Final Trip of the Trip

The day after Tara' s birthday dinner Yolima and I headed off on our own for one last trip in Europe. We planned our travels as we went. No well-thought-out schedule or agenda. Fortunately (maybe miraculously) we had no problems along the way. After successfully navigating this trip we feel like we can dominate any city on the planet....maybe.

Berlin. We arrived in Berlin the night of May 23rd, then spent the next day power walking around the city in order to see as much as possible.  It felt like we saw the whole city in just four hours. We were proud.

Berlin Wall Monument

Checkpoint Charlie.

Enjoying some German sunshine.

Berlin train station: better than any mall I've ever been in.

The Netherlands
May 24-26, 2012

This part of the trip was very special to me.  During my freshman year of college I met Pauline and Nikky who were studying abroad at UNK. Yolima and I had the chance to see both of them during our short visit to their beautiful country.

Thanks to some fantastic tour guides we were able to see four cities in one day, eat all kinds of traditional Dutch food, and visit all the "must-see" places.

Rotterdam (Pauline's home)
Picnic in the park, water taxi ride, outdoor market.

Beautiful port of Rotterdam.

That's raw fish I'm eating. Surprisingly good. Just really slimy.

All those flowers for only 5€!

Delft (Nikky's home)
Cafe, town square, the big wooden shoe, huge church.

Yoli and me in front of that humongous church.

Me, Yoli, Nikky sitting in the wooden shoe.

So endearing. I could live here.

Utrecht
Starbucks, ice cream, Edward Cullen sighting (sadly I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but I could've sworn it was him!)

Three very special friends.

Mag ik een ijsje alsjeblieft? That means "May I have some ice cream please?" and they made me say it to the ice cream lady.

Thank goodness for Starbucks.

Amsterdam
Red Light District (sad and disturbing), gay bar (no comment), bar fight (scary).

Amsterdam at night.

I love their mode of transportation!

Experiencing Amsterdam

We just happened to run into Jed and Courtney wandering through the city. It must be some subconscious American connection.

Paris
May 26-27, 2012

Yolima and I took one of Europe's speedy trains from Rotterdam to Paris where we met up with Ann and Tara.  During our time in Paris we got to see the Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, and the Sacré Coeur on top of Montmartre Hill.  I wasn't familiar with a lot of these places until I visited them; but now I know!

In front of Notre Dame

Yoli and Me in front of the Eiffel Tower at night.

Yoli and Me in front of the Eiffel Tower during the day.

Moulin Rouge. I like it better in the movie.

Tara and Ann planning the day for us.

Enjoying the water outside the Louvre.

The picture everyone takes. Literally.

Arc de Triomphe.  This intersection was crazy!

Sacré Coeur on top of Montmartre Hill. A church service was in progress when we entered.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower was another surreal experience.