Another cloudy morning, but that didn’t stop me from going out for one last walk around the Amsterdam canals before heading to the airport.
Amsterdam 2025: Day 7
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Amsterdam 2025: Day 6
Well, today turned out to be kind of a bust. Not entirely, it just wasn’t the day I had been hoping for. It was another gray day but I wasn’t going to let that derail my plans. I ended up spending a little time in the village of Broek in Waterland, visiting a hidden church, and eating my way through Amsterdam.
Amsterdam 2025: Day 5
I thought yesterday was going to be the best day of this vacation. I mean how can you top seeing millions of flowers all in bloom in beautifully manicured gardens? Well, you can take a day trip to explore three (or more) scenic villages that make up the area known as Waterland, just north of Amsterdam in North Holland. I don’t mind cities, but I hate crowds. And the two usually go hand in hand. And even though I loved the gardens yesterday, they were crowded. So today’s adventure felt like it was worlds away from the crowds I’ve encountered in the past few days. I began my day in Edam (pronounced “Ay-dahm”), walked to Volendam, took a ferry to Marken, and then headed back to Amsterdam.
Amsterdam 2025: Day 4
Tulips, tulips, and more tulips! Today was the day I had been looking forward to the most on this trip. Keukenhof (known as the “Garden of Europe”) has almost 80 acres of gardens planted with 7 million flower bulbs each year. The tulips are in full bloom in mid-April and it was the primary reason for my visit to the Netherlands.
Amsterdam 2025: Day 3
I’m thankful that I had indoor activities planned for most of the day today since the weather was gray and drizzly all day. I most definitely did not sleep for 11 hours again last night. I was wide awake at 1:45AM and never went back to sleep. So the weather and my lack of sleep left me dragging myself around Amsterdam today. Nevertheless, I managed to hit up two iconic Amsterdam attractions: the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum.
Amsterdam 2025: Day 2
I fell in love with Amsterdam today. And like Hazel falling in love with Gus in “The Fault in our Stars”, it happened slowly, and then all at once.
Amsterdam 2025: Day 1
Did you know that the city of Amsterdam was once little more than boggy marshland? What we now know as Amsterdam was created by a dam on the Amstel River and much dredging and reclamation took place centuries ago to turn Amsterdam into the bustling city it is today. Known for its miles of canals in the city center and acres of tulip fields just outside the city, Amsterdam will be my home for the next several days as I explore its history, culture, and surroundings.
Ireland 2015: Day 3 – Dublin to Kilkenny
Today started with a trip back to Dublin Airport to pick up a rental car for the rest of the trip. There were red, white, and blue balloons everywhere, including in arches over the doorways. Pretty impressive! I finally got the car, a Volkswagen Jetta (my only requirements were automatic and a/c; no small feat – or price tag – in Ireland), and discovered that it runs on diesel. Add that as another first for me! Having driven for a week on the left in England back in April, I wasn’t nearly as nervous or apprehensive this time. I should mention that my nervousness this time stems more from the low mileage – only 19 km! – on the car than the driving. I’m afraid of getting any little scratch on it. They actually have pictures taken of it just before I picked it up. Hertz’s NeverLost system seems to spend more time “searching for a GPS signal” than it actually does navigating, but I managed to make it to all my intended stops for the day.
Ireland 2015: Day 2 – Scholars and Prisoners
After sleeping for almost 11 hours last night, I woke up to the sun reflecting directly into my face off the wall mirror in my hotel room this morning. It was time to get up and explore Dublin some more! My first stop of the day was Trinity College. My walking tour was slightly delayed, as we had to wait for John Boehner’s entourage to clear out. The tour
was fascinating. Would you believe that for a €3,000 registration fee per year, a student from any country in the European Union can attend Trinity College? Another interesting thing I learned was about the scholarship program. At the end of their freshman year, students can choose to sit for an examination. Those who score first honors (70% or higher) become Trinity College Scholars. This includes free tuition, room, board, etc. for the duration of their bachelor’s degrees, plus an additional 5 years to complete a Ph.D. if they choose. Only about 65 to 70 scholarships are awarded per year (out of 17,000 students). The library at Trinity College is most known for holding the Book of Kells. While this was interesting to see, the mobs of people surrounding it made it nearly impossible to get a close look. The library is also a legal deposit library for Ireland and the U.K., meaning that Trinity College has a copy of every book published in Britain, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (a total of about 4.5 million books!). My photos don’t do the Long Room justice, but this 360 degree panorama certainly gives an idea of the space.
Ireland 2015: Day 1 – Jetlagged in Dublin
This is going to be a short but sweet blog post because I am seriously ready to fall asleep (at 7:15PM!). At 5:00 yesterday afternoon (east coast time), I indulged in a burrito from Chipotle. I figured that would be my dinner before heading to the airport, and hopefully I could ignore the food on the plane and try to get some sleep. If you know me, you know I’m generally in the “early to bed, early to rise” category. So I figured by 9:30 or 10:00, I’d be dozing in my seat. Nope. The food cart came rolling by around 10:30 and I was ready to eat! Turns out, I could have easily passed on the vegetarian pasta and Pepperidge Farm cookies, but once I had it, it would have been rude not to eat it, right? Sleep came in the form of a 2 hour or so nap after “dinner”.
Traveling with Laura 