Nijmegen, Amsterdam, and Düsseldorf

On Saturday we took a day trip to Amsterdam. Here is Keilin, Rebecca and I posing in front of the "I am Amsterdam" sign. The start to a great day!

Amsterdam in the Springtime. Bikes and Blooms. Lovely.

We went to the Van Gogh Museum, and saw the "Coulours of the Night" Exhibit. I have always liked Van Gogh's paintings, but in real life they are absolutely amazing! I still can't believe we saw THE Starry Night!

Our next stop was the Anne Frank House. Having read her diaries once when I was youger, and again about a year ago, it was incredible to be able to match my imagination's image of the house with the real building. The museum is set up in a way that takes you through the house as it is described in the diary, with quotes along the way, as well as videos with interviews and background information. It was thought-provoking to say the least.

This is the church near the Anne Frank house that she mentions in her diaries when she speaks of hearing the bells ringing.

Dutch Clogs!

Hooray! Someone has bigger feet than me! :)

Walking through Amsterdam.

This is in Nijmegen. On Sunday, Keilin and I walked all over the city and found quite a few nice parks. It seemed wrong to pass by this field of flowers without skipping through it. :)

In some botanical gardens we found. Hooray SPRING!

On Monday Rebecca took us all around downtown Nijmgen. There is a big market with tons of vendors selling everything from clothing to fish to dried fruit and fresh veggis. Keilin and I were pretty excited to see fresh produce for so cheap! :) We were able to borrow bikes from some of Rebecca's friends so that we could truly experience the Netherlands! We had so much fun!

In Old Town.

Entering Old Town. Nijmegen was bombed during the war, so it is interesting to look at the city from a distance because you can see a clear line of where the damage occurred. On one side you can see the buildings that have been constructed recently, and on the other side you can see the beautiful buildings that are still intact from long before the war.

Some of the many flowers in the market.

This is a "Tosti". They are very popular in The Netherlands. It is basically a glorified grilled cheese sandwich. This one is made with brie, walnuts, and honey. Yuuuum.

Happy to be biking!

Ok, now we are in Düsseldorf. We headed here on Tuesday and spent the entire day walking all over the city. This is just one of the many beautiful old churches we saw.

Germans are known for their bread. And there is definitely a reason for that. Bakeries can be found on every corner, and on every side street. The bread was so good, that on Wednesday morning, Keilin and I stopped in a bakery on the way to the train station, and each bought an entire loaf to bring home :) So now I get to enjoy it all week long!

There is a really nice walkway along the Rhein that Keilin and I made our way up and down a few times. In the background, you can see the "Rhein Tower", which we went to, where you take a ride to the top to get a great view of the Rhein and the city.

Düsseldorf.

We walked across the bridge over the Rhein, and on the other side, we found SHEEP! That provided us with a good 30 minutes of entertainment :)

For dinner, we ate at a Lebanese Restaurant in Old Town. I was so proud because I was able to use my German...annnnnnd.....it WORKED! He understood. Even better, I taught Keilin how to ask if she could buy another piece of pita bread, and she was successful too. If you couldn't already tell, I was pretty excited about it :)

Another trip = another blog entry! Last Friday, my friend Keilin and I headed out for a trip to the Netherlands and Germany. We flew into Düsseldorf with Ryan Air, and then caught a shuttle to the city of Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. One of my friends from North Park, Rebecca Erickson, is studying abroad this semester in Nijmegen, and so we went to visit her. On Saturday we went for a day trip to Amsterdam, and then spent Sunday and Monday exploring Nijmegen. Early Tuesday morning, Keilin and I got up early and caught a train to Düsseldorf, Germany. We spent the day being tourists in Düsseldorf, and began our journey back to Karlstad early Wednesday morning.

Other than transportation plans, we didn't have any real agenda before going. We figured it would be a trip where we just would go with the flow, and see where we would end up going and what we would end up doing. It worked fantastically. Part of that had to do with the fact that we had a great hostess, Rebecca, to give us tips about things to do in Nijmegen, as well as be our guide in Nijmegen and Amsterdam. Other than that, Keilin and I just explored. It was so great. Our feet were sore at the end of each day; a sure sign of a good day of sightseeing!

On Easter, I will have been in Sweden for three months. Wow. It's hard to believe. I've experienced so much, and yet it feels like just yesterday I stepped off the plane in Stockholm. Keilin and I were talking about how we have reached the point in our time here that we feel comfortable in Sweden. When we came back from the Netherlands and Germany, we felt home, in a sense. What a great feeling. I am already starting to miss Sweden and I still have two months here :) The same thing happened to me last Fall in Chicago at North Park. Since I knew I would not be back for 9 months, I had already started missing NPU in early November. Fortunately, it made me truly enjoy every moment I had left. So, as funny as it sounds, I am thankful that I already "miss" Sweden, because I know it just means that every moment will be cherished that much more. Well, I'll be here another week before my next adventure to Ireland!