Prague is never cold if you just stay in your castle...

Hi everyone!

This weekend spent in Prague was an awesome experience, but Paris is still our favorite city, and it's nice to be back.

We arrived in Prague on Thursday after a very short flight-- barely over an hour-- and an easy intra-city commute.  Five of us traveled together-- Abbey, Gina, Christy, Lauren, and Me-- so by the time we got each other and our things settled into the hostel, we were starving.  We decided to get a late dinner at a place called the Beer Factory.  It's a good place for burgers and such, but mainly a cool setup.  You sit around a table where a beer tap is built into the middle, you're given a mug, and you fill as much or as little as you want for yourself.  There's a meter that tells you how much you've poured yourself, and at the end of the meal you're given a bill based on that amount.  It was a pretty fun place to go.  There were a lot of young people there and a live musician playing some of our favorite songs from high school, which was really entertaining.

Friday morning we went to a place called Bohemia Bagels for brunch.  It was really a scene-- apparently where all of the abroad kids are told to go-- so we saw lots of other English-speaking kids there.  The bagels were pretty good considering you can't get a bagel anywhere else around here, but I'll still take a New York bagel any day.

From brunch, we took a walk down to the river.  Along the way we passed the Lennon Wall.  It was a really good time of day to walk by because the sun was shining.  The bright-colored graffiti looked amazing, and we took a bunch of pictures.  We wished we had thought to bring along a sharpie to write our names on the wall somewhere.

We continued towards the Charles Bridge, but before reaching it we passed a small pedestrian bridge whose fences were covered in love padlocks.  I don't know if you've seen one of these before-- they exist in lots of cities-- but it's a really sweet idea.  Basically, two people together fix a padlock onto the bars of one of these fences and then throw the key into the river below.  (I know the metaphor is super complicated, so I won't try to explain.)

Then we walked across the Charles Bridge-- this was something we ended up doing a bunch of times over the course of the weekend.  It's a really wide bridge with some very interesting old statues along it's sides, but what we found most entertaining about it was all of the activity.  People were selling jewelry and paintings, and performers of every genre stationed themselves along the walkway.  One moment we would be hearing a violinist's sweet melodies and just a few steps later, a four-man-band of brass instruments would completely change the mood.  Some of the performers were surprisingly talented and really added a nice feel to our stroll over the river.

After crossing the bridge, we found the Astronomical Clock.  We were told this clock was an entertaining sight on the hour and that we should stick around for the show.  So we decided to fill that 20 minute gap of time with a quick stop in a cafe.  Obviously that led to us discovering baked apple strudel with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.  Needless to say, rather than using up 20 minutes, we used up about an hour and 20 minutes-- just enough time to make it back out for the next hour.  It was a good thing we made such good use of that time because the event was terribly anticlimactic.  Basically, a man stuck his head out the window, blew on his trumpet a few times, and the Italian tourists behind us screamed, "YEAH! ITALIA!!"  No regrets though-- the apple strudel was great.

At about this time, Brian, who was also visiting Prague for the weekend, arrived and met up with us.  We all wandered around the streets for a little longer until we were pooped from all the walking and decided to go back to the hostel and rest.  After our naps, Brian and I decided we would go out for a late dinner.  However, as we wandered down the street, we found that practically every place had stopped serving food.  After getting turned away (not so politely) by several restaurant/bars, one nice man felt bad for us and let us in.  He had to limit the menu because the kitchen was shutting down, but we ended up still having a really nice meal.  We basically had a private dining experience in this cute little place, and although some of our first choices were off limits, I had a very good piece of salmon and Brian had a  well-seasoned steak.  The waitress was really sweet and didn't make any moves to rush our dinner along at all.

The next morning, we took another walk around the streets of Prague.  We came across a really cute street-fair-type market where we saw some great paintings, jewelry, scarves, hats, and other cool trinkets.    Then we decided to find ourselves some authentic Czech food.  We went into a place recommended by a man working at our hostel.  Between our steak tartare starter, chicken schnitzel for me, lamb for Brian, a side of french fries, and a complete disregard for the fact that in the Czech Republic, you don't get Paris-sized portions, we ended up getting an absurd amount of food.  That said, we really conquered it all.  It ended up serving as our breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The final shock came with the bill-- a bit over 500 Czech crowns.  No, that is not outstanding because it's so much, it's outstanding because this insane meal totaled to about ten euro each.  Three days in Prague and we basically felt like billionaires.

After this meal, it was hard to move; however, we decided to take a walk to the Prague Castle.  By the time we trekked there and all the way up, the sun had gone down.  It got really cold, but as the city's lights came on it was really beautiful.  It was too late to go inside any of the buildings, but we still got to see some really nice architecture.  From the outside, the big church looked both like Notre Dame de Paris and Westminster Abbey.  I took a picture which could easily be confused for one taken of Notre Dame in Paris a few weeks ago.  (Sorry if that's offensive to a dead architect somewhere.)  We also happened upon a small changing of the guards ceremony.  It wasn't really all that exciting-- nothing like what happens in London-- and it only lasted less than five minutes.

Today we had to fly out, but we had a little bit of time in the morning to explore some more.  We headed over to the Jewish area in hopes of going on a tour of the Synagogues.  For obvious reasons, the tours had been closed on Saturday, and unfortunately, after getting there, we realized there was not enough time to do the tour today.  We walked around the area anyway and saw some of it from outside, which was still pretty cool.

On our flight back to Paris, Abbey and I sat separately.  Overall the short trip was entertaining-- I got to observe a 4-year-old singing French nursery rhymes and Abbey embarrassed herself by waking up from a nap, disorientedly thinking her neighbor was me, violently grabbing her arm to get her attention, and finding out that she was actually an annoyed French woman in the middle of making out with her boyfriend.  Good times (for me).

Now it's back to school this week, and then off to Barcelona on Thursday!  I'll be back to blog soon!

Lennon Wall

Us in front of it

Some of the love locks

Performer on the Charles Bridge

Christy and Me on the Charles Bridge

Astronomical Clock

Apple Strudel!

Changing of the guards at the Castle

View from Charles Bridge

On our way up to the Castle

London Blog

Bonjour tout le monde!

I have to begin by saying that although this past weekend in London was a truly incredible experience, we are so relieved to be back home in Paris.  Seeing nothing but grey for days in a row is a sort of dreary that can really start to get you down.  Yes, it's still cold here in Paris, but at least when you look out the window, you can see the sun looking back.

So anyway, we obviously spend the last few days in the UK.  Our departure on Thursday was a bit rocky-- namely, we missed our train.  Yes, we deserved it, yes, we should have been more careful, yes, somehow everyone else managed to make it... but, no, it was totally not our fault!  Basically, a few weeks ago when we made our way to Amsterdam, the train system was unnaturally easy.  There was no security, no one to stamp our passports, and virtually no need to slow down at any point at all.  Therefore, when we left ourselves what we considered ample time for a similar train ride, we were caught by surprise to find that security and border control actually do exist.  That said, we missed the train by a few narrow minutes.  Fortunately for us, without even having to ask, we were immediately put on the very next train, an hour later, which was actually less crowded and meant we had time to grab a sandwich and coffee in the station.

Aside from the obvious change in language and direction of traffic, the very first difference we noticed between London and Paris was in the cab drivers.  For example, in London they smile.  That's not meant to be a joke.  In Paris, you will be hard-pressed to find a driver who is friendly, talkative and genuinely interested in you.  This is not their way of being cold-- it's just not culturally appropriate to intrude on another's private business.  In London, however, everyone was so interested in us and excited about our travels.  At first we were overwhelmed by all the talk and questions that we had become unaccustomed to, but we soon warmed up to it and enjoyed the conversation and positive energy in the London cabs.

Beyond some minor exploring Thursday night, our real first adventures happened Friday.  We went on a free walking tour that started at the Wellington Arch by Hyde Park and took us through Green Park, past Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial, to the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, along St. James Park, through Trafalgar Square, and to Parliament's building.  The tour took about two and a half hours and we were absolutely freezing, but it was really worth it because the guide was great and we would never have been able to navagate the area ourselves.  Needless to say, we were starving when the tour was over, and were really proud of ourselves for having stolen sandwiches from the breakfast buffet that our hostel had completely overcharged us for.

We made our way back to our hostel, but stopped along the way in Top Shop.  While we were thrilled to be in this store because we loved all of the clothing, we were depressed to read the price tags, convert pounds to dollars in our heads, and eventually return almost every item to it's rack.  But although we left the store a bit dejected, we were happy with the few more reasonably priced items we walked away with. 

Later, we headed back towards the center of the city where we had Thai food in Chinatown for dinner.  We split a few dishes that were both cheap and delicious.  Although food in Paris is certainly enviable, we definitely had been missing some basic quality Asian cuisine.

On Saturday morning, we attempted to go see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, although everyone had told us it was an extremely overrated activity.  As it turned out, we should have listened to this advice because after arriving a few mintues late, we realized there was nothing to see at all aside from crowds of cold and complaining tourists. 

As we headed back towards the tube, we passed the Ritz.  A friend had mentioned that tea time at the Ritz was an especially cool experience, so we decided to take a peek in and figure out what that would entail.  We wandered into the hotel, looking outrageously out of place, and learned that this most authentic British tea would be served on the finest china and would include only the fanciest finger sandwiches-- all for only 40 pounds per person.  Needless to say, we showed ourselves out, congratulating one another on our repeat stealthy sandwich stealing performance from breakfast.

We continued along to Harrods.  I don't know if you all know anything at all about Harrods.  It's basically a department store-- not unlike Bloomingdales in that you can buy anything from linnens to clothing to jewelry to perfume-- but it really is so much more.  Entering the building is like walking into an alternate universe where there are live opera singers along the escalators (I'm completely serious), gourmet food shops in the dozens, and actually prized works of art on display.  We essentially lost ourselves in Harrods for longer than we care to admit, taking in the sights, tasting some foods, and getting completely overwhelmed by the place.

By the time we wandered out, it was getting darker out, but Abbey still had a lifelong dream to accomplish-- a visit to Abbey Road.  So after asking a few people for directions, we figured out the appropriate tube stops and transfers and made our way to the famous Beatles's crossing.  We were corny, giddy tourists but certainly not the only ones.  There were a few others running back and forth over this otherwise very ordinary crosswalk as well.  Annoyed drivers continuously honked at us to get out of their way, but we loved every minute of it.  We stayed until the sun went down, and Abbey may or may not have shed some tears.

After heading back to our hostel and getting cleaned up, we headed down to meet my cousin James and his girlfriend, Charlotte.  It had been so many years for me that I almost thought I wouldn't recognize him, but the moment James appeared, I knew it was him.  He honestly had not changed a bit from how I remembered.  The four of us took a cab to Covent Garden where we found a pub where we could sit, have a drink, and catch up.  I could hardly believe that it had been almost ten years since I last saw my cousin because it really felt like nothing had changed.  We talked a bit about our family and what we were all up to now.  Although I suppose it shouldn't be so extraordinary to see a relative, it was extremely special to be reunited with a part of my family that sometimes feels so disconnected with me in age and location.  Talking with James for these few hours really reminded me of where I come from, what my roots are, and most importantly the value of family and maintaining close ties in spite of the ease with which we can become disconnected.

Sunday morning, Abbey and I woke up early to check out of our hostel and get over to the Tower of London.  Although there were lots of families with little kids around, we enjoyed this activity because it was pretty cool to stand where actual kings and queens had been.  Highlights were seeing the London Bridge and the Crown Jewels.  Some of the stones were so huge they didn't seem like they could possibly be real.  I suppose, however, that seeing the 2,000 kilo steel vault doors kind of helped us understand their true value.

Next, we tried to go see Shakespeare's Globe theater.  Unfortunately, we could not simply see the theater without paying an outrageous price for a tour, so we thought it better to take a look from the outside and continue on our way.  We then returned to Chinatown where we met up with my other cousin, Alana, who is studying outside London this semester and came in to meet up with us.  Alana and I are very close, and it was really nice to see her.  She looked great, seems to be very happy, and sounds like she's having a fantastic semester.  We had a nice lunch together before Abbey and I headed, finally, back to St. Pancras station to board our train (no, we did not miss it this time) and return to Paris.

All in all, it was an action-packed weekend for us from which we returned quite exhausted.  Although there were certain sights we had hoped to see, we realized that it would have been physically impossible to see everything in this historically dense city in so few days.  As a whole, we were really happy with the way we had spent our time.  Abbey was able to see her road, and I was able to see my family.  Maybe these would not have been the same highlights for anyone else, but we couldn't have been more satisfied with our weekend. 

Now it's back to classes until Thursday when we will be off for our next set of adventures in Prague!

Westminster Abbey

Fancy Jasmine tea served in Harrods

Amazing frozen yogurt with dark chocolate pieces and strawberries. Also in Harrods

Not a pose... she's really that happy.

Abbey Road!

Me and James

GIANT book... an inventory of England's arms in the 16th century

Tower Bridge

Lunch with Alana

Attendez... vous n'etes pas francaises?

Bon mercredi!

The past few days of classes have been so eventful that it has quickly become time for another post...

Yesterday afternoon, we went on our first excursion with our wine's class.  We visited a store called Lavinia, right off la place de la Madeleine.  It's a wine shop that carries bottles from every region in France, organized by popularity, place of origin and value.  We were able to walk through rows of thousands of bottles of wine-- ranging from about 10 euros to upwards of 8,000 euros.  As overwhelming as this made the place, it was truly fascinating.  We learned what types of glasses are meant to be used for which types of wines and why.  For example, a Bordeaux requires a much larger and rounder glass because there are stronger flavors in it that must evolve, while champagne needs a tall and thin flute to allow its bubbles to travel up and down without releasing too much carbonation.  There was a section mean to help you pair certain wines with foods,which was also very interesting, and our favorite part-- the testing stations.  (No, we did not just like these because we got to drink some wine.) 

Taste testing was a very cool process.  For 10 euros, we were given a card with that exact value on it.  Then, we got to put the card into a machine, put our glass under the wine we wanted to try, and allow it to vend a small amount for us to taste.  The options would vary from 0.80 euro to 6.50 euro or even 12.75 euro (just for a taste!), so we could make use of those 10 euros as we pleased.  There were reds, whites and roses offered.  To buy an entire bottle of one of the lower priced wines we tasted, it would cost anywhere from 60 to 100 euros.  The pricier tastes would sell bottles for hundreds of euros at least.  It was a really unique opportunity to taste extremely high quality wines that we probably would never have otherwise been exposed to.

Then, today with our fashion class, we visited le musee Cognacq-Jay, which is a very small, little known place, right near our school.  The Cognacq's (a couple that lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s) had become millionaires in their lifetime and could bear no children, so they left all of their acquisitions behind to form a museum.  Their collections were truly unmatchable, as the museum contains all sorts of paintings, furniture, jewels, and sculptures-- some of which belonged to individuals like Marie Antoinette and Napoleon Bonaparte.  The collection includes the oldest Rembrandt and works by Corot, Degas, and Cezanne. Overall, it was really remarkable to see all of this in one place.  The other highlight of the trip was when my teacher looked at me and said, "Jenna... you look very French."  The man is very unique and has a habit of randomly turning to one of his students and making a completely irrelevant comment, but I was still extraordinarily flattered.  (I might also add that he may be the most stylish man I've seen thus far in Paris.)

Later that day, my French class took a short trip to a local boulangerie.  The boulanger took us into the back room and answered all of our questions about what goes on in his shop.  He spoke extremely fast, so it was hard to understand what he was saying some of the time, but it was all worth the struggle seeing as we got to taste all sorts of freshly baked tarts and pastries.  We even got a full demonstration of how to make eclairs.  He made it look so easy!

Those are pretty much the events of the week thus far, aside from a small occurrence that Abbey and I experienced in the grocery store.  We were buying a few things for dinner, along with a bottle of white wine.  The man at the counter routinely asked to check our IDs (the legal age is 18, but clearly we look like we're 12), and when he saw that we were from New York he looked at us with surprise and said... "attendez... vous n'etes pas francaises?"  Clearly, we walked the rest of the way back to our apartment with idiotic grins on our faces.  There's really nothing greater than feeling like an idiotic American and then being confused with a Parisian, by a Parisian.

Anyway, that's all for now.  Leaving for London tomorrow!

Le Fromage, Les Escargots et L'Amour à Paris!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but I've been so busy!  Last week was another uneventful few days of classes, but this weekend was full of activities.

On Thursday, Brian arrived from Barcelona to spend a long weekend and to celebrate Valentine's Day.  His plane landed just in time for dinner on Thursday evening.  We wandered into a corner cafe where we decided it was about time I tasted snails.  We ordered six escargot and were given an interesting device that was meant to pick up the shells-- but we had no idea how to get the meat out.  It wasn't until after we played around with them for a while, used the tool we had completely wrong, and eventually got them all out that we realized they had forgotten to give us the little fork that would have made the process much easier.  I'm sure we looked like a pair of American fools, but hey, we probably are just that-- and the snails were actually delicious!

I promised to take Brian to try all of the best onion soup in the city, so the next day, we went to a restaurant in the 4th arrondissement to get some.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, almost 60 degrees and sunny, so after our meal, we decided it was a great time to see the city on foot.  We visited Notre Dame, shared a crepe, and strolled along the Seine.  We visited the Musee d'Orsay, home to one of Brian's favorite paintings, and then we made our way to the Eiffel Tower.  On the way, we popped into another small restaurant for a late afternoon onion soup snack and came out just in time to walk under the Eiffel Tower as the sun went down and the structure lit up.

After returning to my apartment, we went out again for a very late dinner to a crowded place near the Republique metro.  We tasted foie gras, which we agreed was very good, and observed a dramatic scene that was truly French in nature.  At the two tables behind us sat two separate couples eating their dinners.  I suppose one of the women had been drinking for several hours at this point, and when the other made a comment that she perceived to be offensive, she began screaming French obscenities, threw and shattered her glass on the ground, and eventually needed to be escorted out by five or so heavy handed men.  As intense as it was, we couldn't help but be entertained by the show from our seats.

On Saturday we didn't get out until late, but we decided again to start with an onion soup lunch.  We went to a place called Au Pied de Cochon, famously known for-- you guessed it-- pigs foot.  They're also well known for their soup, however, so we opted for this safer choice.  The soup was one of my favorites thus far (and you know just how many I've tried), and we enjoyed another appetizer of escargots.  After lunch, we took another long walk-- from the gardens at le Louvre, past la place de la Concorde, up le Champs-Elysees, and up to l'Arc du Triomphe.  Then we took the metro back, grabbed some dinner, and went out with my roommates to a fun place just down the street from our apartment.

On Sunday we split a French pastry for breakfast and visited le Louvre.  The museum is absolutely enormous, so we just stuck to a few galleries before we left to take a trip to le Quartier latin.  We window shopped and generally wandered around the area.  Because every activity clearly needed to revolve around food somehow, we managed to find some delicious morsels.  Brian bought a gyro to walk around with, I filled up a bag of candy from a street vendor, and we taste-tested some fantastic gelato in a small Italian dessert shop.  We also found an interesting store that sells all sorts of spreads and olive oils made uniquely from small rural towns in France.  We tasted spreads made with everything from basil to lemon to real truffles.  Because the man who worked there was so friendly, we bought a small jar of sun-dried tomato flavored spread to take back with us.

On the way back to my apartment, we picked up a fresh baguette, a bit of brie cheese and camembert to try, tomatoes, mozzarella, and a bottle of red wine.  We prepared ourselves a delicious meal in which we tasted our new sun-dried tomato spread, these cheeses, and fresh mozzarella with tomato and balsamic and oil.  As if this wasn't good enough, we topped it off with a bit of dark chocolate for dessert.  I may have forced more food into my stomach than it should physically allow, but I have no regrets-- I'm pretty sure this was one of the greatest nights of my life.

This morning we awoke to Valentines day, which began in the most romantic fashion, as I had to leave Brian to wander the city alone as I attended class.  In my break for lunch, however, we decided to get something special.  So I'm sure when you think of a lunch date in Paris on the 14th of February, you can guess what we got... pig's feet at Au Pied de Cochon, of course!  Although we had been a few days before, Brian never quite got over the intriguing prospect of this dish, so we simply had to go try it.  I was not brave enough to order the plate myself, but I tasted a bit of his.  Pig meat is not really my thing, but for those who like it, it was very tasty and well-prepared.

After our lunch, I had to return to school for French class.  The plan was to meet Brian back at my apartment when I was finished.  When class ended, however, I was met with a surprise in the metro: my boyfriend waiting for me with a beautiful red rose!

Brian departed for his flight a few hours ago after a wonderful food and activity filled weekend and Valentine's Day.  Now it's only another few days of classes before my roommates and I travel for the weekend to London!  Any food suggestions for us there?  (Just kidding.)

(...Not really.)

A la prochaine fois!

Strolling by the Seine

Notre Dame de Paris

Inside Notre Dame

Pyramid outside Le Louvre

Candy stand on the street in le Quartier latin

Pied de Cochon (note the hoof...)

First weekend away-- success!

Bon soir!

We've just returned to Paris after a long weekend in Amsterdam.  It's funny that just a week ago, the city that felt so foreign and new to us has become such a comfort to come home to.  So let me share a bit about Amsterdam:

We took the Thalys train, which was so comfortable and convenient.  It was just a three-and-a-half hour ride, and well worth the price.  We arrived on Thursday night, around 9:30, found our hotel, and immediately went out to eat.  We decided to try this Mexican place, Los Pilinos, which my friend Lianne recommended to us.  It was absolutely delicious.  We shared quesadillas and tacos, along with a bunch of other side-dishes and mango margaritas.

We woke up early Friday morning to get breakfast and then visit the Anne Frank House.  Unfortunately, the pancake place we wanted to eat at wasn't open until noon, so we ended up wandering around some shops instead.  We found this really cute vintage clothing store and had fun trying on some dresses and looking at the jewelry and shoes there.  Then we went to the Anne Frank House.  We bought our tickets online first, but there really wasn't much of a line.  However, I have heard of some bad experiences with ticket lines before, so I'd recommend doing what we did.

The experience of walking through the Anne Frank museum and the annex itself was really special.  Physically standing in the room where Anne Frank penned her diary and being reminded of the words she wrote-- how positive and funny they could be in such horror-filled times-- was extraordinarily moving.  It was especially jarring to remember that this teenage girl made it through so much, only to be killed in Bergen-Belsen, one month before its liberation.  The museum ended in such a way that was actually very uplifting, with a message about raising awareness and enacting positive changes in our world.  That said, we didn't feel so guilty going on to have a fun day.

We went to our pancake place next-- it's oddly called The Pancake Bakery.  It's super close to the Anne Frank House, and I HIGHLY recommend each of you go there if you ever find yourself in Amsterdam.  Abbey and I shared a chicken-and-cheese pancake and an apples-with-cinnamon-ice-cream-and-whipped-cream pancake.  And no, they were nothing like what you are imagining... they were SO much better than that.  Again, you all really must go there.

We spent the rest of that afternoon generally exploring the area and wandering around the city.  We returned to where our hotel was for an Indonesian dinner-- also delicious-- and sat in a sports bar where we watched soccer with the locals for a little while before going to bed.

Saturday we woke up early again and went over to the Van Gogh museum.  Neither of us were particularly excited to do this, but we knew it was a must-- and we were pleasantly surprised.  It didn't take too long to walk through, and there were some very interesting pieces.

Next, we went on a 70 minute long canal cruise.  It was very windy, but the boat was completely enclosed, so we didn't feel it at all.  This was a very nice activity because we really got to see so much of the city that we otherwise would not have been exposed to.  It was extra convenient for us as well, for the cruise started and ended right outside the Heineken Factory, which was our next activity.  We really enjoyed the latter-- there were a ton of young people there, and it was actually a very fun and hands-on place.  We learned the appropriate way to drink beer without getting a mouthful of foam, and we learned what shade of gold to expect to see in a Heineken.

What was especially funny was meeting other students who are studying abroad in other European cities-- and realizing that everyone knows everyone.  We learned through a chance conversation that my friend Alex was in Amsterdam as well, so I got in touch with her, and we ended up meeting up with her and some of her friends later that night.  We took a short walk through the Red Light District after dark.  It's really a wild place.  No movie that you've seen exaggerates what this area is like.  It's especially interesting to note that the streets are absolutely teeming with (creepy) men.  That said, a quick walk through was plenty.

So this morning was the last of our stay in Amsterdam.  We ate a nice breakfast at a little cafe, and then we got onto the train and made our way home.  All-in-all, we agreed that our first weekend excursion was a major success.  Next weekend, we'll be staying here in Paris, but after that-- it's London, Prague and Barcelona!  Anyways, it's time to do some French homework.  Happy Superbowl!

The stairs in our hotel were very steep

A common sight on the streets in Amsterdam

apple cinnamon and whipped cream pancake

view from our canal boat (through the glass, with a bit of a glare)

This final photo is a shout-out to Jaime Silverman, who I hope appreciates her sister's unparalleled smizing abilities.