"Who would win in the Hunger Games?" I forgot to add this to the other post, but this came up in a conversation I had last night, which made me laugh. Over dinner one night, Becca, Lukas, and I were discussing who would win out of all of us in the Hunger Games. Lukas said that me and him would win together, because we would never kill each other. Now as for everyone else....I won't go into details, but I decided Dena would be my biggest competition because she's outdoorsy, and would team up with Charlene and Jarno, because they are the careers. They have to go first. Sorry Dena. It was a pretty funny discussion, and I honestly can't remember all of it, but I do remember those parts because they made me laugh the hardest.
Ummmm. I had to put the picture up, because it looks like Marijn and Becca are secretly in love. Really, we were just waiting for the train to get to Marijn's family's house. The morning we got to Marijn's was the only morning that Becca and I really slept in. It felt so good. We went to the store to get stuff to bake when we were at his family's house and ingredients to make some spaghetti with homemade sauce. #spoiled
YAY Charles Dickens!!! Turns out Deventer has a Charles Dickens festival and have murals on the walls of scenes from Charles Dickens books. It's pretty cool. I just love this quote.
Jarno and Marijn are from the same town, so we went to see him on Boxing Day. We met his dad and it turns out he's awesome, and I have a crush on Jarno's dad. He was telling us how he roadtripped across America in his younger days. He bought a vehicle and just did it for a few months. No big deal, right? Super legit. He travels everywhere too. He's is wise and told me "if you have the money, you have to travel". I must say, I think of money in things I can do traveling, like "I could spend money on this, or it could buy me a plane ticket to *blank*". He was really cool.
We were at the Paleis Het Loo. It was awesome. The only constructive criticism I would have for the palace is for them to have English tour headsets for the rooms that speak to you in Dutch. Are you kidding me? My Dutch is almost non-existent. Twin pose! 👯 Becca and I did twin pose around Europe. Next trip...we will have more twin pose pictures until I can make an epic twin-pose collage ;)
Bread, Cheese, and Maple Syrup?!?!?! I know, right? We were in Haarlem for the morning to see what's there to see. We found this adorable little cafe for lunch and were very curious by the menu with has two of our favorite European foods: bread and aged cheese. (seriously, the Dutch have great cheese). We were confused by what it meant by "syrup". Nope. It was what we thought, but it tasted better than expected. It was soooooooo good! They are genius.
Classic windmill picture.
We went to Maastricht! This, in and of itself is quite the accomplishment, as Marijn didn't want to go because it was "too far". #2hourtrainride we arrived and it is a lovely town. They were still having their Christmas market going on and the first thing we had to do was the very big Ferris Wheel! It was really high up, and I had to close my eyes at a couple of points. Crazy.
This is after going through the underground tunnels of Maastricht. We decided we needed a group photo, so we asked a random person. He was walking his dog and said if we hold the dog, he would take a picture for us. Deal. Later, we were at a bar and it was uncomfortably crowded. The best part was when Jelmer asked me if bars in Texas were like this one. I said, "I don't know. I don't go to bars in Texas." He looked at me and repeated the question. lol. I had to explain to him, in Texas, my friends know that I don't drink, so we normally do other activities than going to bars. I think something was lost in translation. He didn't seem to understand, and Becca was sitting there chuckling about the whole conversation.
We went back to Munich for the night before Becca flew home. We decided to go to Restaurant 181 in the spinning Olympic Tower. I had wanted to do this when I lived in Munich, but never found the time. It was epic. Becca and I should have probably been more dressed up, but we used the tourist excuse and enjoyed it anyway. The food was glorious!!! The bread and butter, I probably could have eaten that all day. First course was crazy good. The soup was so fluffy and amazing. The main course, sublime. Dessert was classy. I love food. It was worth every penny to eat there. I felt very posh.
This is the view from the front of Petra's family home. Wow. Enough said.
#1. Petra bought me this tiara, because she decided it was a Princess Day at the Castle!!! She's the best.
#2. To get this view, we had to climb around several "Do Not Enter" signs to go up to the bridge. I'm sure it's normally a great walk during the Spring and Summer, but trail was iced over. It would have been better to have ice skates. We had to walk on the side of the path to avoid slipping and falling. That almost happened many times. But it was awesome.
#3. I almost had an anxiety attack on the bridge. I hate bridges. It was super high up, and I kept having a vision of me breaking one of the boards as I stepped on it and falling to my death.
#4. Since this was on New Year's Eve, the place was pretty uncrowded, so there weren't too many people on the bridge or at the castle.
Ok. I know. Two pictures of the same place? I really love the Neuschwanstein Castle.
This is a little game that they play on New Year's Eve for kids, where you melt down this metal toy and then drop the metal in water. When you pull it out, the shape indicates something, which is a prediction for the coming New Year. It was awesome.
We took a walk around town on Christmas day in our fancy dresses. I was planning on wearing flats to be more fashionable with my dress, but then realized, it's cold outside. #badidea Nevertheless, Deventer is an adorable town.
This was at the Amsterdam Festival of Lights. I was super mean and wouldn't let Jarno eat until we walked around and saw ALL the exhibits on the trail. I'm terrible. At least I let him eat before we went on the trail 😏
#2. To get this view, we had to climb around several "Do Not Enter" signs to go up to the bridge. I'm sure it's normally a great walk during the Spring and Summer, but trail was iced over. It would have been better to have ice skates. We had to walk on the side of the path to avoid slipping and falling. That almost happened many times. But it was awesome.
#3. I almost had an anxiety attack on the bridge. I hate bridges. It was super high up, and I kept having a vision of me breaking one of the boards as I stepped on it and falling to my death.
#4. Since this was on New Year's Eve, the place was pretty uncrowded, so there weren't too many people on the bridge or at the castle.
I would just like to say, I realize now, I didn't take any pictures of Marijn's family, otherwise they would be on this blog like nobody's business. They were amazing to let Becca and I join their Christmas festivities. They are the NICEST people and super cool. They do a very classy Christmas, which made me doubt I've ever had a moment of class in my life. Thank you to Marijn's family!!! Thank you to Lukas' parents for letting us roadtrip across Germany with their car. Last, but not least, thank you to Petra and her family, who let me crash at their place in Allgäu. Petra's dad was super nice, even though he didn't speak English, and I don't really speak German. I like to think we are friends. It was an honor and privilege to be the first American to stay at their house. #blessed #grateful #thankyou
And now, I know what you are all thinking, "Natasha, you ate so much food in Europe! How much weight did you gain?!?!?!?" Fact: I lost weight! #win Turns out walking for miles and miles everyday is a good idea as long as you are eating tons of yummy calories to give you energy. #apfelmuscrepes
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