Rome Pictures

Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris - Big City Hoppin with my Parents

We left Zwolle in the morning on Wednesday to head up North to Enkhuizen ... where we took a tour of the museum Zans Schaans or something like that. It portrayed what life was like in a sea port village - very neat - but sadly it was very COLD :( We had a nice time and then we left for Andijk - the village where my Dad's ancestors are from. There was no reason to spend time there so we left for Amsterdam. We arrived at our beautiful hotel and ate dinner at the Hard Rock- then walked around a little bit. We slept great and headed out to visit Kuekenhoff after seeing the Anne Frank house and finished our evening in Rotterdam. We ate at Hotel New York - right by the port in Rotterdam when the immigrants came over to America on a boat. It was a really great night except we missed the chance to go to the top of the Euromast - huge tower space needle like thing in Rotterdam - the taxi was stuck in a traffic jam and we were four min. too late. UGH! Oh well... we got a nice warm taxi drive tour of Rotterdam.

We slept in Rotterdam and woke up early the next morning to visit Delft and go on a boat tour, also we saw the church where the Canons of Dordt were held in Dordrecht... we rented bikes in that town so it was fun to see but a quick trip :) Then we headed back Rotterdam by water taxi hoping to see Kinderdijk - 12 small windmills along the water - they must have been really small because we missed them :( Sad day.

We left for Paris that evening on a fast train and arrived there around 10 pm. Found the hotel and also found it was really small but it worked for us. I wanted to go see the Eiffel at night right away but I was talked into just going to bed and waking up early for a fresh day.

We woke up and headed over to the Eiffel first thing. I wanted to go up to the top and so did my mom and sister. My dad bought a ticket for the bus and rode it around while he waited for us to return - 4 hours later - that was nuts but we did it! I went all the way up :) No I didn't climb up stairs... I missed that line ... we got in the line for the elevator but I did the stairs all the way down! What an amazing view! We went on the same bus tour as my dad after we found him back again and enjoyed seeing the hit highlight buildings - then we did some window shopping that evening at places like Louis Vuitton etc.

There are some pretty nice shops in Paris - then we saw the Eiffel at night. Oh how wonderful. I enjoyed it so much - I never wanted to stop looking at it!

The next day was Easter and we went to an American church. It was a delight! There was so much good music from the Messiah and it was so well done. I was very impressed.

Then we went for Brunch at a cafe in a cute part of town and headed over to the Louvre. Huge museum - crazy busy - saw the Mona Lisa - checked it off my list and I do not need to do that again. Ha. Then we went to Notre Dame. We wanted to go inside but the line looked long so we bought some crepes instead since we had a time schedule - leaving for Amsterdam that night.
When we got back to Amsterdam it was a great feeling- Holland is so much nicer than France. Paris has great things to see but I did not "enjoy" being there.

I got to talk to Nathan in the hotel on the phone that night so that was nice and wish him a happy easter :) We watched some of the golf PGA and went to sleep.

We took a canal cruise in the morning and while my family went to the Rijksmuseum I did a tour of Heinekein - alone ... haha. It was more fun than seeing the Rujks twice. Then we went to lunch and I had to drop them off at the airport :( It was a sad good-bye - a weird feeling to see them leave and I was not going with them.

Now I am sitting here thinking of everything I have to do this week - it will be busy.

From now until our trip to Rome is crunch time - 60 hours clinical and multiple papers/projects to send in.

I won't be writing much until Rome -I think my time needs to be dedicated to my studies and internship hours.
Thanks for reading!! Having my parents and sister here was so memorable - I loved every min.

I am looking forward to being back home but I will be enjoying the last three weeks here - so much.

My Family Came to Visit: Staying Local

Not my entire family but close... we were missing my amazing brother, Nathan, on this trip. So sad he has to be an adult and work :(

My family arrived in Amsterdam Monday around 11 - their flight was on-time :) and it was great to reunite. I was nervous waiting for them. It was so surreal to see them. I couldn't believe it for a couple of days. I wanted things to go so well because I was supposed to be the one who "knew what I was doing."

We rented a car. No idea what I am doing when it comes to driving in the Netherlands so I couldn't impress them there. All I know is that they have to yield to bikers and go around a lot of round-a-bouts. So we got a GPS. Named her Tina. Let her dominate our car conversations and made it safely to Zwolle. It was beautiful to see Holland from a car! I am not used to that. My Dad really liked the scenic views and although he was tired he couldn't help but be SO excited to be there.

Mom and Lindsey slept most of the ride and we all soon realized there would be no where to "stop and eat" on the way to Zwolle so Dad just made some egg/ham/cheese sandwiches when we got to "my" house in Zwolle. Lekker!
Then we met my host-dad in Kampen, a town about 20 min. away by car. There is an old Reformed church and theological university that my Dad was curious in. Its also a cute town to see with a beautiful park. So we decided to meet him at the bridge. Little did I know there are two bridges in Kampen - one HUGE bridge and one nice sized -walkable one. We were supposed to meet at the "walkable" one but I led us to the HUGE one and thought... wow, are we really supposed to walk over that bridge and meet him?! Ok... but the other question is... where do we park the car. I have no idea. We found a place - and started to head towards the bridge. I called my host-dad because I didn't see him. He said - wrong bridge, I'll come pick you all up. Great. I failed my family :( Then we found out we parked in a place that we would have been towed at. Whoops! Good thing we got the car and headed into Kampen following a guy who drives through it every day :) I left that tour with my host-dad. Thankfully. It was nice to see the town and it started to rain so we headed to my house for dinner with my host-family. It was too much food but so delicious. I think my family liked it ... I don't REALLY know their true feelings ;) Then my host-sister and I performed a piano concert for them. Ending the concert with my parents "love song" which they didn't recognize until half-way through. My dad, "What song is this...sounds familiar..." Hm...your <3 song!

That night we visited and my family went early to the bed and breakfast.
We had a big day awaiting us on Tuesday. The plan was to bike in Zwolle - hilarious.

Visit Isala (the hospital where I work) and the GH (my school here) and then drive to Geithoorn. Its a little village of all canals - my dad drove a boat through them and we ate some good Dutch food in the afternoon (frikandel) heading back to Zwolle to eat again with my host family at the Pancake ship. So fun! Then headed out for the night to a birthday party of one of the SPICE girls and to the Jofer- with my sister - woop woop!

Fun day.

The next day I had to pack up my bag for a little excursion to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Paris!

Read in the next blog about that little adventure!

Swiss Fanks.

I just returned from a weekend away in Switzerland with some wonderful girls.

We had a really nice, relaxing time and now my parents are here in the Netherlands! :)

Let me tell you what we did in Switzerland in a very short format:

After having train difficulties in Amsterdam we taxied to the airport and made our flight.

We found out we were staying the night in Germany (only about a 15 min. walk away) so we walked to a completely different country to sleep. The hotel was much cheaper in Germany so that was sweet :)

We went to Lake Lucerne - where beautiful people from the Bachelor go and now we know why... because it is SO expensive. It was beautiful. There was a market and some neat things to see. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We were spoiled.

We spent the night in Zug - and found that there is a also a lake with a gorgeous view there.
We ate McDonald's that night and stayed in the hotel with a bottle of wine. It was fun to take it easy. Then we went to go explore some caves in the morning. After hiking, climbing, and lots of walking we took a train to Zurich. 1/2 way to Basel where we were flying out from. We walked around there and then took a plane back to Holland.

We travel so fast and sometimes it is overwhelming - however, we have no other choice because I need a million dollars to stay in Switzerland much longer. The prices there were unbelievable. I survived off peanut butter and bread from Holland - :(

Now my parents are here so I won't be "roughin' it" all week when we travel around. Yay!

Time to spend some time with them!
Enjoy the beautiful pictures of Switzerland!

Twee Excursions:)

This week was a busy/good one.

Tuesday our SPICE group went to Westerbork. It was a Jewish transit camp in the Netherlands. Out of 107,000 Jews only 5,000 survived the war.

People made a community here and built a hospital, schools, places of work etc. not knowing what was coming... concentration camps in Germany.

It is very sad to hear about the brainwashing the Nazis did to the Jews. They made them think that they were improving their lives by placing them near each other and giving them good healthcare... they also lied to them and said that is where they were headed when they went to Poland/Germany etc... only these places would be better healthcare.

They were lying and what was in store for the Jews was a lot worse than expected.

Here at Westerbork we took a tour by a very good tour guide and saw where the camp still stood - but today it is nothing more than a couple of monuments and replicas of how high and wide the barracks were.

On Wednesday I had my internship at Isala and it was a full day of learning/working with a nurse here.

On Thursday (today) we went to Den Haag/Scheveningen to see Dutch Parliament. It was a lot of politic talk so not very interesting to me ... but good to see. We visited with a Christian politician and we were also able to visit the Maurits House where "Girl with the Pearl Earring" is located. It is the original work by Vermeer so that was really neat to see. Then we went to the beach that I am sure is hopping in the summer but since today was the coldest day we have had in a while of course we couldn't enjoy any sun :( but a hot chocolate cheered me up and after a while of visiting we headed back home on the train.

Tomorrow I have an internship day at Eleos- a Christian mental health place in Zwolle. A student from the GH offered me the opportunity to go with her. I am eager to see the work they do. Then I am off to Switzerland for the weekend and I will be picking up my parents and lovely sister from the airport for a busy week of touring Holland and going to Paris :)

I will blog after -- I am so so excited to see them! Pray for safe travels!

salzburg - home of the sound of music

so the next morning we woke up after losing one hour of sleep due to daylight savings -boo :( - to get ready for our tour of the sound of music sights and locations - super pumped, since I played a role in the play in middle school :) naturally it made me nostalgic all day and a little homesick ... :) We got on a ridiculously tourist-y bus with the sound of music picture painted on both sides - and we even got a little sound track action with a sing-along - do--ree--miii!

1st Stop:

We get out and see the palace that was used as the inspiration for the terrace scenes at the rear of the Captain's villa overlooking the lake - where Maria and the children stood up on their boat and fell into the water. The beautiful Venetian Room in the palace was also used as inspiration for the large ballroom scene.

2nd Stop:

The Glass Gazebo, or summer house, is where Rolf and Liesal sang "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", and Maria and the Captain sang "Something Good."

3rd Stop:

The backside of Schloss Frohnbug - the backside of the building used as the front of the von Trapp residence where Mari stepped off the buss in the Hellbrunner Allee, the tree-lined road, singing, "I Have Confidence" as she skipped her way through the gates and across the courtyard and up to the door to ring the bell.

4th Stop: The Wedding Church in Mondsee

A half hour drive East of Salzburg where the Captain and Maria were married. <3

5th Stop: Mirabell Gardens

Do-Re-Mi Steps - best-known scene in the movie - where Maria and the children use the steps as notes on a musical scale

6th Stop: Pegasus Fountain - here Maria and the children marched around the magnificent winged horse

7th Stop: Mozart Foot Bridge - Maria and the children skipped off the bridge and on the grass along the bank of the Salzach river - where we took a lovely nap later in the afternoon.

8th stop: Residenzplatz - where Maria sang more of "I have Confidence"

9th Stop: Mozart's Birthplace and some shops & a pretzel of course

We also saw Nonnberg Abbey and of course the Untersberg Mountain - the location used to film the scenes of the von Trapp family dressed in traditional clothes hiking to the mountains.

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN TIL YOU FIND YOUR DREAM! :)

So that concluded the day - and we weren't looking forward to our night train home - because we discovered that I had bought a different train ticket for ten min. earlier than they were leaving ... so essentially we would be splitting up for the whole night since my ticket included a "sleeper" - and they had purchased just normal train tickets - so we say good bye and I am sad that I will be spending the night by myself away from my two friends :(

I am on my train and the girls were leaving ten min. after me ... the train was moving smoothly until......we stop and I hear that we will be delayed fifteen min.

Perfect... that means I miss my connecting train.

Yup...overhead confirmation that I missed my connecting train.

Oh boy - I was talking with a nice girl that told me I just had to go to the info desk and see what to do next - I also overheard I was put on a different train overnight so that was relief that I wouldn't be stuck in Munich.

So I'm in the line waiting for a info person and low and behold... my two other fellow travelers are shocked to see me - they assume I missed my train but I assured them that both trains from Salzburg must have had issues since their train was behind mine - the guy next to me in line said it was because we hit a person (5th time this has happened since I've been here in Europe...seriously?!) so we board a different train and we all try to sleep in different uncomfortable positions for the night (no luck for a bed on the train this time...not even 1st class to cheer me up) but I was soo glad to be back together with two friends even though the night only involved sleeping.

What an annoying evening being awakened several times by either the train stopping or the conductor wanting to see your ticket and yelling "Morgen" aka "Morning" in your ear to wake you up... OK it is NOT morning because you did not let me sleep through until the morning. Never again will I take a night train... too risky! But we only were half hour later than expected. Safe and sound in Zwolle.

One week until my parents and lil sis come to visit :)

neuschwanstein castle - munich, germany

this weekend my two friends and i set out on a long train ride to munich germany - we were excited to visit two special places and take two tours total on saturday and sunday :)

our train ride went well and we made it safely to munich - found our hotel just in time and slept the night in our own bunks -

we woke up the next morning and made our way to the train station to join a tour of the neuschwanstein castle two hours from munich in the enchanting old-world town of Fussen - in the foothills of the Alps, framed by one of the most breathtaking natural settings in the world -

towering far above the village, seemingly sculpted out of the very mountains that rise magnificently to the heavens, is a sight made from the stuff of dreams: the fabulous and ethereal neuschwanstein castle.

this glorious folly was built in the 19th century by the famed "mad" king ludwig II.

the shimmering white towers of the castle among the clouds are instantly familiear to anyone who has ever read the fairy tale.

it is the inspiration for disney's sleeping beauty castle - and is also the chitty chitty bang bang castle - thanks to the lovely brochure for this info ;)

Our tour guide was a minnesota native who fell in love with a german girl and moved out to germany to guide tours - it was a nice day and he gave me a free beer on the train ride bike so overall i liked him as the tour guide ;)

the castle was pretty neat too :) we decided not to walk up the the top because he told us that he has had 18 year olds pass out on the way up? but he also said that 90 year old women have been able to do it - we were perplexed and didn't know what to do - bus or walk... but since it was raining and we had all of our belongings on our back we decided to take the bus

we got a tour inside the castle but weren't allowed to take pics in there

we got some amazing scenic views though and after we were finished we made our way back to munich to look for some german-type food -but we were let down and settled with pizza -

we hopped on a train for salzburg that night and low and behold... the ball almost dropped (our phrase for when something bad might have just happened - screwing up our travel plans)

the train was pretty mediocre - and no one was announcing the stops we were at - our ticket said arrival time at salzburg "2342" or something... so when it was about that time and we stopped we naturally got out of the train ... along with three other people (a couple and an asian girl) - so we were walking out of the train a little disoriented due to our naps ... we heard the asian discussing with the couple about which stop this was ... the couple frantically began to reach for the doors of the train to open them up for the girl to get in since "this isn't salzburg ... that is one more stop!" so we freaked out and one of my fellow travelers says "tell that asian to open the door" - funny quote at the moment :) - then they got the door open for the asian girl and she got in the train and the doors shut in our face... we were left to frantically trying to open them back up agin and finally - we got let in...

we made it to salzburg safely and a short, expensive taxi ride to a beautiful hotel for a good nights sleep.

ready for some musical action tomorrow?

sound of music blog up next :D