I have recently returned from my first-ever trip to Europe! What an adventure I had. I don’t even know where to start. This could easily turn into a novella if I wrote about the entire thing, so I’ll just try to stick to some general impressions and highlights.
Getting There
Getting to Amsterdam took forever. I had a British Airways flight from SeaTac to London Heathrow. Luckily it was an overnight flight so I dozed for a few hours after eating an in-flight meal and watching Atomic Blonde. Over all I found BA to be a good airline. Also my seat neighbor had a Scottish accent so that was a nice bonus.
Heathrow feels like a giant posh shopping mall, with all the duty free stores for high-end brands. The free Wi-Fi was pretty good. BA makes it easy to find your way to your connecting flight. I had to go through another security check but it was fine. My 2 hour layover was plenty long enough.
The British Airways flight to Amsterdam was the second-shortest flight I’ve ever been on (the shortest being the hop from Phoenix to Tucson). There was barely enough time for drink service and then we were on the ground again.
Being in Europe
Right away you start noticing the little things that are different from the US. Public bathroom stalls are entirely enclosed. Different car brands dominate the road. Street signs have different colors and placements. Oh yeah, and of course everything is in the metric system.
I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was how comfortably bilingual (or multi-lingual) most people are. Even away from tourist areas, most of the time if I said “I’m sorry I don’t speak Dutch”, I was addressed in really clear and polite English. And the same for our day trip to Germany.
I was so jealous of everyone’s ease with language. I’ve been practicing Dutch with DuoLingo and I know a lot of words and phrases and my pronunciation is okay, but when it comes to comprehension, I just can’t process the language as quickly as people speak it! A few words stand out and the rest just flows over me. I really wish I had learned a second language in my youth, when my brain was more plastic.
On a minor note, I was really amused to see that the cactus trend has hit Europe. Not only did I see cactus and succulents growing in pots in stores and homes, but you could easily find various cactus things in decor and gift shops, and on clothing. I could have filled my entire suitcase with cactus stuff, if I hadn’t been so intent on filling it with candy and cookies.
Food
Of course one of the best things about traveling anywhere, whether it’s the next town over or another continent, is trying NEW FOOD. I ate so much good food in Europe! My wonderful Dutch host Sabien made sure that we sought out specialties wherever we went, and despite being a vegetarian she even had some meat-based suggestions for me (of course I ate a schnitzel in Germany, for instance).
Feast your eyes on these delicious Dutch pancakes, which chocolate and cherries which had been infused with almond.
I consumed more carbs and cheese than bears thinking about. The Dutch and the Germans are excellent bakers and pastry chefs and cheesemakers.
The Weather
We were really fortunate and other than Sunday (my final full day there), every day was just ridiculously beautiful. We had sunshine, blue skies, warm days, gentle breezes, everywhere we went. Even the rain on Sunday was relatively mild.
This was good, because I had grabbed a sweater and scarf with the intention of wearing them on the plane, but the weather in Seattle was also beautiful on the day I left so I threw them on the back seat… and forgot about them. So I had to get through the entire trip with just a hoodie as my outer layer.
Where We Went
Although we spent a few days going to Amsterdam city center, we ranged pretty far on our adventure.
-Friesland, where we visited a really cool astralarium and stayed in an awesome boutique hotel overnight.
-Marken, a small fishing village. We walked around most of the island, saw the lighthouse, and met with a friend who had a very cute Shiba Inu.
-Schoonhoven, a town known for its silversmiths, where we shopped for vintage, antique, and modern jewelry.
-Münster, because when you’re in Europe you can just drive to another country as a day trip. There was a big Catholic Day festival going on. I found a cute cactus dress, and also visited a couple of German tea shops and brought home some blends.
-A food truck festival. The Dutch food truck game is on point. I was not brave enough to try Dutch Mexican food, but we did have this amazing Japanese/Peruvian sushi from Pacha Mama.
What We Didn’t Do
A week isn’t nearly long enough to see and do everything. We purposefully skipped all the popular museums because they’re all terribly crowded and neither my friend nor I do well in crowds. I had no interest in the red light district or “coffee shops.”
I didn’t ride a bike, even though it’s very popular in Amsterdam, as I haven’t been on a bike in 20 years and felt a bit intimidated about the amount of cycling traffic (and don’t get me started on the motor scooters).
We didn’t make it to the Netherlands’ only tea garden, as it wasn’t anywhere near any of the other places we were going.
And Belgium was a possibility for a day trip, but Germany won (again, because of the tea).
So obviously, I need to go back again!
