day trip to haarlem

Today we had to get up early and get on the waiting list again for a room tonight since we only booked two nights originally. We were lucky enough to be part of the cut off, but had to pack up our stuff and switch rooms.. thats ok though, it was better than having to find a new place altogether! This also meant we had also woken up in time for the free breakfast, which was pretty good.. mmmm nutella on my toast!

Afterwards we walked all over town trying to find a post office so I could mail some goodies home (to the family- you can be expecting a package in 8-12 days!). It turns out the building we were trying to find on the map had been demolished! yay! haha.. We did end up stumbling across another museum though and since we bought an all access "museumkaart" we went in cause it was free anyways. It was a modern art museum and the stuff was pretty wacky. We breezed through it pretty quickly then headed to the train station and caught the next train to Haarlem. It's a city about 15 min by train west of Amsterdam. We rented bikes, found a post office there, and had lunch in the main square. It's cool how here and other cities we've been to so far all have these huge open squares (usually with a church) filled with cafes and shops. After lunch we wanted to head for the coast. The map we had was only of the city centre, so I had to rely on my "dutch instinct" to get us there.. lol..I've decided that a certain instinct has been activated with me coming here to the homeland and so far it's been right! I led us straight to the beach. It was soooo windy, but it was a beautiful day. I also realized that I forgot to put my sunscreen back in my day bag (i took it out because it's been rainy the last couple of days). I have the most ridiculous looking sunburn I've ever had. I was wearing a vneck tshirt so I have a farmers tan, plus the vneck wasnt sitting straight I guess so it's a lopsided v on one side of my chest... lol.. oh well, i consider it warm up for Greece and Italy!

Tomorrow we plan to do another day trip to Den Bosch, then from there take a bus to Sint Michielgestel. I think it'll be cool to see the town where oma lived! The trip should only take about 1.5-2hrs each way I think.

Anyways, off to bed now

<3 shanon

haarlem train station

haarlem train station
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

bike parking at the haarlem train station

bike parking at the haarlem train station
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

biking trail on the way to the coast

biking trail on the way to the coast
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

the beach

the beach
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

wind blockers at the beach

wind blockers at the beach
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

the first windmill we've seen!

the first windmill we've seen!
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

amsterdam, the netherlands

I guess I left off while still in Sweden. It's been a few days, and we're in The Netherlands now!
In between we spent one night in Hamburg to catch a game at the fan fest. Germany was actually playing that night, so the crowds were extra crazy! The train ride to Hamburg was cool.. we had to take a ferry for part of the journey, and they put the whole train on the ferry.. ON THE FERRY! how cool is that!?

When we first got here to Amsterdam we wanted to stay at the Flying Pig, but they were super booked up so we had to stay somewhere else the first night and come back in the morning to go on the waiting list. That first night after getting settled we went to walk around and realized we were one block away from the red light district..lol i guess that's why it was cheap and not booked!

Yesterday we checked into the Flying Pig.. went to the van gogh museum, anne frank house, vondel park, and saw bruce willis! haha.. i guess it was the dutch premier of his new movie, a cartoon that he is a voice in. I think it was called Over The Hedge or something like that. It was funny.. we just saw this big crowd and happen to stumble by as he was entering the building

Today we had breakfast at this tiny little upstairs pancake house with only 4 tables. It was very cool and the owner was so nice! Then we went on the heineken brewery tour and to the rijksmuseum.

It's so easy to get lost here because of the shapes of the streets.. they are all circular and follow the canals, so when you think you're walking straight, you're really not! very easy to get confused.. hehe we had to look at the map so much!

Amsterdam is cool, but we're looking forward to going to some of the smaller towns and seeing the countryside here as well. You can tell there are a lot of tourists here, and on every corner there are "coffeeshops" and souvenir stores selling stuff all about the red light distric and pot. It's all very stereotypical and seems like its built for the tourist who comes to amsterdam for those things alone.. we want to see more!

red light district

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

look! it's bruce willis!

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

pretty houseboat

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at the heineken brewery tour

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me in a wooden shoe (in case you couldn't tell)

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

holy bike parking batman!

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one of amsterdams many canals

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

our room at the flying pig hostel, amsterdam

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

last day in stockholm, sweden

Today was our last full day in Stockholm, and we mostly just walked around and did some exploring..

In the morning we took a bus to this big park for the midsummer festival. The holiday lasts today and tomorrow, and the city is actually quite deserted because of it! Afterwards went to mcdonalds for lunch and it tasted realllllly good. haha..

Stockholm is a great city, everything is so clean, organized, and efficient.. definitely my kind of place lol! We had no problem figuring out what buses to take and getting around the city.

Tomorrow morning it's off to Hamburg, Germany for a quick stop before moving on to Amsterdam..

<3 shanon

really narrow street

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

another city shot

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the city

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

crosswalk sign

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

free pasta at the hostel!

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

boat ride from old town to downtown

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

stockholm

We managed to get a lot done today without spending a lot of money!
First thing we did was go to the train station this morning to book our next ride, which will be from stockholm to hamburg.. staying one night there before heading to amsterdam. There's a big holiday happening here tomorrow and saturday, and the trains run funny so we're staying here an extra night so we can get the right train, plus go to the festivals for the holiday (midsummer holiday). I didn't think we were that far north, but it stays light here for a long time.. even when we went to bed at like 3am last night it was still a little light out!

After making the reservation we caught the free shuttle to ikea, had some swedish meatballs and walked around the store.. its HUGE! there are like 7 levels and they have stuff that we don't has well.. lisa i found the bedsheets you wanted! haha...

After ikea we headed to this place called Skansen, which is an open air museum. There are old houses, and people walking around dressed in old traditional clothing.. kind of like burnaby village i guess. They also have like a zoo, with a bunch of different animals.. lemurs, bears, wolverines, elk, reindeer, seals, otters.. etc. we spent quite a while there taking lots of pictures before catching a little ferry across the water to the old part of town. Stockholm is basically a bunch of different regions on different islands close together connected by lots of bridges and boats. The old part of town was cool.. narrow narrow streets and cool shops. From there we walked back to our hostel and made dinner. We had a three course meal tonight! first up - mr. noodles that we shared, 2nd - hotdog weiner (ran out of buns) 3rd course - pasta! haha.. it was actually pretty good after a long day with ALOT of walking..

tomorrow we hope to check out some of the festivities for the holiday, and make more plans for amsterdam. ta ta for now!

<3 shanon

in the old town area of stockholm

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

mike the swedish viking

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

peacock at skansen

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

sleepy seal at skansen

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

monkey at skansen

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

inside ikea.. it's the biggest in the world

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

ikea headquarters

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

copenhagen, denmark on to stockholm, sweden

This morning we checked out of our hostel in copenhagen, had danishes for breakfast (the call them weinerbrod =S) and caught a morning train to Stockholm, Sweden. The hostel we're at now has free internet, pasta, coffee, and tea.. so that's pretty cool! Looks like we'll be living on pasta for the next couple of days! We're booked here for 2 nights, but will probably add on a third. We've decided not to go to Norway because Scandinavia is kind of on the expensive side.. On Saturday we will catch a train to The Netherlands and problaly spend a full week there.

Didn't do much today, just took time to plan out the next leg of our journey.. Tomorrow will be busier with more sightseeing. First stop - ikea headquarters!! haha.. it's the biggest ikea in the world and i am excited, lol. There are free buses that run there every hour, i guess it's quite popular! After that we will probably take a boat tour or check out Skansen, a big open-air museum.

I can't belive it's almost been a week since our first day in europe! The beginning was quite stressful, but we're getting used to reading train schedules and carrying around our packs. It's really hard to arrive in a new city, with a new language, be starving after a long train ride, and on top of that have to find somewhere to stay and have no idea where you are or what streets go where! We're developing a system though and getting used to the pattern, so we should be pros in no time..

[edit]
i forgot to explain the below pics of chistiania! It's this area of copenhagen that has basically been taken over by hippies. It's self governed and the only way to move in is by invitation. It's pretty big, and stretches all the way around a lake.. It's open to the public, but one of their nine rules is that you are not allowed to take pics on Pusher Street (i'll leave it up to your imagination to decide what goes on along pusher street). I'm not even sure how to explain this place and I don't think my pics even capture what it was all about. It was almost like being in a giant treehouse, or like never never land in peter pan.. there were all sorts of huts and forts and people painting murals, tiling benches with mosaics.. it was kind of intimidating at first but everyone was cool there and we were even invited to participate in the tiling! It was definitely interesting to stumble upon on our bike tour..

ok i think im done now! time for bed...
<3 shanon

tivoli, huge amusement park in copenhagen

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

a bird with huge feet in the copenhagen botanical gardens

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

me and hans christian anderson

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

bridge opening for boat in copenahagen

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

houses in christiania

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

mural in christiania

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

christiania in copenhagen (aka crazy hippie town)

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

mike on a rental bike

mike on a rental bike
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

our hostel in copenhagen

our hostel in copenhagen
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

cologne and copenhagen

geez.. iv'e gone what, like 2 days without the internet? It's crazy how much I've always depended on it! Anyways, I'm here at our hostel in Copenhagen, Denmark and have picked up a free wireless connection on the laptop.. yay!

So the day before yesterday was the big day, Czech Republic vs. Ghana at the Rheinenergie Stadion in Cologne, Germany. The game was at night, so after our train arrived in the morning we spent the day walking around and exploring the city. Cologne has the huge Dom, this Gothic Cathedral that is the biggest Europe I believe. It's the first thing we saw as we came out of the train station and it was amazing! We did the little tour and climbed the 590 steps up this little narrow spiral stairwell to the belltower.The atmosphere in Cologne was incredible, people in all sorts of team jerseys breaking out into song, singing their countries anthems or team cheers.. every minute it seemed. All of downtown was a huge party. Cologne also had three huge sceens up for the fanfest, so there were huge crowds watching whatever games happened to be on. The game itself was awesome, even though Ghana won 2-0 =(

The next day, (yesterday) we had another full day in Cologne and then caught the night train to Copenhagen. It was a looong ride (11.5 hrs) so I'm glad we got a couchette to sleep in!

This morning we made our way to the hostel, which is pretty darn nice! We're already starting to think about sending stuff home.. these treks from the train stations to the hostels with our big honkin backpacks are not fun =(

We walked around, got oriented and decided to go bikeriding. I've never been so terrified to ride a bike in all my life. People here are crazy on their bikes! EVERYONE bike rides.. right on the roads. There are separate bike lanes with their own sets of traffic lights. The people aren't out for a leisurly ride through the park, they're on a mission! Doesn't matter if you're a kid or a man in a business suite you ride your bike wherever you need to go.. haha..They have these bike stands where you deposit a coin, unlock a bike and can use if for however long you want. When you return it, you get your money back, like a shopping cart. The only this is, these bikes are pretty old and clunky.. not the easiest to ride.. but that's ok, we're on a budget!

Our hostel has a kitchen, so we went to the store and bought pasta, sauce, bread, cheese, and a bottle of wine all for like 85 Kroner, (about $18 canadian).. Denmark, Norway and Sweden don't use the Euro, so we'll have the get used to the Kroner for a while! I think our next stop will be Stockholm.. I'll keep ya updated!

<3 shanon

the czech goalie after they lost

the czech goalie after they lost
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

the ghana side of the crowd

the ghana side of the crowd
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

kolner dom close up

kolner dom close up
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

kolner dom

kolner dom
Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

downtown

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

fan fest

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

netherlands/cote d'ivoire fan fest

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Originally uploaded by shanonv123.

frankfurt's main square

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cool church

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on the way

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wow

I don't even know where to begin!

After 10.5 hours ofthe most wretched flight I've ever been on, we finally arrived
in Frankfurt at 6:30 this morning.. I was barely able to sleep on the plane thanks to babies screaming, some little kid that kept kicking the back of my seat, and the most cramped little seat ever - dammit Dana you were right!. But hey, the good news was that Mike slept like a baby leaning on me the whole time.. lol

I had to wait quite a while for my bag, although Mike got his right away.. I was starting to get worried that it didn't make it, but it finally came. Then we were off the plane and on the train, on our way to a FIFA world cup game in Germany. 90 songs on my mp3 player later, and we were finally there.. turns out the whole world really does show up! hahaa.. kidding damn that Rogers commercial that we keep hearing over and over again!

It was only a short train ride from the airport to our bed and breakfast. Since we arrived so early, we had to wait for it to open for while, and the people before us weren't checking out until 11. We dropped our (damn heavy) bags off and set out to explore a little bit! Our place is really nice, and in a great location right downtown. The buildings here are so cool! everything is brick and cobblestone and the people dress so nice.. even the taxis are all mercedes benz's..

Once we checked in we took a nap and actually ended up missing the first half of the Netherlands - Cote D'Ivoire soccer (football!) game. We motored down to the fan fest area to catch the rest. They have these HUGE screens set up along the river, and grand stands on either side for everyone to watch each games. There's also some restaurant fesival going on here right now too, right on our street, with huge crowds and lots of good food! We've been snacking all day on cakes, cheesebread, bratwurst and of course beer..I also had the currywurst.. so good! And here I thouhgt I had to get my curry fix before I left Surrey!

Anways, time to figure out what's happening tomorrow.. we're catching a train up to Cologne which is where the match we have tickets for is taking place ..

Gute Nacht!
(yes I just looked up how to say goodnight in my phrasebook!)

<3 Shanon