netherlands – Alyssa in France

Cathryn Takes Amsterdam

So as of right now I am currently in Lexington, Kentucky. I unfortunately cannot be constantly traveling. I do spend a ton of my time reading and researching for future trips that I will take, and for trips that my friends are going on so i am not uper bored staying in one city. I am super lucky to have friends traveling abroad- not only does it make my Snapchat and Instagram feeds so much better, it helps me to extend my ever growing list of things to do in every city in the world.

Now while I have been to Amsterdam it was over a year ago so my mind is a little fuzzy. So may I present to you.. Continue reading Cathryn Takes Amsterdam

Rotterdam

Have you ever had an awkward day between your travels? You’re in a city for one night just because it kind of worked out that way, not because you really wanted to be there? That was Rotterdam for Johnny and me. We arrived early on a rainy morning via BlaBlacar, this time driving with a cool Flemish businessman.

We spent most of the day just walking. We got lost walking to the train station, and then we got lost walking to some museums. We walked some more. Hey, in Rotterdam you should take the public transportation. Its not that expensive, but we didn’t realize that until later on our way to the CouchSurfing location (stay tuned for another blog post on this experience).

Continue reading Rotterdam

Maastricht

I traveled to Maastricht in May of 2013 and it was a breath-taking trip. It’s amazing how the culture can change in only an hour long plane ride. The top three things I learned there were to (1) not be afraid to walk on the grass. There was so much green everywhere, and sometimes I wasn’t sure if i was supposed to walk on the lawn or follow the path. Then I saw lots of people running and biking over the grass, so I learn it was okay. (2) They plant a tree when they get a new queen. I didn’t quite understand this tradition, but it seemed to be a specific type of tree that was planted and had a dainty little gate around it. (3) There were roman baths here. I was walking through a square and I saw different colored tiles on the ground. The family I was visiting there explained to me that there used to be roman baths in that area. Instead of preserving them by not building over them, the builders of the town decided to remember the baths differently. they outlined them in different colored tiles. Now that I knew, I started seeing them everywhere! Interesting!