The Latest (and Last) from Leiden

I want to preface this by saying that this is NOT my final post. Just the last one that I'll write while I'm still in Leiden. I plan on doing a wrap-up post once I'm back in the States. Who knows, I may even write it on the plane back. 

The last two weeks were full of travels for me. I managed to get to Valencia, Barcelona, and London. It was a busy time, but that only means loads of adventures and stories for me to tell!

My time in Valencia was mostly spent relaxing and enjoying my first real days of summer. My Spanish family couldn't believe that I hadn't put on a swimsuit before I got there. I think the highlights of Valencia were that I got to eat paella... twice, and seeing Despicable Me 2 (in Spanish, of course).

My days in Valencia were split up by a quick trip to Barcelona. Maria (my Spanish host-sister) and I stayed with one of her friends who lives in Barcelona for the night and got the insider's tour. The first day there, we walked down the famous Ramblas and saw a bit of the city. But the real sight-seeing happened the second day when we went to Park Güell, the Sagrada Familia, and the port. The park was full of tourists and interesting art. It was really cool to see though. I think it's always nice to have a bit of green in the middle of a big city. I also enjoyed seeing the Sagrada Familia. We decided not to go in, since it cost over 10 euros just to enter. The outside lived up to the hype. It was super interesting to see the texture that it has. In my opinion, in person it doesn't really look that much like a sand castle (as its reputation says), but looking back at my pictures, I can definitely see it. After all of the Barcelonian excitement, I had another couple days in Valencia before heading to London.

Market off Las Ramblas

Maria and her friend Sara in Park Güell

Close up of La Sagrada Familia

My time in London was very interesting. This was the first time that I was ever truly traveling by myself. Sure, I had flown by myself, but never had I stayed in a hostel without knowing anyone else there or had to plan out my own days and get myself across the city alone. That being said, I actually had a great experience doing it. I felt so accomplished when I managed to navigate the Tube and end up in the right spot without possessing a street map. Now time for all the things I did!

The first day I met up with a friend from Leiden who had been in London for the past few weeks. We explored the city for a bit, wandering through the streets and chatting. We managed to see a lot of the main sights that way. After that, I did a free walking tour of the city. I saw a lot of the same things as I had that morning, but this time I got a bit of history and explanation, which is always good to fully appreciate the importance of landmarks. Even after all of that walking, I still wasn't done for the day. I trekked up to Camden to see a friend from Ann Arbor (we didn't even know we'd both be in London until the day before I got there). We meandered through the famous market, caught up on the past 6 months, and enjoyed some Thai food from a food booth. Finally, after being outside for about 9 hours in the scorching heat, I went back to my hostel, took a shower to get rid of all the London street dirt, and crashed.

The next day was a bit more relaxed, and didn't involve quite as much walking. My day started and the National History Museum where I got to see dinosaurs and lots of sparkly rocks. I really enjoyed this museum, and the best part was that it's free! The British government definitely got that part right. I then headed to Covent Garden and weaved my way through the market there. Not quite as quirky as Camden's, but nice nonetheless. Then I walked through Piccadilly Circus before heading off to the British Museum (also free!) for a bit. As with a lot of national museums, I was a bit overwhelmed, but managed to get in a bit of culture before I died from museum fatigue. I refueled with an iced-coffee before heading to Harrod's, where I managed to get trapped inside and couldn't figure out how to actually exit the building. Now, Harrod's is an absolutely enormous department store, so big in fact that they had maps for customers. Most people would want to go to look at clothes or technological gadgets, but not me. Nope, I headed straight for the kitchen section where I was amused for a good 15 minutes just looking at all the fun kitchen toys they have. Yes, I'm a special cookie, I know.

My last day in London, I finally managed to get over to see Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Tourist traps of course, but you can't go to London and not see them. I went, snapped some pictures, and left before I got too flustered with the crowds. Then I had to head to the airport to fly back to the Netherlands. Now, I'm back in Leiden with just over a week left before I head home. I don't even want to think about how quickly the next 9 days are going to go.

Outside Buckingham Palace

Big Ben from a hospital park

RAWR!

Tower Bridge

Mother in the Motherland -- Part 2

This past week included yet another visit from my mom, but this time she was also accompanied by my dad. Needless to say, there were plenty of adventures to be had throughout the whole country.

They arrived on market Saturday, so the first day was pretty much filled with Leiden love. Going to the market is always a must-do especially when we're lucky enough that it's sunny. We also did a boat tour of the city. It was definitely interesting to see Leiden from the perspective of the canals. We also got a decent ab workout since we had to duck every time we went under a low bridge. After that, dinner. I don't remember how delicious the food was, because I was a bit preoccupied having telepathic conversations with a husky sitting on the other side of the restaurant.

Sunday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. The parents rented bikes and we rode out to the beach with Abi. It was a bit confusing getting there, since we didn't know exactly where we were going and we only had sign posts directing us. We did make it to the sea in the end, and enjoyed a snacky lunch on the beach. After frollicking in the waves a bit, we headed up the coast a bit farther through the dunes. There was so much sand that I thought I was in Michigan for a second. A well-deserved ice cream, and we were headed back to Leiden. The whole trip took about 5 hours, and we rode for 35 km (20 miles). My legs were exhausted, but my mind was happy because of all of the sun.

First time in the water!

On Monday, we did a quick trip to Wassenaar. Nothing too extraordinary really. But Tuesday was filled with deliciousness! We went to Amsterdam for an Indonesian dinner with one of my mom's colleagues and her husband. So much food! And it was all delicious. As always the chicken sate was among my favorites, along with the rendeng and the spekoek (spice cake). I went to sleep with a happy tummy that night.

Wednesday was the obligatory trip to The Hague. We all got the ever-delicious croquettes at my mom's favorite restaurant before heading to her uncle's house for some good ol' family time. The mixture of languages that was being spoken was a bit confusing since the switch between English and Dutch could and would happen at any second, but all in all everything was understood in the end. We got some dinner on the beach before heading back to Leiden.

Thursday was the 4th of July, so we had some patriotic waffles (per my request) for breakfast, and then headed to Amsterdam to get some more Dutch culture. With my mom's cousin, we went to the newly renovated Rijksmuseum and an exhibition in the Nieuwe Kerk on the inaugurations of the Dutch monarchs. The Rijksmuseum reminded me a bit of the Louvre due to the massive collection and slightly confusing layout. But the Dutch had a one-up on the French since they actually put plaques with information about the paintings on the wall. The exhibition in the Nieuwe Kerk was really cool. My favorite part was the video they had of King Willem-Alexander's inauguration with English subtitles! When I had seen the TV broadcast on April 30, I had a vague idea of what was going on, but it was nice to know what he was actually saying.

On Friday, the parents rented a car and we drove up to a tiny little town in the north called Giethoorn. In the center part of the city, no cars are allowed, so you either have to bike, walk, or boat around. There were a good number of tourists around, and all the houses were charming. There's no way to really describe it, so here, have a picture!

For the last day my parents were hear, we went to the market again, and walked around trying to find almshouses that were most definitely hiding from us. A low key day, but we were outside enough to enjoy the sun that finally decided to bring the Netherlands some summer.

Tomorrow, I head out for 2 weeks as I travel to Valencia, Barcelona, and London! My last big adventure before heading back to the States!