in some market known for vintage clothes near Anne Franks house. We looked around for a while, but a lot of it was junk and some of it was fake vintage again....bunz. We stopped for lunch at a cite traditional Amsterdam pub, that had typical food thats popular in Holland. Rachel got a Goat Cheese, Honey, and Walnut sandwich (try making that at Mosh.....if only we could milk those damn goats), and I ordered this random Holland dish called 'Two Kwekkeboom croquets with bread' which looked like two corndogs, but on the inside of the crusty thing was this creamy/cheesy/potatoey/meaty stuff, that was actually really good. I wasn't sure how you were supposed to eat it with the bread so i sort of spred it on the bread and made it a sandwich...(dont worry, ive got pics). Then we walked to another market called Waterlooplein and got some souvenirs and gifts for people (that includes you, Nick) and for ourselves.
Afterwords we went back to the hotel and rested for a bit and watched some weird TV shows, and then headed out for dinner. Of course, we went back to Wagamama cause it was so good and we got free drinks with coupons from our hotel. I got a Heineken just because thats what you do in Amsterdam.... After dinner we got dressed up and went out to some random bar near the Red Light District, but we werent really into the bar so we just walked around the Red Light District again...it was really funny. Its actaully sooo interesting. I'm definately gonna look more into it when I get home. Like what are the politics of the Red Light District? Do you have to work your way up, or what? We also noticed that some rooms were nicer than others, and some where in better locations, so how does it all work? Anyways, we were tired so we went back home and went to sleep.
Today we woke up and packed up all of our stuff (packing gets harder and harder each time we travel), and then rented bikes for 3 hours. If I didnt mention before, Amsterdam is FULL of bikes. Crossing streets and walking around is terrifying because people bike SOOO fast and dont really yeild to pedestrians. The streets are really confusing because there is a walking lane, a bike lane, a tram lane, and a car lane, and they are all the same height and same color so its hard to tell where you are supposed to be. I was on the hunt for a new pair of sunglasses, when I remembered that I saw my sunglasses (or at least, ones that looked just like mine) in the fake vintage store. So we biked back there and I went in hoping that they could give me a screw for them or something, but instead, they replaced mine for free!! But after I got the new ones, I realized that though they had the same print, they were different sunglasses and the ones i had were much better quality than the replacement I got...but hey, beggars cant be choosers, right?
We ate a nice lunch by a canal and then biked back to the hotel. We have a train to catch at 5:41...we're taking a NIGHT TRAIN to PRAGUE (my favorite city in the world)!! Its really exciting but also kinda nervewracking because we booked seats not bed (beds were more expensive) and we are gonna be on that train for 15 hours. Hopefully we'll be able to sleep....wish us luck?? Not sure about how connected we'll be to the internet in Prague, but hopefully our hostel will have a computer we can use.
Time for us to CZECH out! hahahhaha im so funny jokes jokes jokes
PEACE
Z-dawg
Afterwords we went back to the hotel and rested for a bit and watched some weird TV shows, and then headed out for dinner. Of course, we went back to Wagamama cause it was so good and we got free drinks with coupons from our hotel. I got a Heineken just because thats what you do in Amsterdam.... After dinner we got dressed up and went out to some random bar near the Red Light District, but we werent really into the bar so we just walked around the Red Light District again...it was really funny. Its actaully sooo interesting. I'm definately gonna look more into it when I get home. Like what are the politics of the Red Light District? Do you have to work your way up, or what? We also noticed that some rooms were nicer than others, and some where in better locations, so how does it all work? Anyways, we were tired so we went back home and went to sleep.
Today we woke up and packed up all of our stuff (packing gets harder and harder each time we travel), and then rented bikes for 3 hours. If I didnt mention before, Amsterdam is FULL of bikes. Crossing streets and walking around is terrifying because people bike SOOO fast and dont really yeild to pedestrians. The streets are really confusing because there is a walking lane, a bike lane, a tram lane, and a car lane, and they are all the same height and same color so its hard to tell where you are supposed to be. I was on the hunt for a new pair of sunglasses, when I remembered that I saw my sunglasses (or at least, ones that looked just like mine) in the fake vintage store. So we biked back there and I went in hoping that they could give me a screw for them or something, but instead, they replaced mine for free!! But after I got the new ones, I realized that though they had the same print, they were different sunglasses and the ones i had were much better quality than the replacement I got...but hey, beggars cant be choosers, right?
We ate a nice lunch by a canal and then biked back to the hotel. We have a train to catch at 5:41...we're taking a NIGHT TRAIN to PRAGUE (my favorite city in the world)!! Its really exciting but also kinda nervewracking because we booked seats not bed (beds were more expensive) and we are gonna be on that train for 15 hours. Hopefully we'll be able to sleep....wish us luck?? Not sure about how connected we'll be to the internet in Prague, but hopefully our hostel will have a computer we can use.
Time for us to CZECH out! hahahhaha im so funny jokes jokes jokes
PEACE
Z-dawg
Monday, August 2, 2010
Day 10 - free canal cruise....??
Yay! I am catching up with the blogss look at meeee oh yeah amsterdams da best whadduppppp?!
YESTERDAY, we woke up early, had some free breakfast, made some free lunch, and then went on a free canal cruise... (sorta). As I said in another post, Amsterdam is a city of canals. They wrap around the city, and are almost like streets; people live in houseboats (yes...boats that look like houses) and travel around this city on boats. They even have parties on boats! So of course, we had to be 100% tourist and take a canal cruise. Our hotel has a special deal with the canal cruise company so that we have to pay 10 euro instead of 13 if we buy the tickets from the hotel....so, thats what we did! We bought the tickets from the hotel, and went on the canal cruise. It was about an hour and a half long, and we passed a lot of pretty buildings but the tourguide wasn't very descriptive about what we were seeing...actually, it was a prerecorded tour that would say a sentence about something and then say the same sentance in like 5 other languages...which got really annoying (even though listening to dutch is always halarious). When we left the cruise, we realized that they didnt rip our collect our tickets, and because we werent so satisfied with the tour, we went back to the hotel and returned the tickets and got our 10 euros back because we told the people at the hotel that we decided we didnt want to do the cruise. so HAHA tourist trap! in your face! (sorry dad).
We were pretty hungry after the boat, so we enjoyed our ham and cheese sandwiches we made in the morning, and then walked towards Amsterdam's infamous floating flower market. There were tulip bulbs, souvenir shops, and pickpockets everywhere (dont worrry, we are cautious). I gotta say, the souvenirs here are the cutest so far. Slippers that look like traditional Holland wooden clogs and have cows on them for 10 euro??? Too cute. Should I get them?? (still havent decided, and every time I pass them i get more of an urge, however i dont need themm....hmmmm...what would tarbut say??) And a bunch of funny postcards, shot glasses, and weed paraphenalia that are all halarious (hey, its amsterdam). Neither of us bought anything because you cant really bring tulip bulbs back to the US, and we both wanted to do different things next so we split off. Rachel went to the Portuguese Synagogue, which is supposed to be very beautiful, and I went to the Heineken Brewery.
The brewery was sooo cool. It costs 15 euro, but it includes a free bracelet and 3 free drinks, and the whole 'Heineken experience' takes over 2 hours. It starts off by telling you the history of the Heineken company, and then leads into how beer is made and brewed. The four ingredients are Water, Barley, Hop, and yeast. Water and Barley make beer sweet and hop and yeast make beer bitter and ferment the sugar into alcohol. Heineken has a patented secret strain of yeast that they are obsessed with "which is why a cold glass of heineken tastes the same all over the world". I got to taste barley and water, called wort, which is sweet and good. Then we went though this thing called "brew you"which is like one of those movies where your seat moves and they spray water on your to make it more realistic, and it was like going thorough all the steps to a bottle of heineken, which was cute. There were a lot of photo and video ops in the whole thing and i took these ridiculous (and sort of embarassing) videos in front of a green screen that put me into a weird background....you can see one here:
http://www.heinekenexperience.com/wall-of-fame/singalong/4AE86361D99B6C8EED188B1EF34005C6
and another here:
http://www.heinekenexperience.com/wall-of-fame/singalong/F035B32FDCB5AEB50D1AC318DEB1196A
The whole thing ends in a bar where you can get your free beers and talk to other people which was cool. I have to say, I still hate most beer but I definately like Heineken more after all of that. At the gift shop I got a bottle of Heineken that says my name on it...SOOO COOOL. Its goin in the dorm room for sure.
After we met back at the hotel, Rach and I enjoyed some japanese at this chain that we've seen in all the countries so far called Wagamama (yummayumma! we might go back tonight!), and then headed to the Red Light Distrcit. Let me tell you, we were SHOCKED. It was very different from the way both of us pictured, but still INSANE. Basically, the area is pretty small, but its broken in half by a canal. There's a church in the middle of it, and around the church is where the most prostitutes are (ironic....). There are all these really narrow alleys, and when you walk through them there are like glass doors with a red UV light above them. In the glass doors are girls in like bikinis and skanky clothes looking at you and like winking at you and saying hello...(super weird...getting eye contact with them is so sketchy and freaky). Each glass door is attached to like a little room that has like a mirror, a bed, and a chair. The glass windows have red curtains, which are closed if the room is occupied (oy.) Its actually ridiculous...its like disgusting but reall interesting at the same time and really trippy. Its kind of fun to try and find all the alleys, because its like a maze and the prositutes are like sort of hidden so we were like 'we have to find more!!' Its interesting though because it seems like for the most part, its tourists walking past the windows and occasionally there will be a few high guys flirting with one of the girls but it doesnt seem like too many people actually go in with the prostitues, its just sort of to look. Rach and I were left with so many questions, like are prostitues in amsterdam like they are in the US(sketchy really poor women who have to do it to make a living and who are also like crackheads)? Or are the like the ones in Israel (captured and sort of owned and forced into it)? Or do they actually enjoy their job and make a lot of money?? So many questions....but it was too scary to ask any of them anything. Some of them looked really young, like our age, which was so weird...anyways....outside of that area with the church, there are some more main-ish streets which have a lot of sex shops, "coffeeshops", and paraphenalia shops. Its a crazy place....we might go back tonight.
Cheers,
Zo
YESTERDAY, we woke up early, had some free breakfast, made some free lunch, and then went on a free canal cruise... (sorta). As I said in another post, Amsterdam is a city of canals. They wrap around the city, and are almost like streets; people live in houseboats (yes...boats that look like houses) and travel around this city on boats. They even have parties on boats! So of course, we had to be 100% tourist and take a canal cruise. Our hotel has a special deal with the canal cruise company so that we have to pay 10 euro instead of 13 if we buy the tickets from the hotel....so, thats what we did! We bought the tickets from the hotel, and went on the canal cruise. It was about an hour and a half long, and we passed a lot of pretty buildings but the tourguide wasn't very descriptive about what we were seeing...actually, it was a prerecorded tour that would say a sentence about something and then say the same sentance in like 5 other languages...which got really annoying (even though listening to dutch is always halarious). When we left the cruise, we realized that they didnt rip our collect our tickets, and because we werent so satisfied with the tour, we went back to the hotel and returned the tickets and got our 10 euros back because we told the people at the hotel that we decided we didnt want to do the cruise. so HAHA tourist trap! in your face! (sorry dad).
We were pretty hungry after the boat, so we enjoyed our ham and cheese sandwiches we made in the morning, and then walked towards Amsterdam's infamous floating flower market. There were tulip bulbs, souvenir shops, and pickpockets everywhere (dont worrry, we are cautious). I gotta say, the souvenirs here are the cutest so far. Slippers that look like traditional Holland wooden clogs and have cows on them for 10 euro??? Too cute. Should I get them?? (still havent decided, and every time I pass them i get more of an urge, however i dont need themm....hmmmm...what would tarbut say??) And a bunch of funny postcards, shot glasses, and weed paraphenalia that are all halarious (hey, its amsterdam). Neither of us bought anything because you cant really bring tulip bulbs back to the US, and we both wanted to do different things next so we split off. Rachel went to the Portuguese Synagogue, which is supposed to be very beautiful, and I went to the Heineken Brewery.
The brewery was sooo cool. It costs 15 euro, but it includes a free bracelet and 3 free drinks, and the whole 'Heineken experience' takes over 2 hours. It starts off by telling you the history of the Heineken company, and then leads into how beer is made and brewed. The four ingredients are Water, Barley, Hop, and yeast. Water and Barley make beer sweet and hop and yeast make beer bitter and ferment the sugar into alcohol. Heineken has a patented secret strain of yeast that they are obsessed with "which is why a cold glass of heineken tastes the same all over the world". I got to taste barley and water, called wort, which is sweet and good. Then we went though this thing called "brew you"which is like one of those movies where your seat moves and they spray water on your to make it more realistic, and it was like going thorough all the steps to a bottle of heineken, which was cute. There were a lot of photo and video ops in the whole thing and i took these ridiculous (and sort of embarassing) videos in front of a green screen that put me into a weird background....you can see one here:
http://www.heinekenexperience.com/wall-of-fame/singalong/4AE86361D99B6C8EED188B1EF34005C6
and another here:
http://www.heinekenexperience.com/wall-of-fame/singalong/F035B32FDCB5AEB50D1AC318DEB1196A
The whole thing ends in a bar where you can get your free beers and talk to other people which was cool. I have to say, I still hate most beer but I definately like Heineken more after all of that. At the gift shop I got a bottle of Heineken that says my name on it...SOOO COOOL. Its goin in the dorm room for sure.
After we met back at the hotel, Rach and I enjoyed some japanese at this chain that we've seen in all the countries so far called Wagamama (yummayumma! we might go back tonight!), and then headed to the Red Light Distrcit. Let me tell you, we were SHOCKED. It was very different from the way both of us pictured, but still INSANE. Basically, the area is pretty small, but its broken in half by a canal. There's a church in the middle of it, and around the church is where the most prostitutes are (ironic....). There are all these really narrow alleys, and when you walk through them there are like glass doors with a red UV light above them. In the glass doors are girls in like bikinis and skanky clothes looking at you and like winking at you and saying hello...(super weird...getting eye contact with them is so sketchy and freaky). Each glass door is attached to like a little room that has like a mirror, a bed, and a chair. The glass windows have red curtains, which are closed if the room is occupied (oy.) Its actually ridiculous...its like disgusting but reall interesting at the same time and really trippy. Its kind of fun to try and find all the alleys, because its like a maze and the prositutes are like sort of hidden so we were like 'we have to find more!!' Its interesting though because it seems like for the most part, its tourists walking past the windows and occasionally there will be a few high guys flirting with one of the girls but it doesnt seem like too many people actually go in with the prostitues, its just sort of to look. Rach and I were left with so many questions, like are prostitues in amsterdam like they are in the US(sketchy really poor women who have to do it to make a living and who are also like crackheads)? Or are the like the ones in Israel (captured and sort of owned and forced into it)? Or do they actually enjoy their job and make a lot of money?? So many questions....but it was too scary to ask any of them anything. Some of them looked really young, like our age, which was so weird...anyways....outside of that area with the church, there are some more main-ish streets which have a lot of sex shops, "coffeeshops", and paraphenalia shops. Its a crazy place....we might go back tonight.
Cheers,
Zo
Day 9 - we wish we were still 17
On Saturday we woke up early and enjoyed the complementary breakfast at our hotel, and made sandwiches for lunch from the breakfast buffet (yay ham and cheez!) Then we went to the Van Gogh museum, which is around the corner from where we are living. When we bought the tickets, which were a whopping 14 euros, we realized that 17 and under get in free, and we said we were 17 but they needed ID so we still had to pay =( for the first time on this trip, we wished we were under age! The Van Gogh museu
was cool, but a bit of a rip off. They say that they have over 200 paintings, but most of them are his earlier works that are very average Nd dark and replicas of other paintings. They only have like 4 famous ones And the most famous, the bedroom, was under restoration. But we did learn more about van goghs life which was interesting.
After van gogh we went to the rijksmuseum which is full of old Dutch paintings that are so realistic it's scary. We didn't like it too much so we left quickly. We walked to this area called "the nine streets" which is a shopping district with a lot of expensive boutiques. Here were also some vintage stores which we discovered are such a gimmick! They sell urban outfitters clothes and say they are vintage and hey had my Fred flare sunglasses! The other vintage store called episode is a chain vintage store that has he same fake vintage stuff in every store! I saw the same sweater in the episode here and te one in Brussels. RE-DICULOUS!
After some window shopping we went to dinne and then to the Anne Frank house which was so cool and very moving. We went Ito the secret annex. Otto frank preserved the annex but decided that he wanted the rooms to remain unfurnished, but the photos that Anne put on The wall are intact and the stairs that go up into the annex are insane. Actually, we've realized that all stairs in holland are insanely small, steep, and windy. It's like straight out of a German expressionist film. At the end of he exhibit they had anne's actual diaries which was surreal to look at. We left the house and decided it was our favorite museum of our trip so far
was cool, but a bit of a rip off. They say that they have over 200 paintings, but most of them are his earlier works that are very average Nd dark and replicas of other paintings. They only have like 4 famous ones And the most famous, the bedroom, was under restoration. But we did learn more about van goghs life which was interesting.
After van gogh we went to the rijksmuseum which is full of old Dutch paintings that are so realistic it's scary. We didn't like it too much so we left quickly. We walked to this area called "the nine streets" which is a shopping district with a lot of expensive boutiques. Here were also some vintage stores which we discovered are such a gimmick! They sell urban outfitters clothes and say they are vintage and hey had my Fred flare sunglasses! The other vintage store called episode is a chain vintage store that has he same fake vintage stuff in every store! I saw the same sweater in the episode here and te one in Brussels. RE-DICULOUS!
After some window shopping we went to dinne and then to the Anne Frank house which was so cool and very moving. We went Ito the secret annex. Otto frank preserved the annex but decided that he wanted the rooms to remain unfurnished, but the photos that Anne put on The wall are intact and the stairs that go up into the annex are insane. Actually, we've realized that all stairs in holland are insanely small, steep, and windy. It's like straight out of a German expressionist film. At the end of he exhibit they had anne's actual diaries which was surreal to look at. We left the house and decided it was our favorite museum of our trip so far
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day 8 - 20euro cab ride?
On Friday we woke up early to pack up our bags (which are filling up more and more each day we are here) and head off to Amsterdam. We caught an 11:18 train, and the ride was only 3 hours. They didn't even check our passport. When we got to Amsterdam the first thing we did was book our train to Prague. Then we hopped in a cab to the hotel because we were too tired to try and figure out Amsterdam subway system and according to google maps, our hotel was only 2 miles from the train station. However, our cab ride took like 15 minted and ended up costing 20 euros. Eek!
After we settled in, we decided to take a walk around Amsterdam and grab a bite to eat. Amsterdam is much different than I pictured it. I always thought it was a crazy city with drugs, alcohol, and prostitues everywhere and a few museums. However, it's a beautiul very European city, and you would have to seek out the drugs and crazy stff if you want to see it.we ate dnnr at a steakhouse on a cute street and then had some ice cream in the park. We decided to have a early night in because we were really tired and wanted to be fully energized for a big day the next day.
After we settled in, we decided to take a walk around Amsterdam and grab a bite to eat. Amsterdam is much different than I pictured it. I always thought it was a crazy city with drugs, alcohol, and prostitues everywhere and a few museums. However, it's a beautiul very European city, and you would have to seek out the drugs and crazy stff if you want to see it.we ate dnnr at a steakhouse on a cute street and then had some ice cream in the park. We decided to have a early night in because we were really tired and wanted to be fully energized for a big day the next day.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Day 7 - mmm Belgian beer
On Thursday we woke up at 10 (we do so much each day that we get really tired!) and went straight to the train station to validate our Eurail passes (so exciting) and take a 1 hour train ride to an adorable quaint little Belgian town often referred to as "the Venice of northern Europe". Going on the train was really cool because it went through the Belgian countryside. We saw lots of cows and went by a hunch of fields and windmills. When we arrived in Brugge, he first thing we did was walk to the main markt square. Every single building in Brugge is beautiful and he streets are all cobblestone and there are canals running through the city. In the main square here are two famous fry kiosks right next to eachotherthat has been competing for years. We got some of the famous fries which were delicious but very salty. Then we went to the chocolate museum (which was such a rip off). Then we walked down a long road and stopped in a bunch of cute stores including a Belgian salvation army were I got some genuine Belgian beer glasses and a shot glass for only 1 euro total. We Had dinner at cute restaurant and I had the best croque monsiuer of my life and Rachel tried mussels.
After dinner we ran to the train station and caught he next train the Brussels and hurried back to our hostel. This really cool guy who worked at the hostel organized this thing called a bar crawl, where a big group of people go from bar to bar and then end up in a club. It was SUCH a fun night. In our group we had a bunch of funny guys from Spain who were really lod and outgoing (and attractive I should add). There were also some funny girls from Spain in our group and two cool guys our age from Boston who were doing a eurotrip similar to ours. We all started in a small local bar where Rachel and I got this delicious local sweet beer and we met all the people who were Doug the bar crawl with us. Then we walked to the next bar which was next to the mannequin pis and we took this halarious group picture in front of it. By this point we were def befriending all he people in our group, and the spainiards were halarious and pretty drunk. At the 3rx bar we went to we had hhis local strawberry beer that was amazing and sweet. We ended the night in a small but def hoppin celctic club with a ton of young people and sticky floors. It was by far our funnest night of the trip so far, and we made a lot of friends.
After dinner we ran to the train station and caught he next train the Brussels and hurried back to our hostel. This really cool guy who worked at the hostel organized this thing called a bar crawl, where a big group of people go from bar to bar and then end up in a club. It was SUCH a fun night. In our group we had a bunch of funny guys from Spain who were really lod and outgoing (and attractive I should add). There were also some funny girls from Spain in our group and two cool guys our age from Boston who were doing a eurotrip similar to ours. We all started in a small local bar where Rachel and I got this delicious local sweet beer and we met all the people who were Doug the bar crawl with us. Then we walked to the next bar which was next to the mannequin pis and we took this halarious group picture in front of it. By this point we were def befriending all he people in our group, and the spainiards were halarious and pretty drunk. At the 3rx bar we went to we had hhis local strawberry beer that was amazing and sweet. We ended the night in a small but def hoppin celctic club with a ton of young people and sticky floors. It was by far our funnest night of the trip so far, and we made a lot of friends.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Day 6 - mmmmm chocolate
That's right folks, I'm back to write about Wednesday! We woke up well rested and ready for a longggg day in bussels. We started off by walking to a local flea market that supposedly had a lot of good intage clothes. Once we got there, we realized that it was not so good for vintage clothes, but AMAZING for vintage bags. There were so man good vintage bags eveywhere and it was easy to haggle down prices to only 5 euros. Rachel also got a really cute pair of shoes for 5 euro. There was a lot of junk there, but a few treasures. Rachel got a cute teacup and saucer for 3 euros. After the flea market, we stopped for breakfast at a really cute cafe and I got a croque Monsieur which is the French way to say grilled cheese sandwich with ham in it. It was delish!
Then we went to the Grand Place Markt, which is a beautiful main square with a bunch of amazing ancient buildings and LOTS of tourists and souvenir shops.... And CHOCOLATE of course. We went crazy and bought a ton of Belgian chocolate to eat on our trip and to bring home. Then we wen to see the Mannequin Pis, the famous fountain of the peeing baby, which was a lot smaller than you would think. After that we enjoyed a delicious Belgian waffle and some gelato. Then we went to this really cool museum that was all about comic books and comic strips. Then We stopped at our hostel to drop off all of our purchases and rest for a little bit. We went out to dinner and then went out to this really cool place called Cinamatek, which is a film museum with the largest film archive in the world that also screens old movies. We were really lucky because they were screening Casino Royale directed by Orson Welles in English with French subtitles. We LOVED it and highly suggest it if yu need a movie to watch. When we got out of the movie it was pouring and we ran back to the hostel in the rain and went right to sleep. It was a really fun day!
Then we went to the Grand Place Markt, which is a beautiful main square with a bunch of amazing ancient buildings and LOTS of tourists and souvenir shops.... And CHOCOLATE of course. We went crazy and bought a ton of Belgian chocolate to eat on our trip and to bring home. Then we wen to see the Mannequin Pis, the famous fountain of the peeing baby, which was a lot smaller than you would think. After that we enjoyed a delicious Belgian waffle and some gelato. Then we went to this really cool museum that was all about comic books and comic strips. Then We stopped at our hostel to drop off all of our purchases and rest for a little bit. We went out to dinner and then went out to this really cool place called Cinamatek, which is a film museum with the largest film archive in the world that also screens old movies. We were really lucky because they were screening Casino Royale directed by Orson Welles in English with French subtitles. We LOVED it and highly suggest it if yu need a movie to watch. When we got out of the movie it was pouring and we ran back to the hostel in the rain and went right to sleep. It was a really fun day!
Day 5 - ummmm wheres the nice part of Brussels?
HI HI Hi!
On Tuesday, we awoke in London but fell asleep in BRUSSELS!! Yes we had a relaxing day that involved me sleeping till 2pm (because I didnt feel well) while Rachel went back to the Tate Modern and met up with one of her school friends who was also in London. Then at 6 we took an exciting train ride from London to Brussels, which was only 2 hours on the Eurostar train which is CRAZY FAST!!! We got our first passport stamp of the trip (awwww yeahhh) right before we left London. When we got to Brussels its was late when we got to the Hostel, so once we checked in and dropped off our stuff we went on the hunt for some Belgian fries and a Belgian waffle...but somehow we walked in the opposite direction that the person at the Hostel told us to go and we ended up in this really sketchy middle-eastern ghetto that was full of sketchy guys saying stuff to us in weird languages (it was VERY fun)...but we did manage to pick up some fries and a waffle from some rando carnival that was going on, which we later found out wasnt even the real deal, just some tourist junk. We ran back to the hostel scared shitless and wanting to leave Brussels because we were nervous that the whole city was gonna be a sketchy dreary place, but when we spoke to some other people in the hostel when we got back, they laughed at us and told us that we just went in the WRONG direction.
Our hostel was really cute and reminded us a lot of Yedid. There was a bar in the basement that was really cool looking but also really empty, but we decided to try some Belgian beer anyway. Rachel got a Stella, which is like an average popular Belgian beer, and I got something called Kriek, which is a very popular cherry beer that was supposed to be sweet but I thought was very tart.
More about days 6, 7, and today soon but I gotta run. We havent gotten to explore the area where our hotel is yet!
pAYce
Zobo
On Tuesday, we awoke in London but fell asleep in BRUSSELS!! Yes we had a relaxing day that involved me sleeping till 2pm (because I didnt feel well) while Rachel went back to the Tate Modern and met up with one of her school friends who was also in London. Then at 6 we took an exciting train ride from London to Brussels, which was only 2 hours on the Eurostar train which is CRAZY FAST!!! We got our first passport stamp of the trip (awwww yeahhh) right before we left London. When we got to Brussels its was late when we got to the Hostel, so once we checked in and dropped off our stuff we went on the hunt for some Belgian fries and a Belgian waffle...but somehow we walked in the opposite direction that the person at the Hostel told us to go and we ended up in this really sketchy middle-eastern ghetto that was full of sketchy guys saying stuff to us in weird languages (it was VERY fun)...but we did manage to pick up some fries and a waffle from some rando carnival that was going on, which we later found out wasnt even the real deal, just some tourist junk. We ran back to the hostel scared shitless and wanting to leave Brussels because we were nervous that the whole city was gonna be a sketchy dreary place, but when we spoke to some other people in the hostel when we got back, they laughed at us and told us that we just went in the WRONG direction.
Our hostel was really cute and reminded us a lot of Yedid. There was a bar in the basement that was really cool looking but also really empty, but we decided to try some Belgian beer anyway. Rachel got a Stella, which is like an average popular Belgian beer, and I got something called Kriek, which is a very popular cherry beer that was supposed to be sweet but I thought was very tart.
More about days 6, 7, and today soon but I gotta run. We havent gotten to explore the area where our hotel is yet!
pAYce
Zobo
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Days 3 and 4 - consider yourself at home
(read the following blog post in a british accent)
Ello chaps! It's been a while and we've been rather busy. A tad too busy to even write the blog! However, we are here now, checkin in with you all about more of our adventures in London.
The club on Saturday night was rather cool, however it seems as though in London, people don't go out until about 12:30am, and by the time the club was hoppin, we were ready to be sleepin. So lesson number one aboue partying in Europe: go home and take a nap till midnight, then go out so you can party the night away. Also, drinks are quite expensive from bars in clubs, so buy drinks at a store and drink a bit beforehand to avoid spending all of your pounds.
On Sunday, we awoke rather late at a whopping 1pm. We quickly got out and hit the town, conquering the Tate and the Tate Modern museums. We also took a look at the Shakespeare Globe theatre and walked across the Millenium Bridge to St. Pauls cathedral. Then we took the tube to Holland Park, and went to the COOLEST playground we had ever seen (yes, cooler than Israeli playgrounds). Then we walked around the neighborhood and it was a cute area. It was where my father lived when he lived in London. Then we were off to bed.
Yesterday, we took the tube to Convent Garden, another cute area with good food and theatres. We got tickets to Oliver the musical for only £18, and then we went to the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone and many other cool Egyptian artifacts, after which we decided that our next trip should include Egypt. Then we took the tube to Harrods, the famous department store that is like a mix of Bergdorf Goodman and the Macy's on 33rd street. It was HUGE and full of very expensive things like designer clothes, bags, shoes, furniture, and even designer pets (not kidding).
At 7:30, we went to our preformance of Oliver the musical which was SO AMAZING!!! In the UK, they use actual little kids to play little kids, and none of these kids could have been older than 13 or 14. They were adorable and the kid who played Oliver looked just like Aiden. The sets were magnificent and so intricate and mechanical and choreographed that it makes Broadway in New York look amateur.
So here we are, on day 5 of our trip and in an hour we will leave our little home in London and be off to Brussels, by Eurostar train. We should arrive at our hostel in Brussels at around 9:30 or 10pm, and then we will go out for famous Begian fries and Belgian beer. I can't wait to brush up on my Francais.
a bientot!
Zo
Ello chaps! It's been a while and we've been rather busy. A tad too busy to even write the blog! However, we are here now, checkin in with you all about more of our adventures in London.
The club on Saturday night was rather cool, however it seems as though in London, people don't go out until about 12:30am, and by the time the club was hoppin, we were ready to be sleepin. So lesson number one aboue partying in Europe: go home and take a nap till midnight, then go out so you can party the night away. Also, drinks are quite expensive from bars in clubs, so buy drinks at a store and drink a bit beforehand to avoid spending all of your pounds.
On Sunday, we awoke rather late at a whopping 1pm. We quickly got out and hit the town, conquering the Tate and the Tate Modern museums. We also took a look at the Shakespeare Globe theatre and walked across the Millenium Bridge to St. Pauls cathedral. Then we took the tube to Holland Park, and went to the COOLEST playground we had ever seen (yes, cooler than Israeli playgrounds). Then we walked around the neighborhood and it was a cute area. It was where my father lived when he lived in London. Then we were off to bed.
Yesterday, we took the tube to Convent Garden, another cute area with good food and theatres. We got tickets to Oliver the musical for only £18, and then we went to the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone and many other cool Egyptian artifacts, after which we decided that our next trip should include Egypt. Then we took the tube to Harrods, the famous department store that is like a mix of Bergdorf Goodman and the Macy's on 33rd street. It was HUGE and full of very expensive things like designer clothes, bags, shoes, furniture, and even designer pets (not kidding).
At 7:30, we went to our preformance of Oliver the musical which was SO AMAZING!!! In the UK, they use actual little kids to play little kids, and none of these kids could have been older than 13 or 14. They were adorable and the kid who played Oliver looked just like Aiden. The sets were magnificent and so intricate and mechanical and choreographed that it makes Broadway in New York look amateur.
So here we are, on day 5 of our trip and in an hour we will leave our little home in London and be off to Brussels, by Eurostar train. We should arrive at our hostel in Brussels at around 9:30 or 10pm, and then we will go out for famous Begian fries and Belgian beer. I can't wait to brush up on my Francais.
a bientot!
Zo
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Day 2 - no more shopping please
After a long, much needed 12 hour sleep last night, we were ready to conquer another busy day in London. First, we bought an Underground pass that is unlimited all day, which was about £6 (a bit pricey, but a good deal for all that we got to do). After that, we went to the home of the queen, Buckingham Palace, which was RIDICULOUSLY crowded.
Then we were off to the Camden Market, another vintagey cute area that was a lot like St. Marks place in the city but much bigger and more crowded. Again, the vintage was generally overpriced and nothing too special. London vintage is such a gimmick! I got a cool watch for £10 and tank top for£5 from a craft fair thingy, which was cool. London is really expensive...we never thought we'd be saying this but we cant wait to use Euros!
Then we went to the Topshop flagship store!! It was the biggest Topshop I've ever seen but it was still VERY pricey, so we didnt really get anything....except i got a white dress from the sale section....look for it next summer on shabbat!
We went the the big time tourist areas like Big Ben and Parliament Sqare. And of course we had to get in the classic telephone booth pictures. Trust me when I say, it smells like SHIT AND PISS in there...no one would be able to be in there long enough to actually make a call.
It was getting time for dinner, so on our way home we remembered that we can legally drink here, and its not illegal to drink on the streets, so we went into a random store and thought we picked up a 'shanty' which is beer and lemonade, but what we actually picked up was something else, which tasted like rum and lemonade. It was good but had a strange aftertaste so we probably wont get it again.
Right now Rachel is at Billy Elliot (yep the broadway show) and I am sitting at home uploading pictures and being a loser cause i spent too much money shopping so i couldn't afford to pay for the show. But its okay cause when her show is over, we are going Clubbing! And guess whats REALLY big in London right now?? DUBSTEPPINGG!! We've been hearing it everywhere, and I am pretty sure that the DJs at the club tonight will be playing dubstep music. So we'll learn some new dance moves and some good songs and bring em back with us to America. Okay...I think im gonna take a nap now...need some energy for the night! I put a bunch more pictures on facebook if ya wanna see.
p.s. I doubt that I will be able to add pictures to any other posts because we will be using public computers...sorry!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Day 1 - We love Cockfosters
So, here we are....here we is. In da great land of England. We had a pleasant send off at the airport from Dana Shmimpiepants Sharabi, who waited with us on line to check in and do customs and say bubyeeee.
Our flight was aiight but it left late and we had a screaming baby sitting behind us...you know...average airport madness. On the plane we watched Leap Year and made a to-do list / list of goals for our trip. We each kinda sorta got like 1 full hour of sleep if you add all the actual sleep together. In Rachels words, 'its like a bad ash laila!!!'
After landing, we made our way by the London Underground (or as the cool kids call it, the Tube) to where we are staying. The last destination of the line we were on was called Cockfosters, so at every stop the train person would say 'please mind the gap. the next station is ______ . This is the train to Cockfosters' and we would start laughing. They told us to mind the gap at least every 30 seconds (legit)....and the funny thing was that there isnt really much of a gap anyways so it was pointless. Once we settled in and took showers, we decided that it would be better if we didnt take a nap and that we should just try to push through the day, so we went for a walk. Then we got on a random bus hoping to do some sightseeing on the way to a cute area called Brick Lane, where there are a lot of London hipsters and overpriced vintage stores. I got an AWESOME sequined shirt thing for £15 and a pair of fake keds for £6. We ate shwarma at this kinda sketchy but also really legit place that had a deal for a shwarma wrap and a drink for only £4. Finally we decided that it was getting late and we were literally limping, bleeding, and falling asleep so we took the bus back and then walked and now we are about to pass out.
sorry this post wasnt as funny as the last few....we arent in such a good mood because we havent really slept in 2 days.
p.s. HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TANYA IF YOU ARE READING THIS!!!!
xxxo,
Z
After landing, we made our way by the London Underground (or as the cool kids call it, the Tube) to where we are staying. The last destination of the line we were on was called Cockfosters, so at every stop the train person would say 'please mind the gap. the next station is ______ . This is the train to Cockfosters' and we would start laughing. They told us to mind the gap at least every 30 seconds (legit)....and the funny thing was that there isnt really much of a gap anyways so it was pointless. Once we settled in and took showers, we decided that it would be better if we didnt take a nap and that we should just try to push through the day, so we went for a walk. Then we got on a random bus hoping to do some sightseeing on the way to a cute area called Brick Lane, where there are a lot of London hipsters and overpriced vintage stores. I got an AWESOME sequined shirt thing for £15 and a pair of fake keds for £6. We ate shwarma at this kinda sketchy but also really legit place that had a deal for a shwarma wrap and a drink for only £4. Finally we decided that it was getting late and we were literally limping, bleeding, and falling asleep so we took the bus back and then walked and now we are about to pass out.
sorry this post wasnt as funny as the last few....we arent in such a good mood because we havent really slept in 2 days.
p.s. HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TANYA IF YOU ARE READING THIS!!!!
xxxo,
Z
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Planes!
Setting off into the sky
oh bibbidi-bobbidi-planes
the airport is awesome, believe it or not
bibbidi-bobbidi-planes
Airplane seats smell so stale
Can't wait to drink some ale
but we're sitting together we like it a lot
bibbidi-bobbidi-planes
Everything's blue and clean
we're traveling machines
we arent discouraged, europe is our orange
its bibbidi-bobbidi-planes!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Post-Mosh Pre-Trip Maddness
Whaddup playaz? Thats right. Its time for gigglefest 2010 to go global. (2 of the) Lahav girls vs. the world! 2 girls, 2 backpacks. Read it as it all unfolds riiiiightt heree on this blog.
This is the story of 2 girls growing up together. Starting at age 3, we spent 11 years in school together, in the same class. For many of these years we were also in Hebrew school together, and of course, we have been at camp together for 7 years. What's the next step in our journey of sisterhood?? EUROPAAA. Coincidence? I think not.
Read it all rightt hurrr as we conquer the european world. First stop, LONDON!! Can you pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like zoe and rachel??? yes....and it wont be pretend because our plane flies out from JFK at 9pm, so look up at the sky around 9:30 and wave at us.
See ya in anotha country, suckkaz!!
xoxo, Z. Vockinator.
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