Italia Adventures!!: It's the Taste of New Amsterdam

It's been extremely hard for me to answer people when they ask me where my favorite place has been while traveling in Europe. I have visited so many amazingly different areas that I don't know if I could ever pick just one. However, this may sound weird but after making my final stop of the second travel week in the Netherlands, I am now able to finally tell people at least what my favorite experience has been so far.

It definitely all started when Beth and I boarded our plane and, by some random act of awesomeness, sat down next to a middle-aged women who was sitting by herself. As we were waiting for everyone else to finish boarding, Bethy struck up a conversation with this lady who introduced herself as Tommi. She was so interesting and we spent the entire flight talking to her about everything! The most fascinating part to me was how she was Irish but lived in Amsterdam and worked in London during the week - it was so unlike what I'm used to hearing about that I hounded her with questions for a good two hours! She also told us about her twin, nineteen year old daughters, her husband who she kept referring to as "the other half" and all of the crazy things she did when she was our age! I have a feeling that she found talking to us about our lives in the US just as interesting as we found hers because she asked us questions about everything from tuition costs to our goals and plans for the future; it definitely might have been the best cultural experience I've had yet.

But eventually the plane landed (somehow Tommi made the flight seem much shorter) and we had to part ways. I think the only reason I wasn't more sad to see her go was because I was so excited about finally seeing Aaron, one of my best friends from home. Aaron's been studying in the Netherlands (in Delft) since August and aside from a few days over Christmas break and the time he spent with us in Rome on the first travel week, I really hadn't spent very much time with him so I was really looking forward to our weekend! And the second we found him at the arrivals gate, I was so happy to see him that I just knew we were going to have a great time!

Having him pick us up definitely made the process much less stressful than it usually would have been because he knew exactly where we had to go and what we had to do and all Bethy and I had to do was follow along - it was great! After taking the forty-five minute train ride south to Delft, we were at his apartment and could finally put all of our stuff down and just relax for awhile. (I cannot even tell you how amazing it felt to sit on a couch!) Just being able to be with Aaron was awesome and I would have been perfectly happy just hanging out with him all weekend, but what really made the visit even more special was the fact that I got to see my friend Sebastian. (It's kind of a long story as to how I came to know Sebastian but I'll give a brief recap so it makes a little more sense!)

Sebastian is originally from Germany and while he usually attends the same school as Aaron in the Netherlands (TU Delft), he was an exchange student at Iowa State last semester where he just happened to be my next door neighbor. What's really crazy about this was the fact that for Aaron to be able to study abroad, someone from Delft had to "replace" him at Iowa State and that person just so happened to be Sebastian. So, in the coincidence of a lifetime, last semester my best friend leaves and his replacement moves in next door to me...it was a bit unexpected to say the least!

Anyway, long story short, because Sebastian is back in the Netherlands for this semester, I was also able to spend time with him while I was there which was great! He let Bethy and I borrow bikes for the first night we were there which we immediately took on a nighttime ride through Delft. It was definitely the most fun I've ever had on a bike even though the seat was so high I could barely reach the petals! Not only was it bizarre to be able to be with both Aaron and Sebastian so far from home, but it was also crazy to experience the Dutch obsession with the bicycle first hand. Even in the middle of the night, there were people on bikes everywhere - the bike "highways" were way more busy than the actual highways!

The next morning we got up and started exploring Delft which is much more beautiful than I was expecting. We went down to the main square where the city hall and largest churches are located as well as a bunch of restaurants and shops. Because we hadn't eaten yet and because Aaron knew how excited I was about eating Dutch pancakes (one of my favorite foods and one of the things they're most known for!) we decided to go out for breakfast at one of these cute restaurants. I ate an enormous pancake with ham, cheese and pineapple on it and it was SO good! The best part was when I asked for ketchup, the waitress didn't look at me like I was crazy - it was definitely a huge change from the usual Italian response!

After breakfast, we met up with Sebastian and his friend Jackie who was visiting him from Germany and headed to the train station to catch a train to Amsterdam for the day. However, the best part was on our way there we got a chance to walk through Delft's city market which was beautiful because not only did they have the usual produce and market goods, but they also had a huge flower market - I was in heaven!! Even though I had just eaten the biggest pancake of my life, we also stopped at a stand making fresh, homemade (!!!) stroopwafels which might be my new favorite food! The literal translation is syrup waffle...I think that might tell you why I'm now obsessed! (This might give additional explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroopwafel)

So, a life-sized pancake, one huge stroopwafel, and thousands of beautiful tulips later, we finally arrived at the train station and got on our way. The ride from Delft to Amsterdam was beautiful (it went right through fields and fields of flowers!) and much more interesting during the day. When we finally arrived in Amsterdam and made the decision to walk around instead of renting bikes, we began exploring. Our first stop was definitely my favorite as we went up to the top of the Amsterdam public library where not only did we get to see the awesome library but also the panoramic view from the top level. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the rings at the heart of the city and it was definitely one of the most unique experiences I've had. The architecture and man-made canals were lovely surprises and a very distinct contrast to the atmosphere in the Red Light District. However, it all somehow worked together perfectly and everywhere we went I really enjoyed!

We made the classic touristy stops at the Hard Rock and the I AMsterdam sign as well as my second favorite stop - the American food store!!! I saw a bag of candy corn in the window and I was inside buying it before anyone even realized I was gone! I'm quite embarrassed to say that the entire bag may have been gone within forty-five minutes...but it was so good! After a packed day of seeing no museums, going into no churches, and having no schedule, we decided to take a break one of the huge city parks before we headed back to Delft for the night. I think Bethy described the park experience the best when, as we were sitting there, she says, "I never thought I'd say these two things in the same sentence but it's like Woodstock meets family cookout." It was a perfect summation of what was happening as there were people doing the more stereotypical Amsterdam activities, but there were also families everywhere having picnics and playing with their dogs. Overall, the entire day was one of the best experiences I've ever had with a culture. It sounds really stupid to say but it felt much more like being an observer than a tourist which was a very welcome change!

Unfortunately, the next day we did have to head back to Paderno, and as much as I missed Italy, I wasn't ready to leave! However, before our train left, we had time to walk around TU Delft's campus with Aaron (we hadn't seen it during the day yet!) and he showed us some of the main buildings and we got to walk into the university library which was one of the coolest buildings! It's completely above ground but is "built" into a hill so the roof is all grass and you can walk on top of it. I thought that seeing all of this as well as the ancient gates to the city was a great way to end the week but little did I know that this trip still had one more surprise.

Because I had wanted to say good-bye to Sebastian before I left, I had called him when we left that morning and planned on just having him meet us at the train station. So, we got there about twenty minutes early and as we were walking up on the platform, I heard someone say my name so I turned around and it was my friend Ward! I met him through Sebastian as he had also come to Iowa State last semester and lived in a building very close to mine. Because he had been busy all weekend, I didn't think I would get to see him at all while I was there, but it turns out Sebastian had called him and told him I was leaving so he came to say goodbye too! It made me so happy - I got to see Ward, Sebastian (it was even his birthday on the day we left which was awesome!), and Aaron all in the same weekend!

I think from the length and detail of this post it's quite easy to see how much I loved this stop on my trip. It only reinforced the realization I had already come to that its not the place you travel to, its the people you're with that make it special. This trip was definitely special to me and it will without a doubt be one of the best stops of the semester!

And the evidence...