“Don’t be a Tourist,
be a Traveler.”
– Seen on a wise little shop window in Amsterdam
Guys, I’m legitimately worried that I cannot stay still for very long. For me at least, “Wanderlust” is a thing that can’t be tamed.
… So, in the end, I just let it run its course.
Back in July, I asked myself “Yo Mendz… [yes, I call myself Mendz in my head] why is it you keep traveling to Asia, but not the rest of the world, HUH? Where’s your diversity?!?!”
In short, I kind of just ended up guilt-tripping myself into planning a trip to Europe for the fall. Sh*t happens.
For those of you who have seen the teen slapstick comedy EUROTRIP….. HOHOHO… *side smirk*…
……….. Well, sorry to disappoint, but my trip was pretty much as far from that movie as can be. Sincerest apologies, loyal patrons. Yes, we made it Amsterdam, but I can assure you, no undertakings of the scandalous variety were performed [undergone? imbibed?]
My own “wholesome” Eurotrip was to four cities: Amsterdam, Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. Okay, I’d say “mostly wholesome” – there were some hiccups along the way, which you’ll see later.
These cities are also known as #MENDSTERDAM #MENDICH #MENDZBURG #MENDIENNA for hashtag purposes. Yes, as you can see, one of them is quite unfortunate-sounding. But what can you do…
Okay, enough of the intro, let’s just get right into photos and videos. As a disclaimer, I made excessive (and I mean EXCESSIVE) use of Snapchat on my trip. Literally to the point of Snapchat refusing to store my videos and me losing half of my AWE-INSPIRING (if I may say so myself) story. In any case, I’ve uploaded my stories to share with you guys here.
First off: FLYING OUT FROM SFO TO AMS. Bon Voyage!
When I arrived in Amsterdam, my friend Anna, who is currently working in Amsterdam (you will see pictures of her later!) picked me up. IT WAS FREEZING COLD. The spoiled Californian in me clearly does not know how to handle a proper autumn.
Anna had to work on the two days I was in Amsterdam, so I ended up exploring the city on my own.
Here’s the Snapchat story from Day 1. WARNING (and this warning is going to come in full force in later stories): EXPLETIVES & DISTURBING IMAGES AHEAD:
Since the Snapchat story covers a lot of ground, I’m going to fill in some gaps via photos.
Walking through Vondelpark freezing my little booty off.
Some interesting looking gnarled trees in Amsterdam!
Also some gorgeous houses alongside a river that runs through the park. #housegoals for sure.
And this creepy but adorable shot of a puppy conversing with some ducks:
As expected, the “I amsterdam” structure in front of the Rijksmuseum was CROWDED AS HELL.
My solution? Take a picture from behind the structure. Problem [not really] solved.
.
Okay less tourists now: MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!!
In front of the Rijksmuseum.
Pretty spectacular library set up in the museum.
As you could see in my Snapchat story, one of the ways I keep myself occupied in Museums (I have the attention span of a 3-year old toddler) is to provide “expert art critiques” of pieces. You are getting a glimpse into the inner workings of Mendi’s mind…
So after I literally power-walked throught he Rijksmuseum, I headed off to the Van Gogh Museum, right next door. Unfortunately no photos inside 😦
After, I got a chance to walk through the canals a bit. So beautiful!!!!
(Me… not the canals.)
Like… what is this dreamland…
Hit up the Heineken museum for some bubbly [beer]!
Forever alone in the photo booth…
That night, I met up with Anna & her friend Jolien for an amazing dinner at Restaurant Adam. We got their three-course “surprise” menu (i.e. they literally don’t tell you what they’re going to give you). Silly me, I forgot to write down the contents of each dish so this means nothing to you, but TRUST ME WHEN I SAY IT WAS ALL DELIGHTFUL.
My attempts at describing the wonderfully-crafted dishes:
A fish dish with blobs of blob.
Duck with blobs of blob sauce.
Ice cream, yogurt, fig blobbity blogs with cinnamon cracker garnish.
Day 2 of Amsterdam! Here’s the Snapchat story (WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT UP THE WAZOO, YOU’LL SEE WHY I’M OFFERING THIS EXTREME WARNING):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiKCTUk-14
To fill in the blanks:
I went to Begijnhof, which was a historic little town that had the cutest itty bitty buildings. The Asian girl in me definitely squealed many times.
Warning: Explicit content ahead. Proceed with caution. I figured while I was in Amsterdam, with one of the most well-known Red Light Districts in the world, I would check out… the Sex Museum. You saw the brunt of the explicit content in the Snapchat story…
BUT HERE ARE SUMMORE HUGE PENISES FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT (I would say “life-sized”… but these are definitely not life-sized…)
So happy to be sitting on some testicles…
After my trips to Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna, I came back to Amsterdam – and you’ll see video/photographic evidence of my trip to the Red Light District in that recount later on.
On a more wholesome front, MORE PICTURES OF THE CANALS. I literally couldn’t be more obsessed.
A cool garage door I happened upon:
The AMAZING Anne Frank House… So moving to be in there witnessing her story…
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Oh yeah, food-wise… What I noticed very early on walking around Amsterdam… was how much damn cheese they eat there! … I only walked around for like half a day to realize there are cheese stores at literally every corner.
LITERALLY. EVERY. CORNER.
For those who know me… you know I am SEVERELY lactose intolerant. And yet I eat buttloads of butter, cream, and cheese all the time [with very unfortunate consequences].
I was also told to try pancakes while I was in Amsterdam. So I did. This is a “Norwegian Pancake”. Filled with smoked salmon and CREAM CHEESE.
TMI, but needless to say, I was pretty much a fart-machine all throughout Amsterdam.
… Literally jet-pack propelled myself through the city with my flatulence.
AND ON THAT NOTE: MY TRIP TO MUNICH IS UP NEXT! 🙂
the wanderlust is real. 