An Education in Mormonism

One of the best parts of living in Holland was that my bestie was living in London at the same time.  While I don't think I got to see her enough, we did have some great weekend plans together.  And in mid-July, she's bought us tickets to see the Book of Mormon in London for my birthday!

As so frequently happens, my flight journey was a little rocky.  Not having traveled outside the Schengen area since my passport was stolen, I got a taste of how difficult it can be to get into a country.  Yes, I had the problem in the UK - without a proper Dutch visa (my temporary one was in the passport, and I had not been given my permanent card - which would not come until the week before I left Europe...), I had some difficulty explaining to passport control that I would be able to get back into Holland and, I really didn't appreciate the "where you should keep your purse" lesson from the witchy UK lady.  

That small snaffu aside, I did get through, and would only have a slight problem trying to get out ("Miss, your passport must be valid for 6 months to travel on it" - Yes, I understand, but this is a temporary one, it's only valid for 3, calm down child - and for all the UK mean-ness the Dutch took me back no questions asked). 

Phew, I guess I got all the crap out at the airport - because the rest of the weekend was fantastic.  Got to see Hillary's new place, we saw Band of Horses perform at the Somerset house, I got to see that my new camera performed spectacularly at concerts, the weather was incredibly warm, we got train-mojitos, did too much shopping, saw my 2nd play in London (the first was Monty Python - duh), and met the "real life" Inbetweeners (they had such crushes on Hill-billy - it was adorbs)!  July was a busy busy month, and this was a great escape to catch up and re-charge for the 2nd half of my time in Holland.

3+2 Days in Stockholm

In the criminal city of Stockholm, the people are threatened by two separate yet equally important groups: the thieves, who perpetrate the crimes; and the tourists, who make the crimes more likely.  This is my story.  Dun dun....

Well by now, you probably know - I had my purse swiped within 3 hours of arriving in Stockholm.  Unfortunately, this little cloud followed me through the rest of the trip.  Luckily, I was with a friend when it happened, and she graciously lent me money to ensure I could make it through the weekend.  It definitely sucked, and overall probably cost me around 1k - between the value of what was stolen and the extra I had to pay to be in Sweden for longer.  It is a very expensive city.

But all in all, I did have a good time, and while, I was pretty ready to leave by the time my flight left on Wednesday morning, I saw a lot and the weather was really nice - not cold and it didn't rain.

Stockholm by boat (click to enlarge)

I took advantage of the water - Saturday, I took a historic boat tour (the tour was about history, the boat wasn't historic).  It wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, and it was hard to see any of the buildings they were pointing out since the roof of the boat was in the way.  But it was a good way to see around the city.  

And Monday, I took a ferry to one of the nearest islands in the archipelago.  It was 30 min by boat, and the day was nice and sunny.  You could basically walk the whole of the island in 5 min, it was that small.  A few little shops and restaurants.  It was a nice end to the day, as a guy and his 2 blonde sons kept me company (I mean, I wish I'd taken a picture of these kids.  They both had bleach blonde hair - one had loose curls and the other had tight, afro ringlets - a'la Sideshow Bob.  Neither had ever had their hair cut - they were 6 and 9, I think).  It was nice to have the company and a little conversation.  Even got hugs from the little boys when we were back on the mainland :).

Hand-blown glass

Just in case, gotta protect Stockholm

A view toward the city

Saturday and Sunday were spent making use of the Stockholm card (both the public transportation and the museums).  To make use of what turns out to be a $95 pass, you have to hit 3 museums and take the boat trip... so yeah you could say their museums are a LITTLE overpriced.  Not to mention, they don't have tons of stuff in them, their national gallery was relocated elsewhere, and the Abba museum wasn't included!  But still, I think I got my money worth.

• The Palace - decently large palace in the city with lots of information about the awards, dress, pomp and circumstance around royal life.  It was interesting, but not every room was complete (no pictures were allowed).
• The Spirits Museum - Absolute is from Sweden, so this museum is dedicated to smells and affects of alcohol.  You can pay for a tasting kit that has gummies of the same flavor, but you're not in Ireland, and they don't give free alcohol.  My favorite thing was the canvas "painted" with vodka ;)
• The Vasa Museum - A ginormous ship that sunk in the harbor on it's maiden voyage, and was underwater for 333 years, before being brought back up (the picture is of a mini-replica).  Pretty cool, and it was well preserved - they even have some mostly complete skeletons.
• The Museum of Modern Art - I don't think I appreciate modern art well enough, and there were no pictures allowed - but they had some odd exhibits - by Niki de Saint Phalle (The Girl, the Monster and the Goddess) and Tala Madani (Moment).
• Fotografiska Museum - This was definitely my favorite!  I really liked the Helmut Newton exhibit.  You can look that one up on your own, he did quite a bit of fashion photography, along with some fashion photos that seemed to have forgotten the fashion (if ya catch my drift *wink* *wink*).  Above are some of the ones I liked the best.

It happened to be mid-summer when I was there, but unlike the Dutch who flood the cities for their festivals, apparently all the Swedes go to their country houses to spend time with their families.  Thus, a lot of the speakeasy/cocktail bars and restaurants I'd looked up were closed through Sunday.  

I had good food, but nothing super exotic (well, I did order gazpacho that unfortunately had shrimps in it).  But on my last day, I did try one of the hot dogs in a cone!  I hadn't seen one of those since Moscow!  In Russia, they added pickles.  But this was pretty damn good - hot dog, mashed potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, and fried onions all in a tortilla shell.  Mmmm.  Trust me, it was so good.

I WANTED pics of the guys working the booth -
I think it must be a requirement to be cute and young to work there.

And last, I did a LOT of walking.  The US Embassy was a decent walk from my hotel and hostel and I did that walk 3 times - plus, you have to walk a long way to get around the islands.  Here are some pics from all that walking:

My hostel is the boat in the bottom left corner and also the one at the top right.
Cool, huh?

And finally on Tuesday, I was able to acquire the most precious piece of documentation ever - my passport.  With that in hand, and some help from my bestie, I was able to get a new flight out, and leave Sweden - a little poorer, but a lot wiser.  Until August...see ya Sweden!

I left my heart in Lisbon

If you ask me what my favorite place to visit in Europe has been so far, you’ll probably hear me say Lisbon.  Maybe that’s because it was better than I expected, or I was just really happy to be in a warm sunny location.  Walking off the plane, I was accosted by heat – warm, lovely heat.  And how much better was that when I left rain in Holland?!

I’d planned to be there from Wednesday – early Sunday morning -  yay for a long weekend in the sun!  And I’d planned ahead and booked a hostel with a pool!

Some of the food and drink I experienced.

None of my travels would be complete without getting on the wrong bus/train, heading in the wrong direction, or generally getting lost in some fashion.  And this trip was no exception, the bus ride from the airport… left me at the wrong spot, which means I had a much longer walk to my hostel (only to see a stop with the same bus number directly outside the hostel :P ).  There are worse things, right?  The river was beautiful, and the hostel had a great view (seriously, Destination Hostels was one of the best all around – great staff, pancakes for breakfast, nice relaxing areas).

I was there early enough to go explore a bit that day.  I headed out to a small restaurant – and had the best gazpacho ever (there are some foods I love more than anything soup is one of them).  I then took advantage of my bus ticket to ride the tram, but not before I did some wine tasting (free + wine tasting = Happy Me).

The tram ride was a fun, if not the long, way to see the city.  It was about an hour and a half, and by then I was feeling a little sleepy – I can see why people take siestas!  So I went back to take a dip in the pool, shower, and nap… which as we all know after the age of 27, taking a nap after 8pm is risky.  Whatever, I probably needed the sleep.

I celebrated the 4^th of July the best I could – by going to the beach at Cascais in my red, white, and blue bikini J.  The town was cute, with lots of little beach areas and it was not terribly overcrowded.  I sunned, walked around, had a good fish lunch, some sangria, and then headed back to the hostel – to relax in the pool, and well, I don’t remember what I did for dinner, but I did make it to a cute little cocktail bar that was in an a place that used to be a brothel!.  Unfortunately, my schedule was slightly off from that of the Portuguese, and the bar was empty at 9…so I called it an early night again.

Friday, I decided to brave the bike tour.  Yes, I move to Holland and don’t ride a bike until I get to Portugal.  Hi, I’m Natalie, have you met me? I do things strangely.  But the tour was fun, and being on the bike made the heat more bearable.

And guess what I did after that?? You got it – went in the pool (are you seeing a trend here?).  I also decided to take advantage of the hostel and go to their bbq – I mean 8€ for dinner/drinks is pretty good.

Well within 5 min after 8 I learned why the bbq was sold out as in walks the Marshmallow Man and his 26 torturers – oh dear, it’s a stag-do from Wales (again, re-affirming why most of continental Europe does not like people from the UK – they travel in loud, drunk packs).  But again, if you know me – HOLLA! 27 dudes and 1 Natalie? Awesomesauce!  They “graciously” adopted me, and so from then on, I had peeps to hang out with for the evening.  Let’s just say, I ended up with a lot of Steve’s.

The boys said they were going to watch the rugby match the next morning at 11am… I can’t believe they made it – by 12 when I was supposed to meet up with a girl to go to Sintra, I was barely moving!  Too old!  Luckily, she wasn’t doing much better.  We must have looked like the walking dead… we rode the train up, rode the bus, got off and realized you had to WALK in the 42’ heat over a mile uphill… oh hells no!  So back on the bus, back on the train, and back our separate ways.  I was there at least, right?

"The Elevator"

By this point, I’m realizing that I’m almost out of cash… and since I got a new debit card after the purse stealing incident, I didn’t know my pin number – so I was stuck with a depleting Dutch account (I learned later that the balance couldn’t go below 80… umm that’s a stupid number!).  I’d paid for a ticket for the pool party that night… and upon realizing I may not have enough for the cab to the airport – begged out (plus, I hadn’t quite recovered).  Can you guess what I did next?? Yup, I went in the pool!  And who shows up?  27 Welshmen.  The fact that they didn’t kicked out was a miracle – between breaking the ladder, pushing in a staff member with his iPhone, throwing bathing suits into the street, wearing man-kinis, and general drunken disorder – the manager of the hostel must have been a saint or crushin’ hard on them.

I made the wise choice to go to bed at 10, rather than have “just one drink” with the dudes… getting up at 4am did not seem all that appealing and I don’t do “staying up all night” very well.

What I loved about Lisbon:

1. The water (though the Atlantic was COLD)
2. The cheaper food and drink
3. The people speak English well (they don’t dub-over their tv)
4. The countryside is all hilly and green
5. The guys weren’t nearly as pushy as I’d feared (or the Dutch have just desensitized me)
6. The it was nice to dry out a bit
   
   

Choose Your Own Adventure...

Well, I successfully waited until I was here for 1 month before I started to travel, and feel like I did pretty well for the month of May.

I had 3 "adventures" in May, so I thought I'd let you decide what one you wanted to take part in.
So do you want to go:

On a jaunt to Belgium to taste a few beers

To the south of France to see a world of riches

To the Vaterland of Germany for a little music

Choose wisely, you may never be able to go back again... ;-)

It's Always Sunny in Deutschland

You decided to jump on the German bandwagon, huh?  Here is where that wagon leads.

Your trip to Germany starts well, you have a few hours on the train, a book in your ears and one in your hand.  Your travel takes you through the Netherlands across to Germany.  Unfortunately, no one stamps your passport. :( The announcement comes, last stop in Holland, and from then on, you feel at home.  Like you're in a place you know you belong.  Being the Germans that they are, your train is running early and has to actually stop for 30 min to get back on track.

On older guy starts talking to you in Dutch, of course you give a blank stare and say "I don't speak Dutch", so he switches to English.  He fills you in on what is going on, and says he is going to get coffee...you agree that's a good use of time and get off the train.  You chat amicably, and you think you hear him say "he is a model"... with that leathery skin and old face?!?  Coffee in Germany is half the cost, well, it ended up being free as he paid.  You stand outside and make small talk, and start to realize it is getting close to time.  As you turn to get on the train, the doors are shutting.  Oh shit.  The train people say they won't open again, and you have to run to the front of the cars.  You are regretting this silly conversation with this "male model" (he does show you pictures he has taken...I guess they do need someone to do the prune juice ads...?).

Thankfully you are able to board the train, much to the train staff's frustration for now making them 2 minutes late.  You're not keen on continuing to talk to this man, so you sit down and put your headphones in and your nose in your book.  But of course, some people never take hints and talk to you still...

He disembarks at the next stop, and you're glad to be rid of him.  The rest of the ride is pleasant, and you arrive safely in Osnabrück, Germany.  Being the navigator you are, you use your "super helpful Blackberry" to find your hotel...this is done by making a wide circle and basically ending up where you started.  The hotel faces the train station. :P

See the station through the window??

You check out the city on your handy map, and set off by foot, following the signs to the center.  You found a place that seemed decent for lunch, but you didn't realize that the geriatric committee was meeting there.  Never-mind, a good bowl of soup, a glass of wine, and a sandwich will make you happy.  It's raining a little, but nothing too imposing.

After your late lunch, you walk around a little more - find the 2 opposing churches - protestant vs catholic.  You also seek out the local brewery... what else is there to do, this isn't the most populous, touristic city.  You'd checked and the concert was at 7, so you have time - but you would be missing most of the German (Munich Bayern vs Dortmund game that ALL of Germany was watching).

You head back to the hotel to get ready, have dinner, and walk to the venue....only to find that, it was 8...great, lots of time to kill... Tweedledee.  You do spot your lover (Rocky), his tour manager, and the brother eating at a restaurant, but decide it's too creepy to go in there yourself.  So back to the hotel you head.

Locally brewed beer and very thick bread.

When you arrive again (you creepy person you), you learn, nope, the show doesn't start until 9....you stop for fried ice cream.  Good choice, by the way.  And by the time it's all said and done you can finally arrive at the concert at 9... when he won't even go on until 9:30...but you pass the time talking to the tour manager, who you'd met at the last show you went to (stalker).  

The fried ice cream

Klein Freiheit

Finally, Denison Witmer comes on, and as promised, his music is good, but his wit between songs better (he makes fun of the venue name - Klein Freiheit - which means little freedom, he jokes that us Americans are ambassodors of freedom to the Germans...).  You must have his cd, and tell him how much you like Philly.

Denison Witmer

The Man and his Brother

Finally, the moment has arrived, Rocky and Cody are playing.  You're a little unsure where to stand, the place isn't packed, but you don't want to push to the front and show everyone the creepy person that you are....but your spirit is lifted, and you know you made the right choice in coming here.  You even get a song that is dedicated to you (if some idiot could have stopped singing and swaying along, you could hear it...here's someone else's recording with an intro that may have fit why he dedicated it to you...).

 You are on cloud 9, and can't stop smiling.

After it is all over, you stick around and talk to the "band" a little, you point out that you and Cody have a mutual friend (acquaintance, whathaveyou), Rocky hugs you and thanks you for coming.  You couldn't have asked for a better evening.

You thought about grabbing a drink at the hotel bar, but not after the way those dudes in the corner were looking at you.  Instead, you make use of the bathtub (I mean comeon, they are few and far between in Europe!), and enjoy reading more of Ender's Game before drifting to sleep.  

Such a lonely statue

On Sunday, there isn't much open (ok, there really isn't ANYTHING open).  You dawdled getting ready and reading over breakfast at the hotel, and now, you're tired of walking... so you find a coffee shop to sit for a bit.  You've worn out this little town, and are ready to get back on the train.  

I should have zoomed in more - there is a "fire fighter" looking like Mannken Pis
(which you would know about if you went on a Brussels adventure)

The yellow flowers - Rapeseed - or as we know it "canola oil"

The train ride home is eventful, as you have a few hard stops and then have to get off and board another 2 car train to the next station, where you get off and have to change again...no matter, you're back in Holland and know your way now.  You congratulate yourself on choosing the right path and not being tempted by fame and fortune.  I hope you choose as well on your next adventure my friend!

This was taken in Holland,
but I wasn't going to make him pose again in Germany.