writtten in june 2024

the leadup

i didn't actually intend to take AP euro. i went to the meeting for the giggles but was going to be way too busy that summer to do the homework. to my surprise however my amazing teacher wanted me to take the class so bad she let me do it without the summer homework and reduced work as well. what a blessing. anywho i loved the class and on the final exam i got a 4/5. in the winter of 2022 she brought up taking a trip to europe as a class but that it woud cost 4,500$. no way i'm never going to be able to afford that but i still went to the meeting....
and then one day after school my mom was like guess what someone paid for your trip. and i was all no way ma'am im not taking someones money especially not sooo much of it just so silly little me can go on a trip. but it turns out it was an anonymous rich person and i wasnt the only one so yay. i'm so unbelevibly grateful for it i can get really lucky sometimes.

march 18 2024

nervous AF because ive never travelled all that far. i brought 1 duffel bag and 1 backpack leaving lots of space for souveneirs. my mom drove to colorado that weekend to visit my big sister and her husband and guinea pigs. i got all nervous and clammy at the airport and my shoes were too damn tight so i had to sit down in the tsa line blocking traffic and everything. we all sat in the airport for a few hours as you do.
we boarded the plane (bougie delta :0) and i sat on the left row near the back. to my left the mom of one of the kids in my class to my right my best friend from when i was a toddler. tough crowd, they both fell asleep. there was a lady in front of me watching fox news the whole flight. i listened to adventures in modern recording by the buggles because it is very comforting and then i listened to skylarking by xtc for the first time and then i listened to my favorite album dinosaurchestra and by then we had already landed in atlanta.
i've never been to atlanta or that far east ever actually. obviously all i got to see was the airport but brother What an Airport. if youve never been to the atlanta airport its very big and shiny and white. i saw a girl rollerskating around. the group split in half. some chose to walk to the terminal but i went with the group that took the 'plane train' because i did not have a rolling suitcase and i loved the idea of riding on some kind of public transport. people were psyched that there was a chick fil a which i did not comment on.
for dinner i had a protien bar. it was fine. we got onto the KLM royal dutch airlines plane which was extremely bougie. even the ticket was made out of nicer paper LOL. by then i was soooooooo sleepy but there was no sleeping. my seat was in the center row(!!!) on the right side. luckily there was an empty seat between me and the guy on the other side who did not want to wear shoes or socks on this aeroplane.
KLM is so bougie they even feed you real food like : pasta with red sauce and cheese :3 very good ; veggies that i did not eat ; a little piece of gouda (how dutch) which was very good ; a little piece of bread that was too sweet tbh ; a little cheesecake which i quite enjoyed. and after i agonizingly tried to fall asleep for a few hours they fed us this dreadful little cheese pastry.
what the helllllllll we land in amsterdam and i'm clamboring to look out the window. first thng i see is a tree without any leaves. it looks just like home :). the amsterdam airport is really pleasant. the toilet stall doors go all the way down. this is the dumbest american thing i will ever say: it all reminded me of ikea :3. after walking around a little we met up with the tour guide who i love he was great. we boarded our bus and drove further into the city.
i was so amazed by the architecture, the infastucture, the BICYCLES. amsterdam bikers are so ruthless. the cars are small. the buildings are big. it was too early for tulips but there was still abundant plant life. everything seemed more alive (although back home we were still in the thick of winter LOL). we drove to this little spot next to a body of water and took off on foot into the historic tourist part of the city. we walked under this tunnel and saw a dead rat. everyone kept pointing at it so insufferable. anyway i really like how every surface was covered in stickers and art. you just dont see that everyday. old amsterdam is so beautiful. we broke off into our color groups (i was purple) to walk around and absorb the atmosphere.
we saw the palace and the statues. pretty neat stuff. walked around and checked out the little stores. someone bought stroopwaffels and french fries in a paper cone that were drenched in ranch. pretty good stuff. that was a lot of walking. i took a lot of photographs and made myself look like an idiot and also said hi to all the piegons.
dinner was asian food. real asian food i think i had noodles in a bowl but i was not hungry. dessert was a little bit of ice cream. it was fine. after dinner we just drove to the hotel (ibis) which was quite a ways out of town. our room was very small and i slept on the cot which ws very uncomfortable. i didn't realize it had blankets so i slept very poorly and very cold.

march 19

We woke up very early. my legs hurt; i thought i would be prepared for this but i was not. i got dressed but took too long to put my shoes on so there i was walking around the hotel in my socks carrying my shoes. this hotel had a confusing layout but the fact that there were escalators up to breakfasting area on the actual fourth floor was so novel i could not be mad. i just had a chocolate croissant which was quite good.
The first item on our list was to go to anne frank's house. this was something that i don't know how to even feel that i was going to actually be there. The walk was very long but eventually we got there. it's a really beautiful building on the side, with a little plaque that mentions what it actually was. we waited outside the museum part for like 15 minutes. it was a beatiful day, if a bit rainy. i couldnt help but try to absorb the atmosphere. eventually we got in. the staff gave us these fancy little audio guides.
So we went through all the rooms. it was remarkably emotional. id prefer not to spoil anything. i think the holocaust was bad.
after crying for 30 minutes and seeing everything naturally i mosyed on into the gift shop. eventuallly settled on a postcard of anne's bedroom because it made me cry the most and i have a huge obsession with interiors. sorry for making this all about me its so embarassing.
my heart became very full when my roomate from the hotel and longtime aquaintence gave me a replica of anne's journal for me to draw in. she said someone else bought it so thanks whoever bought it i'll cherish it forever :D. After this whole ordeal we went back to the bus and drove out of the city to experience the two most vital aspects of Dutch culture: gouda and clogs.
Everything in the netherlands is cute - this farm especially. there was this 17th century windmill in the distance and a barn filled with black and white cows. The guy who lived there gave us a tour of his shop. it was very cozy and smelled like cheese, somehow. he was very funny. he called my teacher 'happy teacher lady' and talked about tourists. the cheese room which was lined with aging wheels of cheese led into the clog room which was actually a little bit freaky because there were many hundreds of pairs of clogs hanging down from the ceiling. he showed us how he makes them in a very funny entertaining way.
after that experience, another gift shop. i resisted any temptations here. many people bought wheels of cheese.
Again, the bus. we drove to the museumplein. For lunch purple and pink group went to this little hippy resturaunt connected to the van gogh museum. i ordered a berry lemonade which was unlike ny other lemonade i've had. needless to say american lemonade is not usually presented like a cocktail. it was fine though i drank all of it. my teacher (different one) shared her french fries with me as well.
Our final event of the day was he rijksmuseum. its a long walk from the road to the museum . at this point my legs were asking me to kill myself.
tangent: do not walk around europe in shitty fucking vans.
again with the waiting in line. i wasn't yet accustomed to museums going through your bags but its ok i only open carry my soup cans. the rijksmuseum is extremely beautiful i would absolutley reccomend it. not sponsored but they do have an app where you can look at all the artwork.
paintings i saw with mine own two eyes: the one with the swan; the milkmaid; the vermeer one with all the buildings; the nightwatch; one vangogh self portrait; waterloo (bigger then you could ever even imagine actually...) hundreds of other artworks. i really regret not being able to see any of the medieval art or dollhouses but oh well whatever.
i hung around the atrium and people watched for a few minutes. im telling you my legs were actually killing me in real life. everyone got done with their tours so the group skedaddled out of the museum into the park area. some of the boys played basketball with strangers which was really sweet to watch actually we're all the same etc. im still trying to get over anne frank. the bus took its sweet time to get here. i keep saying "the bus" when i should be saying fillip our incredibly taleted bus driver. love you fillip. in the meantime we had "bros" chocolate which is very good.
finally at long last fillip arrived to sweep us off to dinner which was cheesebunger and fries of course. mine was vegitarian and the cook was kind of nice about it and i gave him a huge thumbs up and he thumbsed up at me in return. i was last though so no cheese. for dessert it was these extrordinary little portugese pastries filled with cream.
that was a long and arduous and roller coastery day but i had a lot of fun. i figured out that my cot had a blanket.

march 20

ok i thought my legs hurt yesterday? this was new - i couldnt walk anymore. i swear im not usually this wimpy! i could stand, lean on the wall. but for me there is no more walking. so i sat in the hotel room worrying instead of getting breakfast. eventually i got myself together and hobbled out to the bus with my duffle bag. one of the moms noticed that i looked like i was in pain and gave me a tylenol. she saved me fr im eternally grateful and indebted.
it was a decently long bus ride to brussels. someone bought cheeseburger flavored chips at a gas station. they were bad. we passed through antwerp. the first thing we did in brussels was to take a huge group photo in front of atomnium. then we went to this really beautiful chapel. one thing abut europe is they know how to make a chapel. we walked onto this street and had split off to get lunch. my amazing teacher bought me waffles with strawberries and whipped cream which was quite good but i was still carsick AF
more walking..... to the chocolate factory. it was really cool we got to pour chocolate onto wax paper and sprinkle nuts in it. and they gave us hot chocolate which was really really good. everyone tried to make a skull out of chocolate.
once we were done with this we walked some ways and did not know where we were going. i look up suddenly and its him.... mannekin pis. phenomenal little man. it was at this point that noticed his image everywhere like rapunzel from tangled. every little tourist store.
we meet in the shiny sparkly center part where the beer museum is. me and two girls from my class split off to explore the city and buy keychains and stuff. it was a lot of fun actually it was nice getting to know them better. i liked laughing at all the mannekin pis statuettes and huggy wuggy toys. i even bought a scarf for my mommy. one of the men operating a souveneir shop tried to take creepy pictures which may become a theme of today :D. any which way the group congregated back together. some kids bought matching capes.
dinner was a sweet potato covered in lentils which was decently good but i still don't like sweet potatos sorry. dessert was ice cream again. someone bought fancy belgian chocolate which was fabulous.
in the hotel lobby there were these fucking middle aged men that were laughing and speaking french i think who i didnt care about until one person* told me these men asked if they could take a picture of me. so i looked back and theyve got their phones out which scared the bejeesus out of me people are not usually this overt about it. it was probably because i was wearing my froggy hat. so we were all in that lobby for like 20 minutes while the tour guide figured out room keys and it was awkward .
i shared a room with the same girls. it was pretty sweet but i was still on the cot. i think that was probably pound for pound the worst day of the trip but its fine i just have a problem with the country of belgium. not the only one