a weekend for our enjoyment

This weekend (which was actually three weekends ago) was so much fun! It was really nice because we all feel like anytime we are in Barcelona we don't really get to experience it or enjoy it because we are cooped up in a classroom all day and then leave to go to a different country for the weekend. This weekend we stayed in Barcelona, and since our studio professors wife just had a baby, we don't really know what we are supposed to do for Tuesday, which might suck come next week, but it was great for the weekend to have no worries and just have fun! Friday we had spanish class, so thats how we started off the afternoon. I really like spanish class because our teacher is really cool and its just fun sitting in class "talking" in another language. After spanish, nobody was really doing anything and Bhavika and I didn't to spend one of our few free days in Barcelona sitting in our room doing nothing but surfing the internet. So, we went to this place called Bocatta which is like Euorpean or maybe Spanish fast food and it is so good. It is sandwiches with any kind of meat with really good bread and then french fries. We got lunch there and took it to go and sit in Parc de la Cuitudella, a big, nice park in Barcelona. When we got there we spralled out on the grass and had a picnic. It was great minus the flies that would not leave us alone. After we finished our lunch we both just layed down and enjoyed the beautiful weather and green grass. I can't even tell you how amazing it was. And, it probably sounds crazy that is was so nice to just sit in a park for three hours, but when you live in the densest city in Europe, you get a little cooped up, and miss openness a lot. and greenness. The park is also connected to the zoo, so we walked around the fence of the zoo and just explored the park a little. We passed this group of young people who had a boom box playing and they were all on these huge stilts dancing around. It was crazy, but pretty entertaining to watch. While we were there, we decided to call Preston and see what he was doing for the evening. Since he is a grad student, he got the choice of living in the dorm style complex like us, or an apartment in a different part of town. He of course chose the apartment, and we hadn't seen it yet, so we decided to walk there and check in out, and then eat paella for dinner...dont worry i will explain. On our walk to his apartment, we had to cross on this bridge/building going over all these train and metro lines. When we got to the top, much to our surprise, there was this really cool park/playground. It was kinda run down, but it had the coolest playground equipment ever. Of course, we stopped and played on it for awhile and then continued walking. He lives near the beach, so to get there, we took off our shoes and walked along the water in the sand. It was really nice becuase it was pretty and there weren't that many people there like in the summer. Also, on one part of the waterfront, there were tons of surfers and it is the first time i have seen that many surfers all together. From there we were very close to his apartment so we just met him outside. He lives on the 6th floor, and there is no elevator so we had to hike up there. I was definately out of breath by the time we got to the top, but it was worth it. His apartment was so nice and quaint. You walk in and directly in front of you is the living room and the back wall with a big window with old shutters, and an amazing view of the marina, montjuic and the old city. The walls are a really pretty ocean blue, and the ceiling is old redish bricks making it feel homey. They have three rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room with a couch and a tv, and their rooms have balconies! We hung out there sitting on the couch watching spanish tv for a while and it was amazing...so refreshing to get out of a tiny dorm! When we got hungry we just walked down to the street and picked a random restuarant because the street he lives on is solid restaurants of the first floor. We had a menu del dia...two courses, bread, desert and a drink, for a set price. For our second courses we all got seafood paella, which is a traditional spanish dish. It is rice with spices and stuff in it and also a mix of a lot of seafood pieces in it. Usually it is scallops, a couple muscles in the shell and a large shrimp that you have to peel. It was really, really good, but it was way too much food. Then we went back to his apartment and watched Ellen's newest stand up comedy tour on you tube. It is so funny, you should all watch it. It is called Here and Now. After that we went home and went to sleep. Saturday we played tourist and went to one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city and toured it. It is Casa Mila, an upscale apartment building, done by Antoni Guadi, which i already put pictures up a while ago of, but this time we actually went in. It was really cool up on the roof becuase it is just so different than anything else. There are smoke stacks, at least i think thats what they were, that are shaped very wierd but cover the roof and make the design. Then we went into an actual apartment in the building and it was amazing. It is really big and luxurious. When we were done there, we went to a shopping mall called Diagonal Mar to do a bit of shopping. It was fun to try on clothes and buy a few things that I normally wouldn't buy say in the States. When we were done shopping we just went back to the room and relaxed and ate some dinner. For the evening activity, we went out to this bar/club called Opium Bar which is on the beach and brand new in Barcelona. It was really nice and a lot of fun. I had the best wine I have ever had in my life. Oh my goodness it was so good! Some people stayed inside and dance and some people went outside and sat on these couch things overlooking the water. It was a really fun night, just chillin at the bar. We ended up staying up really late because clubs stay open until 5 am. Also, it was the night of the time change in Spain so we gained an extra hour. We ended up leaving at 4, so 5 normally. We were close to Preston's apartment, so Bhavika and I had just planned to spend the night at his place so we wouldnt have to walk all the way home in the middle of the night. It was really fun to be able to have my own room for a night in something other than a dorm room or hostel. In the morning we woke up and watch a cooking channel and cartoons in Spanish. Needless to say, I didnt really have a clue what was going on. After the cartoons were over, we rode the metro back to our place. We spent the day on Sunday in studio working on different stuff for classes, mainly our studio project. the pictures are of casa batllo and casa mila.

week after netherlands-missing amsterdam, but glad to be back in BCN

This past week was yet another week consumed by school work. What else is new? Monday was another field trip with our teacher from the States. We met up on Montjuic and walked around a botanical garden that used to be the old city dump, and also around the olympic complex which we had all already been too. I did learn however that the olympic stadium was actually built in the early 1900s for some world expo and then reused for the olympics. Of course a lot of extra complexes had to be built along with it. After that we walked down the mountain to see the Mies van der rohe Pavillion. It is a cool house he designed for an expo that we study in class. It is a very open floor plan made of a lot of glass and all right angles, and very small. Then we walked across the plaza to one of the two old bull fighting rings. They decided to stop bullfighting in Barcelona, so it is no longer used and is being totally renovated and made into a shopping cen gutting and redoing the entire inside. After that, we walked across the street to one of the first neighborhood green spaces in the city of Barcelona. In the past, Barcelona had no publicter. Its a cool project though because they are keeping the facade totally in tact and original and green spaces for the residences of the city because it is such a dense city and their were buildings everywhere. There still are, but they have made a huge effort to make public parks in every neighborhood for the neighbors to enjoy and use. The was cool one, and we all took off our shoes and played in the grass because you just dont see that much here. Then we walked around the rest of the park and saw a group of old men all playing some game together in the dirt knocking around a ball or something. They were so adorable. After that, we were done with class and free to do whatever. We went back to the room and ate dinner and then went to studio to work. Tuesday we had class most of the day and our professor didnt like what anyone did so we have to start over. It makes me laugh at the people who were stressed and worked all weekend. After class we all went out to a bar/club. Wednesday more class, but we did go out to get some Mexican food for dinner! It was so good...it makes my heart smile every time i eat it. While we were there we talked about how much we miss certain restaurants at home and i am already making a list of where i am eating when i get back....Mom, get ready because we are going to be eating out a lot! Thursday we had studio again, but our professors wife had a baby wednesday night so he wasnt there and we all just worked all day without him. A group of us went our for tapas that night and they were good but not the best i've ever had. And that was the end of the week. Like i said, lots and lots of school. The pics are from our field trip. first is at the botanical gardens, second is a palace that is now a museum, third is part of the pavilion, and fourth is the statue in the plaza espana.

Back in the B (weekend after netherlands trip 19-21)

We slept in pretty late after getting home around 2, catching up on the lost sleep from the week. It was really nice to be back in my own room and own bed and get to wake up whenever the heck i felt like it! Today (fri.) was a really lazy day for both me and Bhavika. When I woke up, i checked my email and caught up on all that stuff, since i hadn't had internet access. Then i showered and had hopes of having a productive day. Ha. I went to the grocery store and the boqueria saying we had nothing to eat. At the boqueria I got some swiss cheese and this jelly stuff and had that for lunch on some bread. oh my goodness, it was so good! Then for the rest of the day we just sat in our room and chilled. It was really nice to just sit around for a day. Most of the time, i was updating my blog and loading pictures and stuff like that. I started to get a little homesick today too just wanting to be able to bring all of my family and friends here with me, definitely not wanting to be back in the states yet. That was kinda hard, but i'm good! At like 11, Bhavika got a call from one of her friends that is actually studying here too but for a year, and he wanted to know if she wanted to go hang out with him so we both went. It was a lot of fun becuase he brought two of his friends and then we met up with some other people too. It was nice to get away from our small group and meet some new people. Two of the girls were from the states and they were so nice and so much fun, and then another girl was from germany and she was so adorable! She was so sweet, and would tell these stories/jokes that she thought were really funny, and so did I, but not many people would...she had a different sense of humor, but i liked it! It was a really fun night, even though we were only out for about 2 hours and we just sat and talked. Saturday we slept in until about noon again, and then spent the whole day working on our project for studio. No fun, but has to be done. Man, why do i have to go to school while i am here. :) Sunday, we woke up at 10 and started working around 11...that's early for us so we were proud. We worked in the studio until about 1:30 when we (my project group, Todd, B, and me) went and got lunch at Burger King! I was so excited because i haven't had any McDonalds or Burger King since i have been here, but i have been craving it and i finally ate some! It was good, but not as good as i was expecting. It would have been perfect, except they put thousand island dressing or something like it, and a lot of it, on my cheeseburger. gross. After lunch we went back and worked for 30 minutes, and then we left again to "take a break" and go on a trip to monserrat. It ended up being Bhavika, me, Preston, and one of his friends visiting from the states. It is a mountain with an old monastery on it and all this other stuff too. To get there you have to ride a train for about an hour so we went to the station to catch a train, and for some odd reason, the train section of that particular station wasnt working for the day. So after trying to speak broken spanish to the guy, we figured out which station was working and we went there. When we got there, we waited and waited and waited for a train. The schedule had said it was supposed to have already come while we had been there, and the platform we were on said our train. Well, our train came to the platform next to the one we were one, and rolled up with one number on it..the S33 and then while it was sitting there switched its sign randomly to the train we needed...the R5. It was the weirdest thing and didnt make any sense, but we just got on. The train ride was about an hour, but the time passed quickly because we talked the whole time and prestons friend was really funny. I liked her a lot. When we got there, it was so worth it! It is absolutely gorgeous. It is these huge craggly, steep rocks making up this mountain, and down in the valleys are spanish villages. so cute. We rode a cable car to the top and then walked around for a while. We didnt have a really long time up there becuase the last car down was at 6:45 and we didnt get up there until after 5, but it worked out fine. I am definitely going back though to see more of it. We caught the train back and went to our dorm and ate a quick dinner, and then straight back to the studio to work, which is where we were until 2.

Neth. Amsterdam- FREE DAY!

Lets just start off by saying today was so much fun! We woke up just in time to go down stairs in our pajamas and get breakfast before they stopped serving it at ten. It was so nice because all the other days we had been having to meet, already have eaten, by 8:45 ready to go. After we ate, we all went back to our rooms and packed up and got ready for the day. All of our luggage had to be in our leaders room by 11, so thats about the time we got our last day in Amsterdam started, which was a free day...how amazing! The first thing we did was go straight to the I AMSTERDAM sign and take a million bajillion pictures. We took most of them backwards because there was a crane in the way if you did it forward, but it wasn't with my camera. My pics are just of a few people closer up. Then we went to this building called Nemo, designed by Rem Koolhaus i believe and is a hands on science museum. I actually thought the building was really ugly, but we went inside and had warm chocolate milk and the inside was more interesting. We didnt actually go through the museum because we didnt want to spend our last day in Amsterdam indoors not experiencing the city. From the museum, we walked a while just enjoying it, and eventually making our way to the red light district so one of the guys could take a picture on that street just for fun. Well, at this point we were still a pretty large group, about eight, and three of those 8 were being extremely rude and whiny like normal, so we decided just to leave them and not let their crappy attitudes ruin our day. At about that time the beautiful blue sky decided to down poor. How fun. No. We ran in the rain to try and find a place to sit down and relax, maybe grab a bite to eat for lunch. We stopped at a place called grasshopper, which is actually famous in Amsterdam and ended up just having drinks because we werent hungry yet. The plan was to wait out the weather, and it worked. When we went back outside, it was not raining anymore at all, and the blue skies were still there. First we went by some tourist shops because we wanted some postcards. We also stopped by a cheese store and tried some cheeses, and I bought some amazing pepper cheese! Its so good. Then, we walked across the street to a fries stand and got french fries for lunch. Oh my goodness, were those fries good. Probably some of the best fries I have ever had, and they had like over 40 sauces to choose from, which of course i got kethcup and it was good ketchup! I was so nervous. It was only like 2.40 euros and it was enough fries to fill someone until dinner. I was stuffed after i finished eating them. Then we decided to take a boat tour because we were right by them and it is a good way to see the city without having to walk anywhere! We bought our tickets and then went across the street to get chocolate milkshakes from McDonalds. Well, apparently in the Netherlands/Europe, they do not know how to make a milkshake. I took a picture because it was just so ridiculous. First off, it was white, and second, it was not ice cream at all, it was like cold, thick whipping cream or something nasty, and it was not brown at all, it was like light khaki colored. What a let down. We took our milkshakes and got on the boat for our boat tour. The tour was really fun being able to see the city from the canals, but it was really funny because the voice that was being our tour guide was in like 5 languages and english was last so by the time we could understand it, what he was talking about was long gone. Also, we were expecting descriptions of buildings and maybe some history or something, but no. He would say stuff like, "there is a statue of a man standing on an elephant," and that was it, nothing at all about it. The tour lasted about and hour, so when we were done, we went and chilled in a pub and had some cider. We had to be back at the hostel at 6 to catch our bus and go to the airport, and we only had about an hour by the time we were done at the pub, so we walked to this little shop to get a waffle, which turned out to be really nasty. I mean disgusting. When we got to our bus, it turned out to be a double decker charter bus, how fun! At the airport my bag got stopped in security because i had a bottle of water in there that i had forgotten about. Then we just sat in the terminal waiting for boarding. On the plane, I was planning on typing about the Netherlands for my blog, but it turned out that I got really sick on the plane because i didnt take my medicine so I had to sleep so i didnt throw up. When we got to Barcleona it was pretty late, midnight or one, so the metro was closed and we had to take a bus back to plaza catalunya and then walk the 15 minutes to our dorm. On the bus ride, Bhavika, Mark and I were standing together and everything we were talking about was hilarious due to our sleepy state. For some reason i was talking about verbs and how some of them get confusing in different tenses and I used the example of the word swim. I asked mark how he would say yesterday i went swimming, and he gave me a totally blank stare and then replied yesterday i went swimming. I was getting at would you say i swam or i swum, but it was a really bad example because of course you would say swam, but it was absolutely hysterical at the time, and i felt like an idiot. Obviously when we got back to the dorm, we all crashed.

Neth. Amsterdam- Cold and Rainy, more Mexican Food!

Today, Wednesday, was our first full day in Amsterdam. We had to wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, and meet downstairs in the hostel by nine, like usual. The plan for the day was to walk around the city of Amsterdam looking at some new projects in the city meshing new architecture along with the older, existing structures. Just our luck, it was cold and rainy this morning. From what i hear, that is pretty typical of Netherlands weather, but we had been really lucky with beautiful days until now. When we started out it was just an annoying drizzle, but as we kept walking it started to rain pretty hard. We found a building to stand under and wait until the rain calmed down a little bit. Luckily, I had my umbrella, but not everyone did. When the rain let up some, we started walking again, but it was still drizzling. We got on a tram and went to two spots along a canal and looked at this two specific projects of modern mixed with existing structures. Then we got on the tram again and headed over to another area of the city to look at some living structures. When we got off the tram, we took a break and had 30 minutes to get coffee. A small group of us went to a little cafe and ordered warm drinks. It turned out to be a really good little cafe, and it was a nice break from the cold, wet weather. We walked around the area we were in for a while. At one point, the weather got really bad, with strong winds and the sky was a grayish green color, so our leader, Ivan, decided to break for lunch and see if the weather got any better. We ended up going back to the same cafe and eating lunch. I had a club sandwich and Anthony had this really good pesto sandwich so we traded half of each. And for dessert I got dutch apple pie again. So good. During lunch we took some silly pictures playing with our scarves. The weather got a little better but not much, so we just got on a bus and rode it back to the city center and then we had free time. A small group of us started with a little bit of tourist shopping. I took a picture in these huge clogs with a wall of clogs behind me. Its a really cute picture! Then Bhavika, Preston and I split away from the group again and went searching for an ATM. And that is a hard task. It felt like we ended up walking like 5 miles just to find one. Eventually we did and we got money and then headed over to the Anne Frank House. Amsterdam is the city where her and her family moved to when they left Germany when Hitler took power and also where the attic hiding place was where they stayed in hiding for two years before being discovered and taken to Auswich. It is now a museum about Anne Frank. So, we got to go through the actual place they stayed and each of their bedrooms too. It was really cool to be there, but also a very sad experience. I did not realize that she died only one month before liberation and that her father was the only one that survived. By the time we got done with the museum it was getting close to dinner time so we headed back to the hostel to see if anybody else was there and what there plans were for dinner. Most of the group was back there just relaxing a little bit and had already made plans to leave for Mexican food at 7 as a big group. Some of us sat in the eating area and used the wifi from the hotel next door to check our emails and stuff. While we were sitting there, the guys we had met yesterday from Seattle walked in and were going to play cards. Me and Christina joined them and we played Spaids. It was really fun, although i screwed up on a nil hand. They ended up coming to dinner with us too so there were 18 of us all at this mexican food restaurant. We had to split tables but it was still a lot of fun and the food was so good. It was a little pricey, but you did get free chips and salsa! I got a margarita which was not good and tasted like pure lemon juice and also enchiladas with rice and black beans (because thats all they have here). So good. After dinner we went to this bar/club and just danced and acted silly. Tonight was our last night so a lot of people went to another club after that one, but few of us just went back. The second to last pic is Anne Frank's house and the last pic is at the mexican restaurant of preston and his tortilla the size of a quarter.

Neth. Breda and Amsterdam- beautiful canals and crazy laws

Today, Tuesday, we had to pack up and leave our hotel in Rotterdam. We spent the morning in another small town called Breda, which is an outskirt of Amsterdam, and then we went on to Amsterdam and had the whole rest of the day! So, first we saw this building that looks normal except when you go in the "courtyard" it is this special experimental material that changes colors depending on the sun angle. Breda also has this cool shopping center/district that we went to see. It is different because on the ground floors is shopping and stuff and then on the upper floors is housing all with green roofs and bridges and stuff connecting them. It is really cool because until you go to the roof of the mall you have no idea there is any housing or green roofs here. P.S a green roof is just roof with grass or plants on it in case that was unclear. After we looked at this, we went and had lunch. Preston, Bhavika, Greg and I ate together and just got some warm sandwiches. By the time we were done with lunch, it was time to start heading back to the bus. Preston and I really wanted to try some chocolates so we ran to the mall and just picked out a random assortment and then went to the bus. We tried the chocolates and go figure every single one i picked tasted awful. Such a let down. Anyway, we got back on the road but stopped again at this furniture mall and complex around it. There was a futbol stadium, furniture mall, and new metro/train station that were all really cool. I liked the roof of the metro station because it was made out of these really clean looking wood slats. Then we got back in the bus and stopped one last time before getting to our "hotel" in Amsterdam. The last stop was an apartment complex done by MVRDV for elderly people. It was cool because the size of the cantilevered mass was huge without any columns for support. And, the back looks totally different than the front which was interesting too. Finally we got back in the bus and arrived at our hotel in Amsterdam. Well, it turns out this "hotel" was actually a hostel. It wasn't bad but some people had some issues with it. For me it was awesome compared to the hoste bathroom. There was no basin that the shower was in, just an extension of the flat floor, and no shower curtain. So when you showered, the entire rest of the bathroom, including the toilet sel we stayed at in London. There were six of us in a room, but we got lucky and got one of the bigger rooms with a good view and small balcony. The only really crappy part about our room was that the bathroom had no distinction whatsoever between the shower and the toilet/rest of theat, was soaking. It was pretty nasty. Everyone got situated in our rooms and then met back downstairs to decide what to do with our free afternoon. We ended up meeting these two guys in the lobby who were from Seattle and had just graduated and were traveling across Europe for two months. They were really nice and happened to have been to places we are going to go, and still planning on going to places where we have already been so we ended up staying and talking for a while about different cities and such. Eventually we headed out to go see the city of Amsterdam. It's beautiful. One of my favorite cities I have been to. There are canals everywhere! And "coffeeshops" everywhere too(places where you can buy and smoke marijuana, not drink coffee). The plan was to just catch a tram and ride it to the city center and then get off and just walk around. We did just that, but for some reason, half our group decided they needed to go with us, and be annoying and uptight the whole time. They were like, where are we going, what are we doing, wait, let me pull out my huge map and look at it. So, pretty soon after we got off the tram, we found a little carnival, and Preston, Bhavika and I wove in and out of crowds and lost the group! Haha, we needed some space. Later that night we learned that Sloan got his wallet stolen on the tram, so all his credit cards and also 150 euros. From then on, we all watched our bags very closely. Anyway, after we left the group, we found a little pub and sat and had some cider. what else! When we were finished with our drinks, it was about the time to eat some dinner so we were just wandering down some streets and we look in this bar/restaurant and sitting there are three of the other guys from our group. We went in and talked to them and decided to meet up in the square in an hour and a half. We went on wandering and eventually found an italian restaurant to eat at. While we were eating, those same three guys walked by. How random? amsterdam is huge. So we finished our meal, and met them in the square. We decided to go to the red light district because it is ridiculous and unlike any other in the world. And, people say you have to go there, just to see what its like and then leave. So we went. We didnt exactly know where we were going, so we got a little lost and i had to go into a hotel and ask how to get there. talk about embarrassing, i couldnt stop laughing. With the directions, we made it to the red light district and believe me, you can't miss it. Literally the whole street on both sides is full of windows lined with red lights and in these windows are women with very little clothing on dancing and trying to get "work" from the men on the streets. It is quite disturbing, and I kept my eyes down as much as possible without running into people. It is like that because in Amsterdam not only is smoking weed legal, but prostitution is as well. After we walked down the street, we went and sat in another bar and chilled and talked. Then we just headed back to the hostel and went to sleep.

Neth. dikes and Almere - such a fun and chill day! just what the doctor called for.

Today, Monday, was more of a relaxing, have a lot of sleep time/free time kind of day. And it was so nice. We started off the day with a long bus ride (about an hour or maybe a little more) out of Rotterdam to the large dikes of the netherlands. We basically just drove to them and then looked at them from the bus windows while Ivan was explaining them to us. We did stop once and get out of the bus, but it was basically pointless and we stayed for about 10 minutes and then piled back into the bus for another long bus ride to another little city. I am not complaining it was great nap times on the bus ride! The little city we went to was called Almere. We walked around this urban planning site with different housing schemes on it and looked at the way it was handled by different architects. Then we walked by this hideous building that is a theater and i kid you not it looks like a huge piece of poop. It is even brown. I forgot to take a picture, but trust me. It was funny. We made our way to the cathedral and here had about an hour and a half to eat lunch and then meet back up to go back to Rotterdam. 10 of us ended up going to the same little restaurant and sitting outside to enjoy the weather. We sat at different tables to make paying the bill easier. It took forever to order and get food because there were only a couple people working, but it was nice to just sit and chat, and i didnt mind waiting at all. Some other people in our group at different tables very close by on the other hand, were not happy at all and would not stop whining and complaining. It was pretty ridiculous and annoying. When we got the food it was so good! Me and Bhavika both had tomato soup with bread and some fries. Mmm. When we were done with our meal, it was time to meet back up, and before you know it we were back in Rotterdam. Most of the group when we got back wanted to go shopping so they did, but Bhavika, Preston and I wanted to actually experience the city and not go shopping in the same stores they have in BCN. So instead we went to this thing called the Euromast which is very similar to the San Antonio Tower. It is a tower and it has a restaurant, but on this one, the restaurant was in the middle and you ride a viewing elevator that circles up to the top and then back down again. It was really fun and had some beautiful views of the city. From the top we saw a really pretty park that was close to the tower so when we got down, that is where we went. We just walked through the park and took it in becuase it was so pretty! In Rotterdam, opposite of barcelona, they eat around the same time Americans do, so we decided to go find a place to eat before they all closed down. The first place we tried was actually about to close and it was only 8. We picked this place that was movie themed and ate there. It was a really cool little place with good food. They had movie posters everwhere, and an old black and white film playing. I got a cesaer sa watched Discovery Channel. It was a really fun afternoon/evening with juslad with chicken in it which was delicious. For dessert we ordered this big cup of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce on it and all shared it. After dinner we all went back to Preston's room andt the three of us! The first pic is inside the elevator in the tower overlooking Rotterdam, the second is of the city from the tower, the third is the actual tower, the forth is of a part of the park, the fifth is me, B, and Preston on a park bench, and the sixth is after dinner across the street there were these lights so we posed under it like we are being beamed up by aliens. I think it is a rather funny pic.

Neth.-Hilversum, Delft. (I got to eat MEXICAN FOOD!)

Sunday was a really long day for us. We started the day in a town called Hilversum, which is pretty close, part of the metropolis, and it is the media center where all the radio stations are and such. We got off the bus and it was like Antarctica outside. It was ridiculously cold. We walked over to a building by MVRDV (a famous architecture firm) and we were supposed to tour it but our tour guide wasn't ready yet, so we walked around in the same area looking at other cool buildings close by. One of the buildings was really cool becuase it literally looked like it was just coming out of the ground and it was built in a small hill so it just started coming out, but then on the other side it was above the ground and supported by columns with a "void" underneath it. Then we walked and saw a few other cool buildings before heading back to the one for the tour. It was called Villa VPRO. It is used for a radio company and it is an amazing building. I absolutely loved it! From the outside it is not that spectacular, and the regular joe would not think it was anything special, but it was cool. Inside it is like a big mesh between levels and also this constant connection to the outdoors. After that building, we went over to the town hall and toured that building as well. I dont remember the name of the architect but it reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright work. It was alright, but definitely not my favorite thing i have seen so far. The tour guide was really funny because he thought the building was just the coolest thing ever, and was so excited the whole tour, and pointing out things that were so ridiculously obvious. He rambled on and on about the wedding room and how special it was, and it was actually was really small and ugly. One cool thing was that it has a huge tower so we walked to the top and you could see Amsterdam and Utrecht from the top. After that we headed over to this really cool building that was actually a museum where everything was in dutch, but we had lunch there just so we could experience the building and inside space. The outside was glass with all different colors and pictures etched into it, and then then inside was a really cool contrast with dark gray and orange. Then we loaded on the bus and went to another city called Delft. Here we went to the Delft Library designed by a firm called Mecanoo. It was an awesome building for lack of a better way to describe it. Definitely one of my favorites. It sloped up out of the ground and you can walk from ground level up on the roof which is covered in grass and just hang out there. It has this huge cone shape coming out of it which from the inside is floors of study areas with light coming in and then the whole back wall which is really tall is where all the books were. The majority of the building was just open space with tables and computers so it was a different kind of library, but really cool. Then, we actually got to go to the firm that designed it, Mecanoo, and have a tour of their office and see their models and project ideas and then also have a presentation of some of their recent projects and upcoming projects. It was really cool. They actually just had a fire a couple months ago so a large room was totally off limits and ruined, but the rest was really cool to see. It was a lot bigger than I had expected. And listening to the way the firm works and seeing their work was a great opportunity for all of us. By the time we got done at the firm, it was 8 so we just stayed in Delft and had Mexican food for dinner. It was SO good! It was REAL too! I had a good margarita and a taco and quesadilla slice with rice and beans. I mean, it was a little different, the quesadilla had veggies in it like carrots and peas, but it was surprisingly good. It made my heart and stomach so happy! When we were done with dinner we just caught a train back to Rotterdam and went to sleep. The first pic is of Villa VPRO, the second pic is of me and B on top of the tower looking over the city, the third pic is of the Delft Library, the fourth pic is of a group of us in a clog, it was in front of a souvenir shop..kodak moment, and the fifth pic is of a church in delft that is leaning much like the tower of pisa. It is because the Netherlands was built where most of it is below sea level so the ground is very soft and they have problems keeping buildings straight, but this was by far the worst we saw.

Neth.-Den Haag. i love trees in autumn (in places where they actually have seasons!)

Saturday consisted of a trip to the city of Den Haag. The way the Netherlands is set up is with all these metropolitan areas very close to each other but technically different cities. So, we took a train to Den Haag, but it is not very far from Rotterdam. Bhavika, Preston and I had started hanging out more because we needed a break from some people in our group and for some reason, this particular morning, all three of us were really hyper. We could not stop laughing the whole ride. It was a blast, and by the end of it, my abs had had a good workout! There was one particular moment that was really funny, that isn’t funny unless you were there, but I need to write it in my blog so I don’t forget. Mark was sitting next to us, and I was commenting about how we were messing up the normal system because of the extra 26 people on the train, and how nobody could get a seat like usual and all this. Mark turns and goes, “its like we are clogging the pipes.” We all lost it because that is just such a random and funny analogy! When we got to Den Haag, we walked around the city following Ivan and listening to everything he had to tell us. It was beautiful there too. We walked through this thing that looked exactly like Boerne Market Days. It was all these people selling things in their individual tents but the place they were located was breathtaking. It was this huge canopy of trees everywhere, and they were orange and yellow and loosing their leaves. The Netherlands is so gorgeous in the fall. We walked through there and headed over to the Palace. When we got there we got a thirty minute coffee break. Preston, B, and I hurried to be the first one to the coffee shop so we would be served first and not have to wait forever. The plan worked at first, we were seated before anyone else came in, but of course, everyone else got served first. It was ridiculous, but we laughed because it is just our luck. Then we continued our tour of the city looking at a transportation building and then walking over to a Richard Meir building. That building was really awesome. I liked it a lot because last semester I did a project based on his design philosophy so it was cool to be able to actually go in one of his buildings and experience it rather than just look at pictures. It is the all white building in the pics. From there we walked over to a metro station designed by Rem Koolhaus which was really neat too. It is so hard to describe buildings, it is more something you have to experience personally, but I’m telling you this metro station was amazing! It had a parking garage in it, and different levels for each type of transportation, and also a mix of materials that worked really well together. After that we were done for the day and free to do whatever we wanted. A group of us decided to stay in Den Haag and have lunch in this little square where there were chairs and tables everywhere outside and then a row of like 5 restaurants to choose from. I got a blt wrap and we sat outside and enjoyed our food. Of course, just our luck again, as soon as we get our food, the sun goes behind the buildings and we all freeze all the way through lunch. Then after lunch we split again, and half our group went back to Rotterdam to go shopping and Mark, Bhavika, and I stayed in Den Haag and looked around. I walked around a while just taking in the city and then stopped and got coffee and a chocolate muffin. It was cool, because in the Netherlands, they just assume that you know dutch, especially in the less touristy towns because they aren’t used to having tourists that speak other languages, so they will just start talking to you and you won’t have a clue what they are saying. But then they will speak English to you. They are really nice people. We took the train back to Rotterdam and then took a short nap before going out to dinner. For dinner we ate at this little Italian place that was really good. It was really funny because when you walk by the building, the front three side that you can see are all glass, and there is a porch with tables on it as well, where you can walk up on to it, so you assume there is a entrance through the glass somewhere. We all walked up to the glass and all around trying to get in meanwhile all the people eating inside are laughing and finally point around back. You actually enter through a dark, unwelcoming wall that goes unnoticed. It was funny, but pretty embarrassing. We all thought it was bad design, needless to say. Dinner was good, but once again we were tired, so we decided to just head back to the hotel and sit in the bar there and chill. I ordered a warm chocolate milk, their version of hot chocolate, and we all played mash it! It was fun. Then we went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night twice with an upset stomach and had to rush to the bathroom if you know what I mean…

The first pic is a group of us under the trees, second is a pic of the castle, third is B and todd walking, i just thought they looked cute, and last is the richard meir building i was talking about.

Neth. Rotterdam- elephants everywhere!

Day two started bright and early, meeting for breakfast in the hotel at 8:30…we are used to waking up around noon in Barcelona. When I walked into the breakfast area I got so excited because it was a real continental breakfast, none of this just a piece of toast stuff. It was really good, I had an egg sandwich, in between a sunny side up egg and a over hard egg. Mmm. The plan for the day was a walking tour around Rotterdam. We started off with the bridge which is really cool looking. Here we saw our first elephant. It is the same thing here like in San Antonio with the cow parade and other cities with their animals, but here it is elephants. Of course we had to stop and take a picture. Then we headed over to this museum which was pretty much the coolest museum ever! It was so much fun because the current display was all stuff that moved and you stepped on this big red button to make it go, so you could interact with the art! First before we got to go in the museum, we got a walking tour of the whole complex by this really sweet dutch girl who knew a lot of information. It was designed by Rem Koolhaus, which means nothing to any of you, but he’s really famous in modern architecture and its really cool to actually get to go in these buildings that we have been studying in class for 2 years. It was a cool building because it is such a mix of materials, but it works well. Behind the museum is a big garden/park and more museum buildings and stuff. The different thing about the museum is it is basically a glass box, so when you walk up to it you can already see everything in there, without paying to get in and see it, but you still want to go in. This particular museum has different displays very often, it is not just the same pieces of art all the time, it is more like an exhibition hall. Like I said earlier, it all moved, so after the tour we got to go play in it. There was this one part that was like a net “room” like those ball pits at McDonalds, but it was filled with balloons and there was air blowing them around, and you got to go in there and play in the balloons. Talk about a good time! That kept us entertained for a while. Then there was a room with a tv and all these bean bags so we chilled there for a while too. There was also this display that was these huge wheels attached to three bikes, and when you ride them really fast, it makes these wheels turn. Then we went out in the park and there we found this cool sculpture of a person from the waist down bending over sticking its butt out. Of course we took a picture with it doing the same thing! It is actually my computer background right now. After that we saw a few more buildings that were really cool. In the Netherlands there is just so much really cool architecture its not even funny. Then we walked back to the river and bridge and went on a boat tour which I was pretty excited about until it started. It would have been cool , except the city is really small, so after about 2 minutes we were in the industrial canals which is what the boat tour was of…cranes and moving containers. Then we were given an hour for lunch. I ended up going to this little bar and had such a good meal. We couldn’t read the menu at all but since everyone in the Netherlands speaks English it wasn’t a problem. The waiter came to our table and translated the menu for us and told us we should get the meatballs because they are a traditional meal. We all got it and it was so good. It was just one big meatball the size of a softball with fries and potato salad. Then we met back up and continued our tour. First we went to the cube houses which are these apartment buildings that are squared literally turned on their side. It is interesting looking. We actually got to go inside of one and tour it too. It was really cool inside. It would be fun to live in for maybe a year but that’s all. Then we crossed the bridge to the other side of the river and saw more buildings and Noah’s Ark remade. From there “class” for the day was done so we could do whatever we wanted. A group of us decided to stay on the other side of the river and go to this old famous hotel to have a coffee. It ended up that the restaurant was really upscale and to sit and have coffee we would have to be on a waiting list so we opted against that plan. We were just going to head back and try and find a different café, but outside the hotel was a lot of the elephant art so of course we had to go play on them and take pictures! We slid down the back/butt of one of them. There was also a little playground with a seesaw and these spinny things you stand on which led to half an hour of entertainment. We reverted back to the age of about 6 for a couple of hours. Next to that was this display/sculpture of sorts to represent what the hotel used to be used for, immigration or something, and it was just shelves with luggage and stuff, so we climbed all over that and took more pictures. Lastly, we saw this young girl climbing up this stone wedge and sliding back down so of course we had to go play too. It was really fun, but steep and hard to climb. Then sliding down was scary. I had to have Preston stand at the bottom and grab my ankles to stop me. It was actually pretty dangerous and dumb to do, but still fun. On the walk back across the river to the hotel, we sang random songs, including nsync, Brittney spears, and many more. Then we went and ate dinner with a big group of us at this place called Betty Beer. It was in this big square that we just happened upon. It was really strange because we walked in and there were teddy bears everywhere. There wasn’t enough room inside so most of us sat outside in the cold but it was nice. I had onion soup and bread with their garlic butter. It was really good. For dessert I had dutch apple pie! I had to try it since apple pie is my fav! During dinner a really small bug crawled on the table and one of the girls started freaking out. Another girl was like, “Calm down, its just a grasspopper!” It was so funny because she accidentally called it a grasspopper. Also, this is the place that three of the girls ordered pina coladas with their meals and they got the smallest glass you could imagine with two ice cubes and an inch of liquid in them for 3.50 euros. After dinner we went out to some bar/clubs. It was a lot of fun just sitting around a table relaxing and talking. On the way home it was hilarious because two of the girls with us who are very high strung sometimes were freaking out because they thought the street we were on was dangerous. Me and Bhavika were laughing and asked them if they knew where we lived right now, because Barcelona is a lot worse than where we were. We were walking in the shopping district and everything was well lit and nice, there were just no people there. So anyway they were like, don’t speak English, let’s just turn around, we don’t even know where the hotel is…just carrying on like that. Me and B started making fun of them being like, Oh, I know where we are, I remember this brick, and this leaf, and…because we knew exactly where we were and how to get back. When we got back, they were really pissed at us, but it was funny. On the walk back, we also passed a store with the initials BS which is both mine and Bhavika’s initials, so we took a picture!