From Alligators to Crocodiles

I had a fantastic vacation in Europe with the family! I met new family and met up with other family members as well. It was a great first time in Europe. We traveled using planes, boats, trains and cars and these are some of the things I loved/liked/learned.

1) I love dutch cheese…a lot. My dad and I went to a cheese store close to Amsterdam and got a ton of samples of different cheeses. It…was..awesome.

2) Beyond the known Amsterdam “guilty-pleasures”, I really loved the architecture of Amsterdam: tall townhouse-style buildings with a canal running through the middle like a water highway. It was extremely pretty at night.

3) Vincent Van Gogh was a pretty remarkable guy. There was an exhibition of his paintings in a musuem in Amsterdam and it was pretty cool to see the actual famous paintings in person.

4) French fries with mayos, Netherlands-style, is the way to go.

5) My 2 little cousins are the most adorable things. They both look like they need to be in a catalog.  

6) I was impressed by how often and presistently people in Amsterdam use bicyles, no matter the weather. I was impressed by their overall sustainablity practices.

7) I FELL IN LOVE WITH PARIS. It was my favorite city. If you did a 360 in any place, everything was beautiful. Every street was just beautiful.

8) My French was passable! I understood 95% of what I heard.

9) That sterotype about French people being rude was not my experience at all. Everyone in Paris was really nice and hospitable.

10) Rome was like seeing history. It had a different feel than Paris and Amsterdam.

11) Food in Rome is ridiciously good. I love gelato. I ate my weight in gelato.

12) I was amazed by the fact that everyone had a iphone or ipad….everyone.