London, Part 2: a truly touristy event...

It was only a short few weeks since I was last in London, and then I found myself there again. This trip I was really looking forward to though... I did not have to play tourist alone this time!!!! I had partners in crime :) They were my crazy sister Jenni, her mother Carolyn, and Mikkel... I was sure good times were going to be had.

Day One: Getting into London, and getting Jenni from the Eurostar through the tube, to her hotel...

Getting into London was easy for me, although it did require me to get up before the sun, in fact I was in the KLM airport lounge, at Schiphol, before the sun had even fully risen... other then that, getting to the hotel in London was a breeze... But by the time we had checked in and dropped our luggage, it was 2pm, Mikkel and I had not eaten, so first thing was to find some food, and we did... We ate huge hamburgers with fries and beers... we ate so much we made ourselves sick... So after a huge lunch, a little nap was required... It was not nearly long enough though, because we had to meet Jenni and Carolyn at St. Pancreas train station, and help them navigate the tube system, and also find their hotel. Note to all future London Tourist... the tube is not meant to transport mass amounts of luggage... It makes minding the gap nearly impossible, and well it almost always results in ruined luggage... just ask Jenni about her broken wheel. After the exciting adventure of navigating the tube with copious amounts of luggage, we found their hotel and got Jenni and Carolyn all checked in... At this point they wanted to grab dinner, but Mikkel and myself were still full from lunch so we all settled on a good old Seattle tradition instead...STARBUCKS!!!!!!! After some good coffee, and fun conversations... it was time to say good night, and get some sleep. The next few days were going to be busy, and I am nothing if not ferociously cranky if I am tired!

Day Two: The worlds coldest hop on hop off bus tour....

Yeah, I am in London, I understand what is being said around me, and I get to go sight  seeing with my family!!!! But first some food, so Mikkel and myself found a nice little cafe and enjoy some tasty breakfast and even a beautiful and decadent fruit tart!!!! Then we meet up with Jenni, and then headed off for Baker Street... (That's right, the home of Sherlock Holmes!) Snap a quick picture of the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and then purchase our tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus.

It shows up and we hop on, go to the 2nd deck, and then sit for a few freezing hours seeing London... I was so cold that it was a slightly miserable tour.The tour bus drove all over London, and we saw everything from Oxford street, to Westminster Abby, Trafalgar Square, Tower bridge, Tower of London, etc...

We hopped off the bus near the tower of London, and then we headed for some tasty lunch, in a toasty pub :) I had the best steak and ale pie, and a nice beer!!! After warming up and filling our bellies we took stock of all we had seen that day, and then decided that we wanted to catch a boat tour of the Thames... It was just short boat ride, but it was heated, and the guide was hilarious... London is really viewed best from the river!!! Day 2 was a very long, cold and exhausting day, so we again decided to skip dinner and head for bed...

Day Three: Oxford Street shopping, a football match in a pub, and more sightseeing...

Day three begins the same as day two, except that for breakfast we find a little cafe called, "The Muffin Man" and I just had to eat breakfast there... They made tasty scones, and I had a great breakfast!!! Then to meet up with Jenni and Carolyn, and head off for Oxford Street, and some shopping!!!! The first store we happened upon was a huge dept store called "Selfridges" and it was amazing, they had all kinds of American goodies, and I was so excited, because I have had to go without since moving to Holland. I missed American syrup so much that I payed close to $12 for a bottle of Aunt Jemima Syrup.... Crazy, I know, but you cannot even get maple syrup in Holland. We spent a few hours walking up and down the streets, and then we found a pub to watch the Liverpool football match (they won!!!!), get a beer, and get some lunch. Today's lunch was not as great as yesterday's, but it was still OK... After Lunch we headed for Trafalgar Square, and popped in real quick to the National Gallery Museum. After we closed down the museum, we headed for London's "Red Light District" (Not a legal one, but it still exist non the less). This is in the middle of the Soho area... It was interesting to see, and we also got to walk through Chinatown. We then ended up near Oxford Street again, and decided that tonight we would partake in dinner. We found a cute little Mediterranean Restaurant and had a great dinner: a few appetizers and a main course of stuffed aubergines, all accompanied with a nice bottle of white wine!!!

Day Four: Girls morning, Tower of London, and a Jack the Ripper walk....

So seeing as how Mikkel use to live in London, he was no way no how, going to be talked into seeing the Changing of the Guard with us at Buckingham Palace... So us girls decided to go for it on our own, and meet up with him at Harrods at noon... So off I headed, went straight to the tube, got there and the reader board claimed that my train would be there in less then 1 minute, and I smugly thought to myself, "I rock!!!" and then all of my plans came crashing down around me... the 3 main lines that run through High Street Kensington were all indefinitely suspended... and I would have to walk to my sisters hotel... Lets just say, an hour later and 3 different sets of incorrect directions, I finally made it to Jenni and Carolyn... We formulated a new plan, found a tube line that was running, and headed off... At least it was a sunny day... It couldn't get any worse could it??? Hahaha... wrong again.... Showed up late to the changing of the guards, barley got to see anything, almost got crushed in a crazy, cranky, and pushy mob... man that was enough for me, I think I will agree with Mikkel, and say no thanks to the changing of the guards the next time...

After watching the changing of the guards we had to rush back into the underground and head towards Harrods... and guess what.... we got lost, and missed our lunch meet up, and consequently skipped lunch.... (I know, never a good idea for me to skip lunch, I get so cranky...) I was not in a mood to shop, didn't get anything in Harrods and was really starting to dread how the rest of the day was going to turn out...

Next adventure was the Tour of the Tower Palace... That's right, a guided tour of the tower grounds by a beef eater, and a viewing of the crowned jewels!!!! (I just love sparkly things!!!!) To bad I was so cranky that I did not even enjoy the crowned jewels, and I didn't even laugh once at any of the Beef Eater's jokes... Thankfully after the tour of the Tower, we had dinner... (Cherry Cheesecake counts as dinner... right???)

After dinner we grabbed a Starbucks to go, and headed to the meeting place for the "Jack the Ripper" tour. Seeing as how I had eaten a bit I was perking up, and starting to return to a good mood. I was so very excited for this tour. It was night time, and we were walking around London seeing spots relevant to the Jack the Ripper case, and hearing all of the details of the story. The only down side was that it was so ridiculously cold out... I would definitely do this tour again in much warmer weather. The Jack the Ripper tour brought day 4 to a nicer ending then I had hoped for during the crazy day.

Day 5: A nice breakfast before heading home...

Seeing as how we had not managed to have breakfast with Jenni and Carolyn once while we were all together in London, we decided to make the most out of our last few hours here, and meet up with them for breakfast. We went back to the same little cafe we ate at on day 3, and we all enjoyed another tasty meal. It was nice to get to see them one last time before I headed back to the land of the Dutch. It was a sad parting because I was saying goodbye to my sister, and also saying good bye to London, and all the people speaking English around me. 

After a nice long breakfast, and a hasty goodbye, we set off on our way, back to Heathrow airport, and the beginings of our journey home. I have to say that for being such a major world airport, Heathrow is not a very nice airport. It is also my opinion that the counter attendants have never been as friendly as they are in other airports. The one thing that Heathrow has going for it though, is the KLM lounge. It is the nicest of any of the KLM lounges I have been in yet. (Yup, even nicer then the one at Schipol). It is multi leveled, and they have amazing food, comfortable seating, and plenty of entertainment. (Several PS3's with all sorts of games, newspapers in every language, etc...) Seeing as how we never know how long it is going to take for us, (An American, and a Dane) to get through security, and border control checks, etc. we always allow plenty of time at the airport, and on the good days, we spend a fair amount of time in the KLM lounges, and the saving grace of Heathrow would be the KLM lounge. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the lounge, Mikkel played some PlayStation games, I logged on to the free WiFi and tooled around a bit, and I even read a Cosmo. Then we headed to our gate, boarded our plane, and 45 minutes later we touched down in the land of the Dutch. We were exhausted, a little cranky, and ready to go home and relax for the rest of the day!

This is the last planned trip I have for sometime, now I just need to get into a routine of daily life, and I will start blogging more on what it is like being an American girl living in the land of the Dutch. I am also going to be puppy sitting for a friend while she is on vacation, so look for some crazy Chihuahua pics!!!!

I hope everyone enjoys reading about my wanderings and wonderings, and until next time, happy adventures to all!!!!

Chelyn

Catch Up: Adventure 5 - Rotterdam

Rotterdam was the last trip I took before I started this blog. It feels finally nice to be caught up!!! (Just in time to fly out to London at dawns first light tomorrow!!!)

Rotterdam is a city located to the south of Amsterdam. It is a fairly new city seeing as how it all had to be rebuilt after WWII. I was in Rotterdam accompanying Mikkel on another work conference. This one would be short, just an overnight trip, but I got the pleasure of joining some other women on a boat tour of the Rotterdam Harbor. It was a great tour. The weather was amazing, the tour was in English, and I learned so very much!

After the tour we had a company dinner to go to, and it was a blast. It was located on the top floor of the Hotel and it had a stunning view of the harbor. There was drinking, dancing, and lots of great conversation. I met a lot of interesting people and got to see a new city, if only briefly.

To date all of my adventures have been amazing in their own different ways! I am extremely relieved to be all caught up and current with the blog. From now on I plan on trying to post once a week. Sometimes they posts will be about travels, some times they will be able life and the "Dutch", and all the other times they will be about anything and everything I have on my mind!

Until next time, I wish nothing but Happy and Adventurous Wanderings and Wonderings for everyone!!!

-Chelyn

Catch Up: Adventure 4- London part 1

So I have finally made it to London!!!! I was there for 3 whole days of fun, which was not enough time, but thankfully I am heading back there tomorrow!!!! London is great, it is such a big city, full of so many things to do and see. The people were all nice, riding the tube was exciting, and an adventure in itself. One of my favorite things to do is "people watch" and there is definitely plenty of that there!!!

Day one: Was a short day, it was a Monday and our flight landed at noon, and it took us about an hour to clear customs and make it into the city. After we reached the hotel, Mikkel headed straight off to his meeting, and I headed out to explore a little. With an oyster card in hand I set out for High Kennsington Street. I had to check out the shopping. Oh, and I need to mentioned I found a Starbucks right across from the tube stop ( Gloucester Road ) Not only did I get in a little shopping, but I got my Starbucks fix!!! That evening ( which was Valentine's Day ) I met up with Mikkel and he surprised me with tickets to go see an advanced screening of the movie, "Paul". I was so excited because I love Simon Pegg and Nick frost movies, and this was their new one. It was so very cute! Afterwards we had an amazing, cozy, and intimate dinner for just the 2 of us. What a great Valentine's Day!!!

Day 2: I decided I would head down to the Victoria and Albert Museum of Art and Design. It was an amazing Museum, 6 floors worth of exhibits. I saw all sorts of Exhibits. Saw statues from Rodin, to Middle Eastern Art, Japanese Art, All sorts of cultural exhibits. All that was even before I left the 1st floor. Once I wondered up to the next level I Found an entire wing devoted to JEWELRY!!!!! This exhibit is every little girls dream. It was amazing.

 Speaking of amazing, getting to the museum was amazingly easy! I got on the tube, and then got off at the South Kennsington Stop. This stop has a tunnel that is directly connected to all of the museums in the area. The tunnel made it easy to get to the museum with out getting wet from the rain!!!

Day 3: I was told by Mikkel that the best Museum in London is the Tate Modern, so I of course had to go and see it!!! What made this trip even better was that I got to knock out another few attractions at the same time. I got to walk across the Millennium Bridge ( Bridget Jones' Diary, and Harry Potter 6 ), and also walk past The Globe Theatre ( Shakespeare's theatre )

 Once in the Tate Modern I was amazed with all sorts of work. There were works from Picasso, Matisse, Monet, plus several more modern and eclectic exhibits. One of my most favorite pieces was titled, "Flux" and it is by Bridget Riley. The piece is enormous, and if you stare at it too long you will get dizzy! The Tate Modern was an amazing Museum, and I am definitely so glad I went to see it!

I know I did not get to any of the extremely touristy things, but seeing as how I knew I would be back in a couple of weeks, and I would be able to do more sightseeing, and this next time Mikkel will get to play tourist with me ( or rather tour guide ). Look for a post on my London Part 2 next week!

Catch Up: Adventure 3 - Scotland

So I can officially say that I have been to Scotland, but if anyone where to ask me what I saw, I would only be able to answer with, "The sad grey buildings of Aberdeen."

I was only there for a few days and there is nothing worthy of seeing in the town. Sure there are a few cool churches and a cool cemetery, but everything that is really "touristy" is located about 80 km or further outside the town. I have a good promise that the next time we are in Scotland, I will  get to see some cool castles! ( Every American girl LOVES castles!!!!)

So why was I in Aberdeen then??? Well I had the pleasure of accompanying Mikkel to a gala ball hosted by one of his clients. Being as I love a chance to dress up, I was ecstatic to go along. It was a wonderful night spent dressed up, going to a ball, being with my favorite person, enjoying a nice ( All be it long) dinner, and we even got in a little dancing!

Seeing as how this was a really quick trip, I did not even bother to bring my "real" camera. Instead we brought a little pocket camera. I find it funny that a photographer who visits Scotland for the first time, only takes 1 picture the entire time she was there... But I was lazy, and uninspired, and well since I wasn't going to see any castles this time, I decided it wasn't worth taking any pictures.

With all that being said, I feel I need to say that Aberdeen is not a bad city to visit, it just isn't a "Tourist" city. The people were nice, and as an added bonus they even speak of version of English ( although not the same English I speak.) There was even a Starbucks across the street from where I was staying!!!!

Other then the ball there was one event that will probably stick with me for the rest of my life...Seeing a young, foreign to me, person swearing! I laughed so hard I could not breath. Just imagine it... There I was walking down the street when I passed a group of school aged (10-12 yr old) boys, when out of now where one of them yells... ( In a boyish, yet heavily Scottish accented voice) " Hey you wanker, get back here..." It was just so cliche that I about died of hysterical laughter right there on the spot.

I know that this post on Scotland is not the Ode to Tourism that it should be, but I can promise, that the next time I go I will do it with all the "touristy" gusto that I have... Until them, farewell Scotland!

Catch up: Adventure 2, Denmark and a Julefrokost

Hello again :) Today I am going to catch everyone up on a little adventure. This was a quick weekend trip to Denmark for my first "Danish" Christmas party. This little trip happened before my adventure in Geneva. This trip was so quick, that I did not get a chance to do any real "tourist" things, but it was still an adventure non-the-less!

My first trip to Denmark:  and my first "Julefrokost" ( Danish Christmas celebration). This trip was going to be a quickie. We woke up at 6AM on Friday morning, and spent the next 10 hours driving to Mikkel's hometown of Hundested. The drive took us north through Holland. Then into and across Northern Germany, where we caught a ferry into Denmark. It was quite a long road trip, but it was fun. This was also the first time I would be meeting Mikkel's friends back home, and I would also meet some of his family... This translated to me being extremely NERVOUS...

Friday Night we had dinner with his friend Louise and her family. They were so nice and friendly that it put all my nerves at ease! Saturday we woke up and set off on a tour of Hundested via Car... There was a lot of snow on the ground, and it was really cold out, so driving around was quite difficult. Difficult enough that we actually got the car stuck. Luckily a friendly jogger saw that we were stuck and came to help Mikkel push the car to get us un-stuck. After the sight seeing tour, we headed to his Grandmother's house. She was so adorable and again really nice. Seeing as how I do not know any Danish, and his grandmother does not know any English, Mikkel spent the entire visit translating. It was a nice visit, and I ended up leaving with a little present... my very own box of chocolate covered Danish Marzipan! Mikkel was warned that those chocolates were all mine, and that he better not eat any... but being the nice person I am I did eventually share... ( 1 piece out of an entire box is sharing , right???)

Saturday evening was the Julefrokost, which started at 2pm and went late into the evening. There was tons of traditional Danish food, the nastiest alcohol I have ever tasted, Schnapps, and way too much fun to be had. All of his friends were nice, and they all spoke English. Great conversations were had all night long, and it was great to not feel like an outsider. With all of the fun we were having, I think we "forgot" that we had to get up at 6AM the next morning for the drive back home...

6AM came way too quickly, and I was the one who was less hung over, therefore I was tasked with the responsibility of driving us back home... Saying I was nervous would be belittling how frightened I really was... but I had to put on my big girl pants, and just GET IT DONE!!! I made it through Denmark to the Ferry. I got some breakfast on the ferry, and that perked me up, and then I was ready for Germany. Yay for high speed limits :) I love driving fast, and when you don't get in trouble for it, well that is even better! I was still timid about the speed, so I think the fastest I dared go was 180kph. Not bad for my first time though! Once we reached Holland it was time to set the cruise control. They have very strict speed restriction in Holland, and I do not need any speeding tickets... I only got lost once ( and I completely blame that on the GPS.) All in all, we made it home safe and sound, and completely exhausted. This quick trip to Denmark was great, and I really look forward to being able to go back and actually seeing and experiencing more!

Catch up: Adventure 1 - Geneva Switzerland

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am a slacker, and I will now have to update you on my adventures that have come to pass before I started this blog. The first of my adventures was to spend 4 days in Geneva Switzerland. This had also been my first opportunity to enjoy Starbucks coffee since leaving home for the land of the Dutch.

The first thing one should know about Geneva is that it is the most expensive city I have been to yet... OUCH... Another thing to mention is that Geneva is in the French speaking portion of Switzerland, and it was nice for me to be able to at least understand the things that were being said to me.

Day One: Was a short day, I arrived in Geneva, found the hotel, dropped the luggage, and went out for an adventure with Mikkel. It is my philosophy that to best get to know a city, you must explore it on foot...( a philosophy that doesn't allows go well for me... as you will find out.) We walked around lake Geneva, saw the large water fountain, and found and enjoyed a nice Caramel Machiatto at Starbucks!

Day Two: Mikkel would be spending all the rest of our days in Geneva in a conference, so I was off to explore it all on my own. I decided to walk around the old village of Geneva. I wasn't using a map, and the old streets a buildings were so beautiful, that I soon found that I had followed my curious feet to far and I had absolutely no clue were I was. The good thing about getting lost was that 1. I was sure I was still in Geneva,  and 2. I had seen some really cool parts of the city. I had found the opera house, a castle turned into a college, a large park that contained the "reformation wall", the house of John Calvin, and numerous statues and monuments.

Day 2 also was my birthday, and my little brother caught the train into Geneva from Grenoble France, and had dinner with Mikkel and myself. We had tasty sushi, and Chance ensured that they sang happy birthday to me.

Day Three: I decided that when one visits Geneva, they must absolutely visit the UN offices of Geneva. They are located in a complex that contains the original Palace of Nations, that was used as the head quarters for the League of Nations, that was Founded by President Wilson after WWI. Although there is a charge for the tour, I found it well worth the price. I got a great tour, by a very knowledgeable and friendly guide, and I also got the coolest visitors badge. It has the UN logo on it, it says visitor's pass, and it even has a photo of me on it ( although it is not the best photo of me...) If anyone were to ask me what one thing they should do in Geneva, I would, without hesitation, say "Visit the UN offices in Geneva."

Day Four: The last day in Geneva, and a short one because my flight left early in the evening. I took all of my luggage and dropped it off with Mikkel to keep with him while he was in his last day of his conference. I then hailed a cab and headed off to the city of Cern. Cern is about 10 min cab ride away from the airport and it is the location of the particle accelerator experiments. There are 2 big exhibits there and they are free to the public. The first exhibit I walked through was nice a peaceful, I was the only person there. Then I had to cross the street to see the other experiment. I had 5 minutes of peaceful enjoyment before a large class of 15 yr old school kids descended on the exhibit. After about 15 minutes of fighting to see everything I gave up, and decided to head back to the main building. On my walk back to the main building, it started to snow... How sad, I am (and already was at this point) several tired of snow... I made it back to the airport, got some lunch, and then caught my flight back to Amsterdam.

I was extremely glad to be back in the land of the Dutch, and close to being home. 4 days in Geneva was enough for me, I feel as if I had seen and done everything there was for a tourist to do, and I do not have plans to go back anytime soon.