crepes, some great art, falaffel, dutch pancakes, canals...

So many AMAZING things about this spring break! I could go on and on and on....but i will hit the highlights to accompany some of these pictures! :)
First was Paris...
We went to the Louvre twice! Especially because I am taking an art history class here, I have a huge appreciation for the pre-Renaissance and Renaissance art. So cool! Mona is kinda cool, too :)
Also Musee D'orsay (spelling??) which has a huge collection of very famous pieces from Van Gogh and lots of Impressionist pieces, statues...
We spent a lot of time in the Moray (??) district which is the Jewish quarter--the best restaurants and shops. I atae my first falaffel sandwich! It was soo yummy! it was apparently from the most famous falaffel in the world! we also went to some fun restaurants there..one with an Asian flair which was very interesting. We also of course went to the Champs-Elysee and Arc de Triumph, and on one of the nights we grabbed food to go and ate it under the Eiffel Tower! We got there in perfect timing because it lights up every hour on the hour for about 5 minutes...so beautiful! Also, even though I have been eating ALL Italian food, which is HEAVEN, it was pretty nice to have a huge stack of chocolate chip pancakes. We went to this place on the Rue di Rivoli called "An American Breakfast" which had chocolate chip pancakes, fried eggs, and watered down, good ol' American coffee (with free refills which is such an American thing)! it tasted so good! We also had time to walk around Montmarte area and Sacre Coure, and also through Ile San Louis which is a cute little island behind the little island Notre Dame is on. Oh and duh--Notre Dame as well! We ended up wakling by there quite a bit and got to go inside. Also we definitely all had our share of crepes with Nutella! :) it wouldn't be Paris without it! And my FAVORITE afternoon of all Paris afternoons was when I got to do a little picnic in the park with ALEXINE!!! She didn't have class till late on Tuesday so she met me in the city and we got wine, a baguette, and cheese, and sat in a park looking at Notre Dame! We went to this fabulous cheese shop where we found heart-shaped chevre cheese (which is just aged goat cheese) and also a sliver of brie--we had to get brie in France! It was so fun to catch up with her and chat, like we would if we saw each other every day...it was so nice :) It is so amazing to see such an amazing, close, and old friend in Europe! really a cool experience..i feel so fortunate to be able to do that. Miss you already love!! but i think she is coming to visit me over Easter weekend so i cannot WAIT for that!!!
speaking of other great friends...i stayed with ALLISON Long in AMSTERDAM! Note to all of you reading this...Allison should be recognized for her incredibely generous and accommodating hostess ability. During your stay, you will be pampered by Allison's mad skills in the kitchen, wine-bottle opening skills, picture-taking abilities, and itinerary-planning that should be published! (forget Rick Steves--all you need to see Amsterdam in 4 days is Allison Long! there is a future there...) When I got there on Wednesday, she had this entire list of things to do while we were together! And amizingly, we got almost all of them done! While Allison was in class Thursday, I went to the Anne Frank house, Van Gogh Museum, and just wandered around the cuty enjoying the beautiful canals and buildings. The first night we went to a T-Pain concert--yes TPAIN--ha soo fun! We also got to go to two different open-air markets which are some of my favorite things to do in cities--that is where we had the amazing Stroopwaffel and wonderful dried fruit and pesto cheese. Yes. Then we also on Friday, had the whole day open and went to the Reiks Museum, got French fries from a store that ONLY sells fries to go on Dam Street (I forget the Dutch?) ha Then on Saturday--after missing one train, and getting two more, then missing a bus, then getting the right one, then walking a bit--we arrived at the former palace of the royal family in another part of the Netherlands! it was so beautiful...and also very fun to see another part of the country. the countryside is so beautiful...and the people are so nice!
SO...I hope you can see that spring break was packed full of fun, cultural, and relaxing moments--filled with new friends and old friends (Alexine and Allison :) ... and it could not have been more perfect!